Campbellton, New Brunswick

Python kills little boys: In an attack that has baffled snake experts, a 14-foot African rock python apparently strangled two Canadian brothers in their sleep. Noah Barthe, 4, and Connor Barthe, 6, were sleeping over at the apartment of a friend whose father owned an exotic pet shop downstairs. The pet snake escaped from a huge glass tank in the apartment and into the ventilation system; it then fell through the ceiling of the room where the boys were asleep. The boys had been playing with goats at a farm earlier that day, and experts said the python may have attacked them because they smelled like prey. The 100-pound snake has been put down, and police are treating the deaths as criminal. Jean-Claude Savoie, owner of the apartment and store, did not have a permit to keep the snake at home.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More