On Friday, May 29, 2026, Canadian man Kenneth Law admitted in court to mailing poison and aiding in the suicides of 14 individuals in Ontario. However, this former hotel chef sent out over 1,200 suicide packages globally over two years, potentially leading to at least 147 international deaths.
In a court in Newmarket, Ontario, Law acknowledged the charges of aiding in 14 suicides from 2021 to 2023 in the province. This admission was part of an agreement reached with the prosecutor, who subsequently dropped the more serious charges of 14 counts of first-degree murder against him.
At the age of 60, Law, a graduate of Queen’s University in Canada with a background in engineering and business, transitioned to becoming a high-end hotel chef. In 2020, burdened with heavy debts, he declared bankruptcy and went on to establish a disguised website, actively engaging with and guiding vulnerable groups on online suicide forums, selling deadly chemicals globally for profit.
The court learned that Law operated several online stores, selling a legal but potentially lethal chemical (sodium nitrite) and other suicide tools. Authorities stated that he sent out 1,209 parcels containing toxic substances to buyers in 41 countries, with the actual international death toll reaching at least 147 individuals.
Among the parcels sent, 160 were destined for locations within Canada, 431 batches were shipped to the United States, and the rest were distributed to countries including Australia, Brazil, China, India, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and South Korea. Canadian law enforcement authorities had informed Interpol, which then issued alerts to various countries from Australia to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta.
Authorities in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and several other countries confirmed to the CBC that individuals died after becoming customers of Law. A coroner in New Zealand also found that at least five people in the country had died by suicide after purchasing his products.
This international case stirred controversy in the UK, where Law sent 330 parcels, involving 286 recipients. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated 112 death cases, linking Law to 79 deaths in England and Wales, 5 in Scotland, and 1 in Northern Ireland.
However, the UK prosecutor did not press charges locally against Law, causing outrage among the families of UK victims.
In October 2021, David Parfett’s 22-year-old son Tom Parfett died near London. David then began investigating the source of Tom’s ingestion. He voiced his concerns to a reporter from The Times of London, who conducted an in-depth investigation into Law’s products and published it just days before Law’s arrest.
“I’m 99% sure that if my son didn’t have access to this substance, he would still be here today,” David said during an interview with CBC in 2023. Regarding the UK government’s decision not to prosecute, he expressed anger, stating, “I’m furious, but not surprised. If our own country doesn’t prosecute anyone for these deaths, then the least it can do is conduct a proper investigation into why these events were allowed to happen.”
According to a letter sent by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to the families, Law will not face charges in the UK due to the complexity of legal procedures.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Andrew Hudson explained that including UK victims in the sentencing process in Canada was the “quickest and most efficient way” to achieve justice. Hudson noted that a successful extradition was far from guaranteed and could take several years to conclude, with the risk that any prosecution could be blocked under the principle of non bis in idem if he were extradited.
“We have included a condition in the agreement reached with Canadian prosecutors that Law’s sentencing must reflect the fact that people in England and Wales died directly from using the products he provided. No victim is forgotten in this process,” Hudson added.
Ashtyn Prosser-Blake, a 19-year-old victim from Ontario, Canada, was one of the victims who Law had pled guilty to aiding in their suicide in Canada in March 2023.
“He was a very happy and extremely gentle person, always standing up for the vulnerable and those who were bullied,” his mother, Kim Prosser, told the BBC.
Kim Prosser mentioned that her son’s mental health deteriorated after the COVID-19 pandemic. After graduating from high school, he started his first year at the University of Toronto but later dropped out and moved back home, where he continued to struggle before ultimately choosing a fatal path.
“The pain of losing my son Ashtyn will not be lessened by someone being behind bars. Seeing others’ pain does not bring any comfort in my healing journey,” she said.