A Canadian man accused of selling sodium nitrite and suicide-related items online to people in multiple countries pleaded guilty on 29 May to aiding the suicides of 14 people in Ontario, after prosecutors said recent legal rulings made murder charges impossible to pursue.
Kenneth Law, 60, entered guilty pleas at the Ontario Superior Court in Newmarket, north of Toronto. Prosecutors said he operated websites selling sodium nitrite (a chemical used in food preservation that can be deadly in high concentrations) along with masks, hoods and regulators.
Court documents stated that Law shipped 1,209 packages to customers in 41 countries between 2021 and 2023, including hundreds to Britain, the United States and Canada.
According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, 79 people in Britain died after consuming or using products sold by Law. Authorities in several countries have launched investigations and welfare checks connected to purchases from his websites.
Family members of victims became emotional in court as prosecutors described the deaths of young people aged between 16 and 36.
Financial records presented in court showed more than $214,000 flowed into accounts connected to Law’s businesses between 2020 and 2023.
Prosecutors said they would seek to withdraw 14 first-degree murder charges after sentencing, citing a 2024 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that narrowed how murder causation is interpreted in cases where victims perform the final act leading to death.
Law has remained in custody since his arrest in May 2023. He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for counselling or aiding suicide under Canadian law.
Iran has called for a diplomatic solution after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected its Hormuz proposal, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sai...
Heavy rain, flooding and landslides have killed at least 19 people across parts of India and neighbouring Nepal, while 10 workers remain miss...
British police have arrested several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act after a major security incident was declared near RAF Fa...
Leaders from around the world are gathering in New York for the latest session of the United Nations General Assembly, with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, global security, trade, artificial intelligence, climate change and economic development dominating the agenda.
World leaders return to the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday for the fourth day of the high-level General Debate, with speeches and diplomatic meetings continuing throughout the day.
Finland and Sweden deployed fighter aircraft on Thursday after a group of Russian military planes was detected over the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Air Force reported on Friday (25 September).
Iran on Saturday awaited a U.S. response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the Middle East war after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump had rejected the deal.
Six people have died after a two-storey residential building in a tourist area of central Athens collapsed, the Greek fire brigade said on Saturday (26 September), following an explosion that the mayor said was likely linked to gas infrastructure.
Heavy rain, flooding and landslides have killed at least 19 people across parts of India and neighbouring Nepal, while 10 workers remain missing after an avalanche in the Himalayas.
British police have arrested several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act after a major security incident was declared near RAF Fairford, a British air base used by U.S. air forces in Gloucestershire, England.
Six people have died after a two-storey residential building in a tourist area of central Athens collapsed, the Greek fire brigade said on Saturday (26 September), following an explosion that the mayor said was likely linked to gas infrastructure.
Swiss voters are due to decide on Sunday, 27 September, whether to enshrine a stricter interpretation of the country’s long-standing neutrality in the constitution, in a referendum that has reopened debate over Switzerland’s role in European security and international diplomacy.
The United States and China have agreed to lower tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of goods and establish a new channel for cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI), marking one of the most significant outcomes from Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment