An artist's sketch shows Kenneth Law in court in Brampton, Ont., May, 2023.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
Kenneth Law is expected to admit in a Toronto area court Friday that he operated a business shipping a toxic substance to people in Ontario and the United Kingdom, aiding in multiple suicide deaths.
Mr. Law, 60, is expected to plead guilty to 14 counts of assisting suicide in connection with the deaths, which included two minors, in Ontario. In April, prosecutors in the province told the families of Mr. Law’s alleged victims that he would plead guilty to the charges.
He’s also expected to acknowledge in court that he sent 330 packages of the substance to Britain, according to families there who have received correspondence from British authorities.
Mr. Law, a former chef based in the Toronto area, was accused of selling toxic salts online to people who aimed to die by suicide. These products have many legal uses but ingesting them in high concentrations is fatal.
Any admission by Mr. Law that he had aided suicides in Britain would be significant because he has never been charged with crimes outside Ontario.
“The [U.K.] Crown Prosecution Service and the National Crime Agency confirmed that the harm caused to victims in England and Wales will be dealt with as part of Mr. Law’s sentencing in Canada,” said a statement issued by families in the U.K. who say they lost loved ones to suicides linked to Mr. Law’s products.
“Families have been told that an agreed statement of facts to be placed before the court will state that he sent 330 products to the United Kingdom.”
U.K. authorities, families of alleged victims following Kenneth Law trial
The statement was sent to The Globe by David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom died in Britain after ingesting poison in 2021. Mr. Law’s lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, has acknowledged his client has agreed to a plea deal, but declined to comment on any details Thursday.
The British National Crime Agency, which has never announced any criminal charges against Mr. Law, has scheduled a media briefing for reporters on Friday. Last month, spokeswoman Natalie Stokes told The Globe in an e-mail the agency was investigating 112 deaths connected to Mr. Law.
A lengthy agreed statement of facts is expected to be delivered Friday, but the judge is not expected to deliver a sentence in the case until later. The plea arrangement will require approval from a judge.
Federal officials in Ottawa are declining to comment on whether any other country has sought Mr. Law’s extradition.
Robert Currie, a law professor at Dalhousie University, said if Mr. Law makes detailed admissions about aiding suicides in multiple countries then that “could make extradition a lot more difficult – and potentially impossible.”
“If there’s anything in this agreed statement of facts that has to do with anything other than 14 victims, that will be a signal of some kind,” he said.
A 2006 Supreme Court of Canada ruling concluded that whenever uncharged conduct is considered an aggravating factor that stiffens a sentence in Canada, then the same evidence cannot also be put forward to facilitate extradition to a foreign country.
Mr. Law has never been charged with deaths outside Ontario. However, authorities in New Zealand, Ireland, Italy and the United States have investigated suicide deaths and his shipments.
Canadian police have also said that Mr. Law shipped 160 packages within Canada. But only the B.C. RCMP has publicly said it continues to investigate him for potential crimes.
Family members of some of the dead in Canada and Britain have called for public inquiries, but politicians are not committing. Premier Doug Ford told reporters Thursday that he would not agree to holding a public inquiry involving Mr. Law.
During the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Law was working as a chef at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel. He had declared bankruptcy as he started several online businesses with names like Escape Mode and Imtime Cuisine.
In April 2023, the Times of London reported that Mr. Law sold lethal toxic-salts used in curing meats in high concentrations to a global clientele of people he met on online suicide forums. Days later, Mr. Law told The Globe in an interview that he was not committing crimes. “I’m selling a legal product, okay,” he said. “And what the person does with it? I have no control.”
Police arrested Mr. Law in May, 2023 and circulated global warnings about his wares through the internet and Interpol that led to follow-up probes and wellness checks.
In August, 2023, Mr. Law was charged with 14 counts of aiding the suicides in Ontario. As police and prosecutors seized and analyzed more evidence, 14 first degree murder charges were added in January, 2024.
Last month, Ontario Crown lawyers said a recent Supreme Court ruling in an unrelated case made the murder charges untenable.
“The matter will be resolving,” an e-mailed message to Canadian victims’ families said. “Mr. Law will be pleading guilty to 14 charges of assist suicide.”
During Friday’s plea in Newmarket’s Ontario Superior Court, a sentencing hearing date for Mr. Law is likely to be set. After a period of deliberation a judge would then release a ruling.
Legal observers have said that Mr. Law could easily spend more than 10 years in a Canadian penitentiary.
“The moral blameworthiness of Kenneth Law’s conduct is high due to the sheer number of victims that took their own lives with his assistance both locally and globally,” said Adam Weisberg, a Toronto lawyer not involved in the case.
With a report from Laura Stone