Warning: This story deals with suicide, a sensitive issue that some readers may find upsetting. Please read at your own discretion.
Kenneth Law, an Ontario man who sold lethal substances online to people who later used them to take their own lives, is set to face a sentencing hearing over the next few days.
Law, a former chef, has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide in the province. Court heard earlier this year that he ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite and other items that can be used for self-harm, shipping them to people in more than 40 countries.
Here is a timeline of key events in the case:
Oct. 14, 2022: A coroner’s report in the United Kingdom looking into the April death by suicide of a woman in Surrey lists a postal box in Mississauga, Ont., and the name of one of the websites police linked to Law.
March 31, 2023: Peel Regional Police investigate the circumstances of a local sudden death where the person is believed to have consumed a chemical substance. It’s the first of two deaths police would later link to Law and the allegations against him.
April 25, 2023: The Times of London publishes an investigation into Law, reporting on his alleged global online operation.
May 2, 2023: Peel Regional Police announce they have arrested Law and charged him with two counts of counselling and aiding suicide.
May 10, 2023: Several other police forces in Canada, including those in Toronto and Durham Region, say they are reviewing sudden deaths in light of the allegations against Law.
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June 16, 2023: Peel Regional Police announce 11 Ontario police forces have formed a major joint operation investigating Law.
Aug. 25, 2023: Britain’s National Crime Agency says it has identified 232 people in the U.K. who bought products from Canada-based websites allegedly linked to Law in the two years prior to April, 88 of whom had died.
Aug. 29, 2023: Police announce an additional 12 new charges against Law of aiding and counselling suicides across Ontario. They allege Law started to operate the websites he used to market sodium nitrite and other items that can be used for self-harm in late 2020.
Sept. 12, 2023: Montreal police announce they are also investigating allegations against Law, suspecting he may have sent kits containing sodium nitrite to addresses in Montreal.
Dec. 12, 2023: Police announce 14 counts of second-degree murder charges against Law, in addition to his 14 existing charges of aiding suicide, for a total of 28 charges. Law’s lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, says his client would be pleading not guilty to all charges.
Jan. 26, 2024: Law’s lawyer confirms that all 14 counts of second-degree murder had been upgraded to first-degree murder, and that the case would proceed by direct indictment, meaning there would be no preliminary inquiry. Gourlay says Law would plead not guilty to all charges.
July 23, 2024: A New Zealand coroner says four people who died by suicide in that country had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, including two university students, a 21-year-old woman and a 40-year old man. The coroner noted that Law’s activities were outside the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.
October 2024: Lawyers for Law file a motion for leave to intervene after prosecutors asked the Supreme Court of Canada to urgently review a recent Ontario ruling in a separate case that could undermine the murder charges against him. That ruling suggested a person may only be liable for murder if they provided a person who died by suicide with the lethal substance and “overbore the victim’s free will in choosing suicide.”
October 2025: Law’s trial is pushed back to April 2026 for a second time as the Crown and defence await the Supreme Court decision.
Dec. 5, 2025: The Supreme Court of Canada declines to “conclusively resolve” the legal issue regarding whether murder charges can be laid against people who aid in suicides.
April 18, 2026: Gourlay says a plea deal has been reached with Crown prosecutors, who will drop all 14 murder charges against Law. Gourlay says Law would plead guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide.
May 28, 2026: The families of people who died in the United Kingdom after allegedly receiving packages from Law say the country’s National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service have informed them that Law will not be facing charges there because extradition could be a lengthy process and any sentence imposed in Canada would be similar.
May 29, 2026: Law enters his guilty pleas in a Newmarket, Ont., court as an agreed statement of facts outlines the last moments of 14 Ontarians whose deaths were linked to him. The court also hears details about 79 people in the U.K. who died because of products purchased from Law, as the National Crime Agency says in a press release that will be included as part of Law’s sentencing in Canada.
Sept. 23, 2026: Law’s sentencing hearing is set to begin.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988, Canada’s national suicide prevention helpline.
© 2026 The Canadian Press