Canadian Kenneth Law faces 14 murder charges for selling suicide kits

Police say he mailed around 160 packages containing poison to people in Canada and at least 1,200 packages to addresses in over 40 countries

Law could be linked to 117 deaths around the world, most of them in Britain, a media report said

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Inspector Simon James of York Regional Police speaks to the media during a news conference on Kenneth Law in Mississauga, Ontario, in August. Photo: Canadian Press via AP

Published: 4:47am, 13 Dec 2023

A Canadian man who allegedly helped more than a dozen young people across the province of Ontario kill themselves by mailing them poison has been charged with 14 counts of second degree murder, police said on Tuesday.

Kenneth Law, 58, had previously been charged with 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide.

Police said Law posted around 160 packages of sodium nitrite to people in Canada and also sent at least 1,200 packages to addresses in more than 40 countries.

“It’s clearly significant … to be laying this many [charges] and that’s not taken lightly by the investigative team,” Inspector Simon James of the police force in York, a northern district of Toronto, told a televised press conference.

Kenneth Law attends a hearing in court in Brampton, Ontario, in May. Courtroom sketch: Alexandra Newbould/Canadian Press via AP

The victims ranged in age from 16 to 36 but James declined to name them or explain why the charges against Law had been upgraded. He also said he did not know how many people abroad might have died.

“We continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and collaborate with them globally,” said James.