San Francisco Frontiers - Canadian who sold poison for suicides to plead guilty

Since Kenneth Law's arrest in 2023, details of the online forums where he advised distressed people on how to end their lives have caused public outrage and triggered investigations in several countries.

In Canada, Law faced 14 murder charges and an additional 14 charges for aiding or counselling suicide.

But prosecutors have withdrawn the murder charges in exchange for Law pleading guilty to the lesser offenses, according to his defense lawyer and families of his victims.

Legal experts note that counselling suicide is a serious crime and Law could receive a sentence of 10-20 years.

News that Law will not stand trial for murder came as a disappointment to some families.

David Parfett's son Thomas was 22 when he ended his own life in 2021 with materials allegedly supplied by Law.

Thomas's death is not part of the ongoing Canadian case but is among the dozens of British suicides reportedly linked to Law's online forums.

Since Thomas's death, his father has become an advocate for change, urging more rigorous legislation to confront online spaces that guide people toward harm.

He told AFP he believes Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law's conduct.

"If (Law) hadn't been offering detailed instructions about how to take your own life, then the chances are my son would still be here. So again, for me, it's murder," Parfett said.

Kim Prosser's son Ashtyn took his own life in March 2023, weeks before Law's arrest. Law is expected to plead guilty on Friday to counselling Ashtyn ahead of his suicide.

Prosser told AFP she will attend the hearing and spoke of the excruciatingly painful three years since her son's death on March 30, 2023.

"To be at the courthouse on Friday and to sit there... it's a beginning to another chapter of this process of healing," she said.

Prosser now works in holistic coaching and wellness and told AFP she understands other families are furious Law will not be held culpable for murder but said she does not share that emotion.

- Separate crime? -

A key issue facing prosecutors was whether the same alleged conduct could amount to both counselling suicide and murder.

Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP that Law's prosecutors were closely watching a separate case before the Supreme Court, hoping Canada's top judges would offer clarity on the issue.

But the Supreme Court left that question unanswered, and prosecutors doubted they could secure murder convictions against Law, Currie said, stressing he will still be given a significant sentence.

Law, 60, is a former chef who allegedly shipped parcels to hundreds of people in dozens of countries containing sodium nitrite, a legally available preservative that can be fatal in certain concentrations.

J.Scott--SFF