Merchant of Death

"It's a very ongoing investigation and it's a continuous investigation. And I can say that evidence has come in that supports the charge of second-degree murder."

"I can't speak to that evidence at this time to preserve the investigation."

"The victims and the survivors of this case are someone's son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father. They're all people and they were loved by their family and friends who continue to live without them today."

"We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies on a daily basis globally, from countries all over the world."

"We are aware of a number of websites. One of the challenges that we face are a number of these sites are located in other countries where Canadian law does not apply or Canadian orders necessarily don't apply."

York Region Police Inspector Simon James 

Kenneth Law is seen outside the Mississauga, Ont. pharmacy where a post office box is linked to him. Law has been charged with murder in connection to multiple deaths in Ontario, CBC News

 

According to British police, 232 people have been identified as victims of this man's traffic in a deadly substance that he advertised specifically for people who were contemplating ending their lives. Of the total in the United Kingdom so far identified, 88 died, resulting from the products they had ordered from Canada-based websites linked to the man now in custody in Canada. In the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand authorities have also made announcements with respect to their own investigations.

The man, Kenneth Law, is accused of sending lethal substances to people who on receipt of what they ordered took their own lives. He has been charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder in addition to 14 charges of counselling and aiding suicide. All 28 charges levelled against the man relate to the same 14 victims who were aged 15 to 36 and lived and died across Ontario, from Thunder Bay in the north and London, in Ontario's south-west. Several victims were under age 18.

According to police, the 58-year-old Mississauga resident operated a number of websites whose use was to advertise, advise prospective clients, and sell sodium nitrite, along with other related items used for self-harm. These products were shipped out to over 40 countries, in roughly 1,200 packages; 150 within Canada. Authorities are investigating possible links between deaths in their jurisdictions and the activities of Kenneth Law in other regions of Canada and other countries. 

Authorities in New Zealand, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Switzerland have all confirmed Law shipped packages to addresses in their respective countries. A number of Canadian police forces outside of Ontario are also reviewing past sudden deaths in light of the investigation of this man's activities. Through his lawyer, Kenneth Law is pleading 'not guilty' to the charges brought against him.

 

A former cook, Law is well aware that sodium nitrite, commonly used as a food preservative, can be lethal in large doses. York Regional Police revealed in August their belief that about 160 packages were  forwarded on order by clients of his website to addresses in Canada. Once a chef at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel as well as being a former engineer, Law states he is not responsible for what people do with his products.

 

He has not yet faced any charges abroad in connection with his online businesses. However, there is evidence an FBI investigation in the U.S. is progressing.

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.

 

Committing Suicide an Offence in Canada, Unless the State Assists

"Investigators are working in collaboration with multiple jurisdictions across Ontario, nationally, and internationally, as we believe there could be more victims."

"We're aware that packages were shipped to over 40 countries. We're aware of 1,200 packages that have been shipped. We can't say categorically that all of those contain sodium nitrite."

"The mental health and well-being of our communities is our main priority. As such we will not tolerate criminal actions by those who prey on vulnerable individuals."

"We're in the process of executing search warrants ... as we move the investigation forward."

"We're still investigating those other deaths along with or law enforcement partners, both provincially and nationally and internationally."

"It's been a really hard slog. Our investigators have done a lot of leg work and we've used multiple avenues of investigation to determine that these two deaths we could link to these companies and to the accused."

Marc Andrews, Peel Regional Police deputy chief of operations support

"The OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] is calling on everyone to be vigilant of the online transactions and activity of family members and the arrival of any unexpected packages in the mail."

OPP Statement

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just selling a product. I'm not assisting. It's your choice. I'm not forcing you to buy anything."

"Perhaps you may want to stop people buying knives and guns."

Kenneth Law, 57, former aerospace engineer, latterly chef, Mississauga, Ontario resident

The MAiD law legalized assisted death for Canadians 18 and older with terminal illnesses in 2016. It was expanded in 2021 to include those with serious and chronic physical conditions, even if that condition was non-life threatening.   Photo: APTN file

 

Arrested following an investigation into online sales and distribution of sodium nitrate, Kenneth Law had informed an uncover reporter for The Times of London, that people felt he was doing "god's work". His business was an "avenue of escape". Following his arrest after an investigation linking his sales of sodium nitrite with a sudden death believed to have involved the chemical consumption, and another occurring soon afterward, he had a brief appearance in court, and was kept in custody pending a bail hearing.

 

Police in Ontario issued a global alert for over a thousand packages shipped from Mississauga believed to contain mail order chemicals that were used to commit suicide, the case linked to deaths of two Canadians and other people in Britain and the United States. Across the province, packages were sent to over a dozen communities.  Mr. Law now faces two charges of counselling or aiding suicide after the death of two adults in the region died. 

The arrest took place following an investigation that began March 31. It is investigating police contention that the deaths they were called to investigate were linked to the substance distributed and marketed online to people at risk of self-harm. Packages from several companies were identified: Imtime Cuisine, AmbuCA, ACademic, Escape Mode and I Cemac. 

 

Kenneth Law, a 57-year-old Mississauga man, faces two charges of counselling or aiding suicide after two adults in the region adjacent to Toronto died following an investigation involving the online sale and distribution of sodium nitrite. Photo by Peel Regional Police

Anyone seeing, receiving, or knowing of such packages from these businesses is urged by authorities to call their local police service. Sodium nitrite, legal in Canada, is described as a white, crystalline substance used as a food additive, commonly found in processed meats; the product acts as an agent that aids in the curing of meat products (think bacon for example). Consumption of large amounts of the substance can result in reduced oxygen levels impairing breathing and causing death.

A number of people are known to have died in Britain following consumption of the chemical. The Times of London newspaper traced these suicide deaths to Mississauga in their investigation, which led them to Law. During an interview, Kenneth Law is said to have informed the paper he had sold products to hundreds of people in Britain. His website is now defunct, where the product is offered as a meat curative. It is generally known that sodium nitrite is sought after for its other properties; as a gateway to planned suicide.

 

“Intentional consumption of certain amounts of this substance can reduce oxygen levels, impair breathing and can result in death,” according to a police statement. Photo by Peel Regional Police

 

It is beyond ironic that this situation is taking place in Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. It is called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and when it was first introduced it was confined to people in imminent danger of death linked to a medical condition who would chose to die to save themselves from greater agonies than what they are currently suffering. Since that control was loosened, people with mental conditions can choose to take advantage of MAID. 

It was then extended further to voluntarily ending the lives of children who live with unmitigated pain from a physical or mental condition that cannot be remediated. In essence, the government of
Canada lends itself to peoples' wishes to end their lives, at the very time when an individual is offering a chemical and a process to desperate people who are suicide-oriented. 

MAID is also available on request to convicts serving long sentences in Canadian prisons. There is an obvious moral connection to an individual committing murder that was once punishable by capital punishment, long since terminated in Canada. A moral state decided it wanted no part in ending the lives of convicted criminals. Canada has now turned its back on that standard of justice as well.

A hallway inside Port Cartier prison, located on Quebec's North Shore. Photo: APTN file

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