Elderly Suicide Kit Seller Sentenced for Failing to Pay Taxes

A federal court has sentenced a 92-year-old woman who sold kits to help people commit suicide to five years’ probation for failing to file tax returns.

Sharlotte Hydom admitted to making the suicide kits at her home in El Cajo, Calif., and selling them for between $40 and $60 to at least 1,300 people, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors said she had sold the suicide kits, containing tubing and a hood, to at least 50 people in San Diego County since 2007.

At least four people had used the kits to commit suicide in that county alone. One victim was a 19-year-old boy. She had not inquired whether the buyers were depressed or were minors, according to prosecutors.

They said they had decided to prosecute her on tax charges in order to stop her from selling the suicide kits. She pleaded guilty to the tax charges, which date back to 2007. She admitted that she earned over $150,000 from various sources since that time, including from sales of the suicide kits.

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