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 accused of selling lethal substances online to people who later used them to die by suicide, pleaded guilty Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide.
Crown attorneys will now withdraw 14 counts of first-degree murder Law, 60, was charged with when he was arrested three years ago after he is sentenced.
Anyone found guilty of aiding suicide can face up to 14 years in prison, while first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
After he entered his pleas in a Newmarket, Ont., courtroom, Crown attorneys began reading an agreed statement of facts to the court.
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That statement detailed how Law ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite, a preservative for cured meats, along with other items. All of them could be used for self-harm.
The court documents also shed light on victims in multiple countries, the circumstances of their deaths and how authorities were able to link them to Law.
His pleas come more than a month after his lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, told Global News about the proposed conclusion to the case.
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Kenneth Law, Ontario man accused of aiding 14 suicides, to plead guilty in deal with Crown prosecutors
He was set to stand trial in April after it was pushed back multiple times in anticipation of a Supreme Court of Canada decision on a separate matter prosecutors and defence lawyers believed would impact the case.
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In that case, the Crown appealed a ruling by Ontario’s top court that 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 freewill in choosing suicide.”
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Canada’s top court delivered its decision last December but declined to “conclusively resolve” what it called the “abstract legal issue” in the appeal.
“The court’s analysis of that issue that made a murder prosecution in this case impossible,” Crown attorney Peter Westgate told court.
“It is our obligation as the Crown to continue to assess the reasonable prospect of conviction regarding all charges that are before the court.”
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Alleged Kenneth Law victim says suicide website was ‘like shopping on Amazon’
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Authorities alleged Law shipped roughly 1,200 packages to people in more than 40 countries between September 2021 and May 2023.
Police alleged roughly 160 of those packages were sent to addresses in Canada; the charges against him relate to the same 14 people, who were between the ages of 16 and 36.
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Elsewhere, a New Zealand coroner found that four people who died by suicide had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, but noted that Law’s activities are outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts.
Prosecutors also gave details about 79 people in the United Kingdom who died from Law’s products.
The Canadian Press reported Friday that families of people who died in the U.K. said the country’s National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service have informed them Law will not be facing charges there because extradition could be a lengthy process and any sentence imposed in Canada would be similar.
A sentencing hearing is expected to take place in the fall.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
For immediate mental health support, call 988. For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca.
Learn more about preventing suicide with these warning signs and tips on how to help.
— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.