Poison seller Kenneth Law pleads guilty to abetting Ontario suicides

Kenneth Law has pleaded guilty to counselling or aiding suicide, in connection with 14 deaths in Ontario. Law operated websites that sold toxic substances and suicide paraphernalia.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Pam Davies

Mississauga, Ont., man Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in a Newmarket court today to counselling or aiding 14 suicides in the province.

Law operated websites that sold packets of a toxic substance and other suicide paraphernalia to vulnerable people. Court today heard a list of some 40 countries Law shipped more than 1,200 packages to, while a CBC News investigation has found Law is suspected of being tied to at least 147 deaths worldwide.

Crown prosecutors said today they were withdrawing all 14 murder charges laid against Law.

In the U.K., investigators said Law will not face charges for his alleged role in scores of deaths there.

At least one family in Canada says they're livid that Law avoided murder charges, while U.K. families are angry over the decision not to charge him in that country.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can use Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline by calling or texting 988. Kids Help Phone is available at 1-800-668-6868, or text 686868.

Why murder charges were downgraded

The Canadian Press (new window)

Law pleaded guilty in court Friday to abetting 14 suicides across Ontario between 2021 and 2023, with Crown prosecutors withdrawing 14 counts of first-degree murder that he was facing in connection with the same deaths.

According to The Canadian Press, the case faced multiple delays as both the Crown and defence waited on a Supreme Court of Canada decision in a separate matter (new window) they said would affect the case.

In the end, Canada's top court declined to "conclusively resolve" the issue in that appeal, which related to the circumstances under which murder charges can be laid against people who aid in suicides.

That made a murder prosecution "impossible" in Law's case, the Crown said Friday, because it left the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that sparked the appeal as the binding authority in the province.

That ruling suggests a person may only be liable for murder if they both provided a person who died by suicide with the lethal substance but also "overbore the victim's free will in choosing suicide."

U.K. investigators say Law acted 'with arrogance when attempting to justify' his crimes

Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) is reacting to the developments in the Newmarket, Ont., courtroom, releasing a statement emphasizing that U.K. police have worked closely with Canadian investigators. The release says the NCA team sent the evidence they gathered from looking at the deaths of 112 people to Canadian authorities so Law could be sentenced for the "full extent of his offending within a single process in Canada."

Craig Turner, the agency's deputy director of investigations, offered a scathing assessment of the extent of Law's criminality, saying: "Kenneth Law believed he was untouchable in his criminal business, which exploited vulnerable people around the world at a time when they needed support the most. Instead, Law encouraged victims to take their own lives using items bought from him, attempting to cover his tracks with detailed instructions to avoid leading police back to him and acting with arrogance when attempting to justify his actions."

Victim impact statements expected before sentencing

Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst is looking down as Nadler continues to read the 60-page agreed statement of facts. It looks as though the judge is following along using a paper copy of the statement and using a yellow marker to highlight key portions.

It will be up to Fuerst to sentence Law at a later date. The Crown said this morning that victim impact statements are expected to be read out in court in September.

U.K. authorities have told bereaved British families that the Ontario judge is expected to take into account aggravating factors, such as the harm caused in Britain, when she hands Law her sentence.

According to the Criminal Code of Canada, counselling or aiding suicide carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years for each count.

As we wrote earlier, CBC News reached out to the FBI now that we know Law sent 431 packages to the U.S.

The FBI has referred us to Canadian authorities and declined to comment.

We're now up to the 38th death from the U.K. alone listed in the agreed statement of facts. Some of these cases, court has heard, note a documented history of mental health issues among the victims.

In each case, the victim received a shipment from Law. One person was found dead in bed by his parents, another was found dead at a hotel when she failed to check out on time — she died on her birthday.

Photo: Avec l’autorisation de la police régionale de Peel

'Didn't get a chance to heal,' says victim's brother

The Crown attorney has now laid out the case of Briton Gary Cooper, 41, who died in July 2022.

Lee Cooper previously told CBC News he remembers his brother Gary, from Liverpool, England, as brilliant. He said Gary endured mental health struggles but was beginning to turn a corner in the summer of 2022.

He was getting help. He was slowly but surely getting there, and unfortunately he found [a pro-suicide] forum before he could get better, so he didn't get a chance to heal", Lee Cooper said.

Gary used a toxic substance to take his own life, which court heard had been sold by Law.

In many cases, court has heard that the victims in these cases purchased items from Law for around $80 US, or about $110 Cdn.

The agreed statement of facts also says payments from Shopify and PayPal of over $148,000 each were transferred into Law's accounts from sales on his company websites.

Victim's loved ones wear shirts showing his photo

Loved ones of Maurizio Vadala are wearing grey T-shirts with a heart on the front and Vadala's picture in the middle.

He died in March 2023 in Mississauga. Vadala's death was one of the two in Ontario's Peel Region for which Law was initially charged, before police added further charges for deaths across the province.

Law sold 431 packages to the U.S.

Now that we know Law sent 431 packages to the U.S., we have reached out to the FBI for comment. A spokesperson previously told CBC News the agency does not typically confirm whether or not an investigation is ongoing.

Ontario investigators did say, however, they had worked with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, among other international partners, on this case.

In Chicago, Gerald Cohn told CBC News he and his mother were interviewed by U.S. federal agents following his brother Benjamin's death in February 2023.

"I'm just giving the FBI everything I have on my brother's phone … any information", Gerald previously said in an interview. "They were well aware of Law in this area."

"I want something where I can say we got justice for Benji," Gerald said.

Death after death read into record

Over and over, the court is hearing about victims who were found unresponsive, with packaging or paraphernalia from Law's companies nearby.

In many cases, they were found by loved ones. Some were found at home, some in hotels, and others in cars.

The statement that punctuates each death being read into the record: "It is admitted that [their] death was caused by the consumption of the product sold by Mr. Law.".