Warning: This story deals with suicide, a sensitive issue that some readers may find upsetting. Please read at your own discretion.
A Mississauga, Ont., man pleaded guilty Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide for selling lethal substances online to people who used them to die by suicide.
Crown attorneys say they will withdraw 14 counts of first-degree murder against Kenneth Law after he is sentenced.
After Law, 60, entered his pleas in a Newmarket, Ont., courtroom, Crown attorneys began reading an agreed statement of facts to the court.
That statement detailed how Law ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite, a preservative for cured meats, along with other items. All of them could be used for self-harm.
The court documents also shed light on victims in multiple countries, the circumstances of their deaths and how authorities were able to link them to Law.
Some victims purchased and ingested sodium nitrite, while others bought and used a face mask that depleted oxygen. Packaging of these products with labels of Law’s websites were found near their bodies.
Prosecutors said Law would frequently visit an online forum that discussed suicide methods. Using a pseudonym, he would engage with forum users and direct them to his websites.
Court heard a recording of a call between Law and a potential customer, who unbeknownst to him, was a journalist. Law is heard talking about his products, their efficacy as well as his experience getting them to their destination without the knowledge of authorities.
In that recording, he shared how the idea came to him during the COVID-19 pandemic when he saw how people were struggling. Law informed the journalist how some people told him he was doing “God’s work,” which he said he felt was too much of a compliment, and that some people may feel what he was doing was “criminal.”
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After the Crown finished reading the facts into the record, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst asked Law whether he agreed with what was said.
“Yes, they are accurate and true,” he replied.
Fuerst then found him guilty of aiding suicide. Anyone found guilty of that charge can face up to 14 years in prison.
His pleas come more than a month after his lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, told Global News about the proposed conclusion to the case.
Law was set to stand trial in April after proceedings were pushed back multiple times in anticipation of a Supreme Court of Canada decision on a separate matter that prosecutors and defence lawyers believed would impact the case.
In that case, the Crown appealed a ruling by Ontario’s top court that suggested a person may only be liable for murder if they provided a person who died by suicide with the lethal substance and “overbore the victim’s freewill in choosing suicide.”
Canada’s top court delivered its decision last December but declined to “conclusively resolve” what it called the “abstract legal issue” in the appeal.
“The court’s analysis of that issue that made a murder prosecution in this case impossible,” Crown attorney Peter Westgate told court.
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“It is our obligation as the Crown to continue to assess the reasonable prospect of conviction regarding all charges that are before the court.”
Authorities alleged Law, who was arrested three years ago, shipped roughly 1,200 packages to people in more than 40 countries over several years.
Police alleged roughly 160 of those packages were sent to addresses in Canada; the charges against him related to the same 14 people, who were between the ages of 16 and 36.
Court heard nearly $290,000 in sales were deposited into Law’s accounts by Shopify and PayPal between Jan. 1, 2020, and May 23, 2023.
Elsewhere, a New Zealand coroner found that four people who died by suicide had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, but noted that Law’s activities are outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts.
Prosecutors in Canada also gave details about 79 people in the United Kingdom who died from Law’s products.
The Canadian Press reported Friday that families of people who died in the U.K. said the country’s National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service have informed them Law will not be facing charges there, because extradition could be a lengthy process and any sentence imposed in Canada would be similar.
A sentencing hearing is expected to unfold over several days in late September.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
For immediate mental health support, call 988. For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca.
Learn more about preventing suicide with these warning signs and tips on how to help.
— with files from The Canadian Press
How dare he take work away from government-affiliated beurocrats!
It recently became law that a doctors’ assessment has to be 1 year to live to qualify for maid. How dare someone off’s themselves when they could be paying taxes for longer.
How come they are looking at how he assisted their suicide and not their part how their children got to the point of suicide?
I wonder if his charges will be dropped when chairman mao carney and his ilk make MAID mandatory? Asking for a friend….
You can kill yourself slowly but not all at once
Why, is he above the law
To many of us … If someone wants to off themselves let them make that decision.
“Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada is a rigorous, client-driven process requiring adults to formally request end-of-life assistance, undergo two independent medical assessments, meet strict eligibility criteria (such as a grievous, irremediable medical condition), and provide express consent”.
It doesn’t sound ‘client driven’. It sounds like something the government should keep their noses out of. I would prefer the government stays completely out of the process. I would prefer the decision as to what MY criteria for ending My life is up to ME, not anyone else. One my timeline and without anyone else’s input.
I would
What does anything he sell have to do with sui?
This guy was taking the governments business! They cant have that, MAID is a moneymaker baby!
Only the government is allowed to to MAID us. It’s there money business!
WHAT MESSAGE R WE SENDING HERE ? NEVER ANY PENALTIES TO FIT THE CRIMES. GOTTA BE CANADA