A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to sending ‘suicide kits’ containing poison to more than 100 people in dozens of countries, including Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Kenneth Law, 60, appeared in a court in Newmarket, Ontario, on Friday to enter his plea after prosecutors agreed to drop 14 murder charges. Sentencing is scheduled for September.
Wearing a dark blazer, white shirt and khaki pants, Law told Justice Michelle Fuerst that he understood the scope of his crimes and was voluntarily pleading guilty. He admitted his role in the deaths of 14 people in Ontario, aged between 16 and 36, and also acknowledged sending the poison that caused the deaths of 79 people in England.
The case has drawn widespread attention, highlighting the challenge of policing online forums that encourage suicide and sell lethal substances. The court was told that Law sent suicide kits to 40 countries and territories, but the majority went to the UK and the US.
Law, a former engineer and hotel chef in Toronto, ran a network of websites that sold lethal chemicals to vulnerable people around the world. To avoid detection, he also sold other products such as chili sauce, creating the illusion of being an industrial food wholesaler. The special silver packages included a warning that use of the product was the sole responsibility of the user. Investigators said Law had shipped 1,209 packages to 41 countries before the websites were shut down.
Prosecutors submitted a more than 60-page statement of facts, which was expected to take hours to read in court. In many cases, victims were found by their parents, with the youngest just 16 years old. One heartbreaking incident: a young man was heard vomiting and begging his parents for help after ingesting the poison. In another case, a 29-year-old man called 911 himself, pleading, ‘Please, I’m about to die,’ then cried and became unconscious when paramedics arrived, and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
An investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) found that 286 people in England received packages from Law, resulting in 112 deaths. An agreement between Canadian prosecutors and the NCA, announced on Friday, allows the judge to consider Law’s role in UK deaths during sentencing. However, families in England have called for a public inquiry, criticizing Law’s years of unchecked operation and the failure of UK authorities to prevent deaths linked to online suicide forums.
Prosecutors originally filed first-degree murder charges but later reduced them to counseling or aiding suicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison under Canada’s Criminal Code. Experts say the scope of Law’s actions could lead to a heavy sentence. Victim impact statements and the sentencing hearing are scheduled for September.
