{"id":613358,"date":"2026-04-18T23:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T23:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/613358\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T23:47:08","slug":"families-devastated-after-collapse-of-murder-charges-against-kenneth-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/613358\/","title":{"rendered":"Families devastated after collapse of murder charges against Kenneth Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo of Kenneth Law is shown during a York Regional Police news conference in Mississauga, Aug. 29, 2023.Arlyn McAdorey\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The collapse of Canada\u2019s murder case against Kenneth Law has devastated the families of his alleged victims, with one calling for greater accountability in Canada and for Mr. Law to be extradited to the United Kingdom to face charges there.<\/p>\n

Mr. Law, a 61-year-old Mississauga man, was charged in 2023 and jailed on allegations he sold toxic salts through his online business to vulnerable people looking for a way to kill themselves. He was charged with 14 counts of aiding suicide and later, 14 counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Canadians. <\/p>\n

When he was arrested, authorities said they believed Mr. Law had mailed 1,200 packages of the poison to recipients in 41 countries that he met in online suicide forums. Police believe 160 packages were distributed in Canada. Those that died were young adults.<\/p>\n

Under the plea bargain agreement with Ontario prosecutors, Mr. Law is expected to plead guilty only to the lesser offence of assisting in the suicides of the 14 Canadians, his lawyer confirmed Saturday. Mr. Law appears in court on Monday.<\/p>\n

The plea deal protects Mr. Law from a mandatory life sentence. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf all you get is a little bit of jail time for causing this much devastation, it\u2019s hardly a disincentive for people,\u201d said David Parfett. His son Thomas, 22, died in 2021. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely there needs to be a public inquiry.\u201d <\/p>\n

The British National Crime Agency has said 112 people died in the U.K. alone due to the nearly 300 poison packages shipped from Canada.<\/p>\n

In an interview from his home west of London, Mr. Parfett said British authorities should bring charges for the deaths in that country. Charges against Mr. Law have never been laid abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see Law prosecuted for the death of my son,\u201d Mr. Parfett said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy (Mr. Law) has allegedly sent a loaded gun in the post to multiple people worldwide. . . Not prosecuting him for the murder charges is, to me, inexplicable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonardo Bedoya, whose 18-year-old daughter was among the 14 people Mr. Law is accused of helping to kill in Canada, said dropping the murder charges is \u201ca disgrace for the victims\u201d and \u201cit won\u2019t bring justice.\u201d <\/p>\n

His daughter, Jeshenia Bedoya-Lopez, died in 2022 after allegedly receiving a package of poison from Mr. Law.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s Ministry of the Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment on the plea deal. <\/p>\n

One victim\u2019s family member told The Globe and Mail<\/a> that they were told by Crown representatives that prosecutors can no longer pursue murder charges because a recent Supreme Court ruling in an unrelated case<\/a> made those charges untenable. The Globe is not identifying the familly member because they said they do not want to interfere in the judicial process.<\/p>\n

Last December, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to clarify when murder charges can be laid against people who provoke apparent suicides.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s decision not to weigh in left an Ontario Court of Appeal decision on the matter untouched, a decision that Crown prosecutors in that case said \u201cintroduced significant limitations on the potential liability of those who engage in actions that assist a suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Law\u2019s case is to return to the Ontario Superior Court in Newmarket on Monday. The short, virtual proceeding will set up his guilty plea and sentencing hearings. <\/p>\n

His lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, would not say whether other countries might try to prosecute Mr. Law once he is sentenced in Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m unable to comment on the extradition issue,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Each charge of aiding suicide carries a potential 14-year maximum sentence upon conviction. <\/p>\n

In Canada, judges who convict an accused on multiple charges usually rule that prison sentences should be served at the same time, and not be stacked atop each other. <\/p>\n

But some legal experts with no involvement in Mr. Law\u2019s case, say that stacking remains possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see no reason why it can\u2019t be a consecutive sentence on each count,\u201d lawyer Tim Danson said. \u201cAnd it could be a very heavy sentence.\u201d <\/p>\n

A Canadian court could also potentially consider at sentencing Mr. Law\u2019s conduct affecting people in jurisdictions outside Ontario, Adam Weisburg, president of Canada\u2019s Criminal Lawyers\u2019 Association said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be a strong public benefit for Kenneth Law to take responsibility for the conduct affecting the victims globally and to receive a harsher sentence in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email to The Globe he said this \u201cwould bring finality for all of the victims rather than delaying justice.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A photo of Kenneth Law is shown during a York Regional Police news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-613358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}