Kenneth Law to Plead Guilty to 14 Suicide-Aiding Counts as Canada Drops 14 Murder Charges
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · May 29
Kenneth Law to Plead Guilty to 14 Suicide-Aiding Counts as Canada Drops 14 Murder Charges
7 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 29
Kenneth Law is due in an Ontario court Friday to admit 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, with sentencing expected later the same day.
The plea deal would see Canadian prosecutors withdraw 14 murder charges tied to 14 Ontario victims aged 16 to 36 who allegedly bought lethal sodium nitrite through his websites.
Police say the Toronto-area man shipped at least 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries, including about 160 to Canadian addresses, and investigators worldwide have linked him to more than 100 suicides.
U.K. prosecutors have decided not to charge or extradite Law, saying Canada should handle the full sentencing process, a move that has prompted bereaved families to demand a public inquiry.
In Canada, aiding suicide carries up to 14 years in prison, far below the automatic life sentence attached to first-degree murder charges.
Why won't UK authorities prosecute a man linked to 112 British deaths on home soil?
Does the Kenneth Law case reveal a fatal flaw in how we protect vulnerable people online?
Beyond one man's trial, how is the deadly online ecosystem that enabled him being dismantled?