Casting a Wide, Deadly Internet

"[The National Crime Agency is investigating whether any crimes had been committed in the U.K., but] at this early stage there are no confirmed links between the items purchased from the websites and cause of death in any of these cases."

"Our deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of those who have died. They are being supported by specially trained officers from police forces."

U.K. National Crime Agency Deputy Director Craig Turner

"In order to protect the integrity of this complex, multi-jurisdictional investigation, we are not able to release specific details at this time."

"As the investigation progresses, we will provide more details to the public when investigators have deemed it appropriate."

"If we receive information about a potential victim outside of our jurisdiction, our Investigators will communicate with outside police agencies to check on the person's well-being."
"[Peel investigators are working with counterparts] across Ontario, nationally and internationally, as we believe there could be more victims."

Peel Regional Police spokesperson Constable Sarah Patten

Kenneth Law of Mississauga, Ont., was charged with counselling suicide  CBC News

The Times of London had initially reported on a Mississauga, Ontario man, 57-year-old Kenneth Law , who been selling a potentially lethal, but legal, substance online to people invested in ending their lives and reaching out to his various websites to acquire his advertised product. Sodium nitrite is a salt compound or food additive that sees common usage in the curing of meat products. It is a white, crystalline substance that can be lethal, ingested in high concentrations, according to toxicology experts.  

While sodium nitrite is commonly used in food preparation, including for cured meats, Greg Blonder, a Boston University visiting scholar in engineering, explained on enquiry that "typical culinary application levels" are much lower, "at the 100 parts per million level." In his online presence, the now-defunct websites selling sodium nitrite, Law used the "PEng" abbreviation, suggesting a professional engineering background.

 

A man from Liverpool, England, revealed in an interview that his 41-year-old brother Gary Cooper was found dead a year ago July. British police had informed his family that his brother had consumed sodium nitrite that had been ordered and mailed from Canada.

"There's a lot of thoughts, a lot of emotions, but I'm just glad that, although this took a long time, I'm glad it's finally happening."

"[My brother was] brilliant [but was struggling]."

"He was getting help. He was slowly but surely getting there and unfortunately he found this website, this forum before he could get better, so he didn't get a chance to heal."

Lee Cooper, Liverpool, England

A package is shown here from Imtime Cuisine, one of the companies linked to Kenneth Law. (Supplied by Peel Regional Police)

Over 40 countries and 11 Ontario police forces are now involved in the investigation against Law. In Britain police are investigating the deaths of 88 people who had accessed the online sites to order products that offered lethal substances to people at risk of self-harm. The U.K. probe is part of international enquiries. The arrest in Canada of Kenneth Law earlier in the year sparked international enquiries. Mr. Law has been charged with two counts of counselling and aiding suicide.

 

Police in Canada advised that Kenneth Law, living in the Toronto area, made use of a number of websites in marketing and selling sodium nitrite to people who presented as emotionally vulnerable, actively seeking assisatnce in their goal to end their lives. Sodium nitrite, Law advised them, was the perfect medium. He is suspected of having sent 1,200 packages containing the lethal substance to individuals who ordered it, from over 40 countries. 

 

Investigations have been launched by authorities in the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. 

In Ontario alone, eleven police forces are actively taking part in a joint investigation of this man's activities. Peel police arrested Law on May 2, charging him with two counts of counselling or aiding suicide. The Times of London had launched an investigation in April which was the first indication that something dramatically sinister was abroad when the investigation caught Law on tape advising enquirers how to use his products. 

 

Law himself assured The Times reporter that "many, many people" had died with the use of sodium nitrite. As though he found pride in being so helpful to so many people suffering the psychological imbalance that brought them to search for a means by which to end their lives.