Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
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| Some of Kenneth Law's victims. |
Jon Woodward and Codi Wilson reported for CTV News that:
Law was arrested in 2023 in connection with 14 deaths in Ontario after he was accused of aiding and abetting those suicides by supplying the victims with ... which is typically used to preserve meat but is deadly when consumed in high concentrations.
At the time of his arrest, police said Law sent more than 1,200 packages to 41 countries, selling the deadly chemical and other items that can be used for self-harm through multiple websites.
The youngest victim in Ontario was just 16 years old.
Based on a plea agreement, the Crown Prosecutor dropped the 14 counts of murder for an agreement where Law pled guilty to aiding the suicide of his victims, a charge that would likely result in a 14 year sentence.
Woodward and Wilson reported that: prosecutors said the victims in England and Wales will be included as “part of Mr. Law’s sentencing in Canada.”
Joseph Brean reported for the National Post that:
Court has heard details of the 14 Ontario deaths that are the subject of his pleas, and details of his business by which he would ship products to customers, mostly a culinary curing salt that is toxic in sufficient quantities, but also asphyxiation masks. He would also offer consultation phone calls, and sent documentation saying his businesses “will be held harmless for the end use of its products.”
Court is now hearing details of 79 similar deaths in the U.K., details of which were shared by British authorities and will be considered in sentencing later this year in September. Assisting suicide has a maximum jail term of 14 years.
His online material said he would not sell to minors, but court has heard two Canadian children, and another in Britain, successfully placed orders.
He shipped 1,209 packages to 41 countries.
An agreed statement of facts indicates that from 2020 to his 2023 arrest, he received nearly $300,000 from this business, roughly equally between Shopify and PayPal.
On May 3, 2023; I reported that Law, had been arrested and charged with two counts of assisted suicide and was believed to have assisted the suicide of at least 7 people in the US and the UK.
On May 9, 2023 CTV News journalist, Jon Woodward reported that Law was facing two counts of aiding and abetting the deaths of two people in Peel Region, allegedly through the online sales of a legal substance that is lethal in high concentrations. Law sold the substance world-wide for the purposes of aiding suicide.
Woodward reported that 23-year-old Neha Raju and 22-year-old Tom Parfett died in the U.K., 20-year-old Noelle Ramirez died in Colorado, and 17-year-old Anthony Jones died in Michigan and the police were investigating 1200 people who were sent the lethal poison online.
Neha Raju & Tom Parfett
Euronews reported on August 25, 2023 that Law was being investigated by UK authorities in the suicide deaths of 88 people and it was suspected that Law had shipped the suicide poison to at least 232 people in the UK.
On August 27, 2023 Jon Woodward reported on CP24 on the Law investigation that the death of Imogen Nunn, in the UK, was also connected to Law. Nunn died suddenly in January, 2023 and the family didn't know how she died until the toxicology report confirmed that she died from poisoning.
Imogen Nunn
Law was charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder, in addition to the 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide that he was already facing. CBC News Toronto stated that York Regional Police Insp. Simon James, who heads up a multi-service task force investigating Law confirmed the charges at a news conference today. The new charges are related to the same alleged victims in multiple Ontario municipalities, from Toronto to Thunder Bay.On October 7, 2024, Jon Woodward reported for CTV news that Law was challenging the second-degree murder charges to the Supreme Court of Canada. Woodward reported:
“Assisting suicide is not murder,” Law’s lawyers, Matthew Gourlay, Stephanie DiGuiseppe, and Taylor Wormington wrote in a brief filed Friday.Charges against Law included a 16-year-old death in Ontario. CBC News reported on May 8 that 17-year-old Anthony Jones from Michigan allegedly died in connection to Law's suicide kit.
"Mr. Law is not alleged to have been present at any of the deaths. He is not alleged to have deceived the victims into unwittingly ending their own lives. It would impermissibly warp the language of the Code to assert that someone who mails a toxic substance that another person later voluntarily consumes in another location with suicidal intent has “actually committed” their murder," they write.Woodward's report indicates that at least 130 people died after consuming the poison.
Oh, the irony! That a man who assisted the suicide of people (who presumably wanted to die) will go to prison for 14 years, and the very same people who do the very same thing in our Canadian hospitals and nursing homes get off without any penalty. Shame on the Canadian health care system and our Canadian government and politicians that allow this to happen.
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