‘Suicide on a global scale’: Families react to news of Kenneth Law’s expected guilty plea

An Ontario man accused of selling poisonous substances online in cases linked to deaths is back in court as proceedings continue. Jon Woodward reports.

Victims’ families around the globe are reacting with disappointment to the news that a man charged with selling deadly chemicals to young people trying to end their lives will not face a murder trial.

Kenneth Law is expected to plead guilty to aiding and abetting suicide in the 14 cases he is charged with in Ontario, which lawyers say could still result in a stiff sentence, as a tally by CTV News of the number of death tied to his products reaches 150.

“It’s a lost opportunity, and extremely disappointing,” said David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom was among those who had purchased Law’s products online.

“If Kenneth Law hadn’t done that, I’m sure my son would be alive today. For me, that’s the definition of murder,” Parfett said in an interview from the United Kingdom.

Canadian victims included Ashtyn Prosser-Blake, Stephen Mitchell Jr., and Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez. The latter’s family is suing Law in civil court.

Law’s criminal trial was expected to start Tuesday. In a short hearing in Newmarket Monday afternoon, Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst said the court dates for the murder trial had been “vacated.”

“I am advised this matter will resolve,” she said, before scheduling further appearances on May 13 and May 29.

CTV News has confirmed that some family members of the victims had received e-mails from the crown advising them that Law’s guilty plea would be coming this week.

And over the weekend Law’s lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, told media outlets that his client would be taking the plea deal.

Canadian legal ground has shifted somewhat since the original second-degree murder charges were laid in December 2023, and upgraded to first-degree murder charges in January 2024, said defence lawyer and ad hoc Crown Lisa Jean Helps.

The Canadian Supreme Court didn’t overrule a lower court that found for there to be a murder, the accused must have overcome the will of the victim, Helps said, adding that case had a direct impact on Law’s prosecution.

“What we’ve heard Mr. Law say even before he was a part of the justice system is that these were all legal substances I was selling. To a certain extent, he’s correct in that affords him the defence to first degree murder which is, ‘I never intended to kill these people. These people killed themselves. I just sent the means in which to do it,’” she said.

A murder conviction would carry a life sentence, while an aiding and abetting conviction carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, she said. But given so many cases, the judge may stack each count’s sentence for longer than 14 years total, she said.

“I would expect a significant double digit penitentiary sentence and it will take into account denunciation and deterrence, which are two things the Criminal Code always calls for,” she said.

The prosecutor is now working in a legal landscape that may treat murder and aiding suicide as two separate types of criminal acts, said Toronto criminal lawyer Maija Martin.

“I do think that Parliament was crystal clear that they wanted aiding suicide to be a separate offence from murder,” she said, noting that there are exceptions in the law that allow medically assisted suicide in Canada.

The U.K.’s National Crime Agency has tallied 112 deaths in that country so far, the majority of known cases, with families saying they believe that number could still rise.

“The impact is massive. It’s global. It’s institutionalized, commercialized suicide on a global scale. I don’t think it can get more horrific than that, really,” said Lee Cooper, whose brother Gary died after consuming the substances.

Cooper said he wants the U.K. to consider trying to extradite Law after his sentence is served in Canada to face a murder trial there somehow.

And he warned that one suicide website that CTV News is not naming, where many young people first heard of Law’s products, is still accessible in Canada and the U.K., with other alleged suicide salesmen facing charges as well.

“There are suicide forums out there today and somehow people have found a way to profit from the misery of others,” he said. “I think Gary would be happy to see someone like this put away. But the fact is, I’ll never know what he’ll say because of what Kenneth Law’s done.”