Canadian accused of selling lethal chemical online pleads guilty to aiding suicide
The man pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide in connection with the sale of a legal but potentially lethal chemical online.
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NEWMARKET: A Canadian man accused of selling a legal but potentially deadly chemical online to 14 people who took their own lives pleaded guilty on Friday (May 29) to aiding suicide, allowing him to avoid a high-profile murder trial.
Wearing tan pants, a white shirt and dark suit jacket, Kenneth Law, 60, was emotionless as he entered the pleas on Friday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario, north of Toronto.
He was facing 14 counts each of first-degree murder and counselling or aiding suicide related to 14 Ontario residents, aged 16 to 36, who died by suicide.
Prosecutor Peter Westgate told Justice Michelle Fuerst that prosecutors would ask that the murder charges be withdrawn after he is sentenced at a later date.
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Law's lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, told Reuters last month Law would plead guilty to aiding suicide charges under an agreement with Ontario prosecutors that would see the murder charges withdrawn. Gourlay has declined to comment further on the case.
SALT CAN BE DEADLY IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS
Canadian police allege that Law, a trained engineer who worked as a cook at a luxury Toronto hotel before his arrest, operated several websites starting around 2020 which marketed and sold sodium nitrite and other items that could be used by the purchasers to take their own lives.
Sodium nitrite, a salt used in low concentrations as a food additive to cure processed meats, can be deadly when ingested in high concentrations.
Law's case has drawn global attention because of the international reach of his alleged shipments. Ontario investigators have accused Law of mailing at least 1,200 packages to addresses in more than 40 countries, including around 160 in Canada.
Authorities in Britain, Ireland and other countries have opened investigations into whether the products were responsible for deaths in their jurisdictions and conducted welfare checks on those who purchased them.
Britain's National Crime Agency said in April it was investigating potential offences linked to the deaths of 112 people in the UK who bought items to assist with suicide from Canada-based websites tied to a Canadian suspect it did not name.
Law has been in custody since his arrest at his home west of Toronto in May 2023.
A conviction for counselling or aiding suicide carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years, according to Canada's Criminal Code. First-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole for a minimum of 25 years.
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