Emotions high in tearful sentencing hearing for Kenneth Law, guilty in Ontario of 14 counts of aiding suicide

Friends, families of victims confront a stoic Kenneth Law at sentencing hearing for convicted poison seller

Poison seller Kenneth Law pleads guilty to abetting 14 suicides

Dan Calderone, a friend of Maurizio Vadala, told media outside the courtroom that he read a poem in his honour because it was a good way "to kind of sum everything up" about their friendship.

The poem, titled Maurizio: A Stellar Remnant ("A dying star," he explained) included the line: "When I look at the stars shining bright, I think of you there on those camping nights. Though you're gone, your memory will stay, my friend, my brother, forever. Each day."

Calderone wore a T-shirt with a picture of Vadala surrounded by a heart.

He also said it was sickening to see the lack of remorse on Law's face during the hearing.

"You can tell he's hearing everything, but it's not really hitting him the way it should. Just really tough and disgusting."

Outside of court during the lunch recess, some friends and family members of the victims spoke to reporters about reading out their victim impact statements.

Adrienne Dalli, sister of Maurizio Vadala, said she wanted to make sure she faced Law when she spoke.

"My message was to him…. I was taken back a bit, because he seems to be emotionless," she said.

"I have no idea if he's listening or not. I hope he did hear that he affected lots of people and he affected lots of lives."

Court is now in recess until 2:15 p.m. ET. Seventeen out of 74 impact statements have been read so far.

WARNING: This post contains details of a suicide attempt.

A survivor has taken the stand in court. Elisabeth Belien travelled from the United Kingdom to share her experience of ingesting sodium nitrite purchased from Kenneth Law and being found in time to be treated and survive.

Belien said she was 23 when she ingested the substance on Jan. 29, 2023, during a period when she was struggling with her mental health.

"Kenneth Law's actions made it a lot easier for me to act on that despair," Belien said.

Soon after taking the substance, Belien said she was found and rushed to hospital, "where I was told I might not make it. I received the antidote, and physically, I made a full recovery."

The psychological effects of the experience still take a toll on her today, she told the court, with flashbacks and guilt often clouding her thoughts.

When British police checked on her in May 2023, they informed her that many people had purchased products from Law and that many had died. Months later, Belien was overcome with guilt, she told the court.

"I felt that by purchasing from Kenneth Law, I enabled him to continue his business.… I felt guilty for surviving."

Belien's guilt led to struggles with an eating disorder, and made it difficult for her to do her job and rebuild a trusting relationship with her family.

"Being here today reminds me of how easily it could have been my parents making a statement instead of me. They would talk about all the things I missed out on: how I never got to go on that holiday I really wanted to go on, how I didn't get my driving license, how I never got that promotion at work, about the life I didn't get to live," she said.

Belien said she did get to experience those things, though.

She said ultimately her feelings of despair "weren't permanent" and she's learning "to be excited to see what the future holds for me."

She said she's grateful to be alive, but that the "trauma from the experience" hasn't gone away.

The Crown read out the statement of Danielle, mother of Dylan Cerny-Salisbury. In it, she said his death shattered her life "into a million pieces."

She said her family is not only grieving the life he lived, but the life he never had the opportunity to live.

"He mattered. He should be here," Danielle said.

Dylan, who was 18 at the time of his death, had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, ADHD, a mood disorder and borderline personality disorder.

"His struggles were part of his story, but not his story," she said.

She said he kept putting pieces of his life back together and moving forward but that his "future was taken from him."

He was found in his room by his 14-year-old sister, who thought he was sleeping.

Kim Prosser, mother of Ashtyn Prosser-Blake, recalled the last phone call she had with her son.

She recalled that she thought he was just tired, and didn't know he was making "his last phone call goodbye" before taking his life.

Prosser broke down in tears, recounting her realization soon after that call, that "he's gone. Ashtyn is gone. [It] crushed my world."

Prosser-Blake lived in the basement of his grandparents' home in Thunder Bay, Ont.

When his grandmother went to check if the doors to the home were locked for the night, she found a journal at the top of the stairs saying, "goodbye."

She went downstairs and found Ashtyn unresponsive. He was later declared dead at the hospital.

The Crown read out the statement of Corrine King, aunt of Clayton Choquette.

"Our lives have changed forever" since Choquette died, her statement reads.

"As his aunt it is extremely difficult to accept someone we loved deeply is gone."

King said that her family is left wondering what Choquette's life would have become if he hadn't died at just 32 years old. She said there will always be an empty place within their family.

Choquette was found dead in his vehicle, after a bystander called authorities in August 2022.

The stepfather of Tyler Bryson told court that until Law is incarcerated, the emotional burden of his stepson's death remains enormous.

He said he can't adequately explain how his death affected him, only that it's a combination of "numbness and anxiety."

He said Tyler treated him like his own father and spoke about his time as a pilot, and his professionalism in his career.

Tyler was found dead at the age of 34, in a rental car on May 2, 2023 near Toronto's BMO Field.

Bryson had left instructions for first responders on how to ventilate the car and made a donation to charity for trauma to first responders in advance of his death.

His stepfather said his stepson deserved support from a professional and didn't deserve to be "preyed upon" by Law.

While today's victim impact statements have so far focused on Kenneth Law's victims in Ontario, let's take a moment to underline the scale of suffering around the world linked to his actions.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Law sent 1,209 packages to 41 countries, including 157 shipments to Canadian addresses and 431 shipments to the U.S.

Authorities have linked Law's products to suicides in Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and beyond.

The total number of deaths will most likely never be known, as not all suicides were investigated. In some cases, Law asked buyers of his poison to destroy evidence.

Many families who lost loved ones will never get a chance to express their grief in court.

Sandra Scott, the mother of Amara Scott, said she's no longer the same person — that she was a mother of three, and is "now a mother of two."

"[I have] lost a piece of my soul," she said.

She broke down as she said it was an honour to be Amara's mother.

Sandra Scott said she called police for a wellbeing check in 2022, when she did not show up for work. Amara was found deceased in her apartment in Toronto.