Can suicide be murder? With Kenneth Law to plead guilty to lesser charge, we may never know

York Regional Police Insp. Simon James speaks at Peel Regional Police headquarters in 2023 on the case of Kenneth Law; the alleged poison seller, whose business was allegedly global and has resulted in well over 100 deaths. Law, 60, intends to plead guilty to 14 charges of aiding suicide. In exchange, the Crown is expected to abandon its charges of murder. Photo by Jack Boland/Postmedia/File

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The British journalist’s sting that brought Kenneth Law to the attention of Canadian police three years ago played out with high cinematic tension.

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Chasing reports of do-it-yourself poison kits marketed through an online suicide instructional chatroom and sold through a thinly disguised culinary supply website, Times of London reporter James Beal had tracked what he believed to be Law’s business to a post office box in a Mississauga, Ont., pharmacy.

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Beal had spoken on the phone to a man he believed to be Law, posing as a customer. This man told him “many” of his customers had died from his product, so Beal and a photographer staked out the drug store from the parking lot on a cold winter day, hoping for a lucky break.

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A man arrived in a Lincoln Town Car carrying a bunch of packages. Law was startled to be approached, Beal reported, but he was initially willing to talk, and invited the journalist to sit in his car. They spoke for six minutes.

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Law grew increasingly agitated, and reportedly told Beal: “People do this but it’s not my business. It’s their life. They are killing themselves. I’m not doing anything. I’m just selling a product.”

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Beal escalated the interview, confronting Law with the allegation that he had effectively murdered a young British man whose father had helped Beal track Law’s alleged online business. “If they have their intentions, I cannot stop them,” Law said, according to The Times. “Perhaps you want to stop people from buying knives?”

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Law then ordered him out of the car. It was the beginning of the end for the alleged poison seller, whose business was allegedly global and has resulted in well over 100 deaths. A few weeks later, in May 2023, a week after The Times report was published, Peel Regional Police arrested Law, kicking off the most shocking Canadian prosecution in recent memory. They warned the public to be vigilant about online transactions and mailed packages, and listed several websites by name, allegedly connected to Law.

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But the case will not go to trial. On Friday in a Newmarket, Ont., courtroom, Law, 60, intends to plead guilty to 14 charges of aiding suicide, according to his lawyer Matthew Gourlay. In exchange, the Crown is expected to abandon its charges of murder.

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The victims include adults and children, with ages spanning 16 to 36. All are understood to have purchased poison allegedly from Law through an online store.

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Law was originally charged with aiding suicide, first two counts and then 12 more, but after a few months his charges were upgraded to second degree murder, and then to first degree murder — planned and deliberate killing. This suggested both escalating seriousness of the evidence, but also perhaps an uncertainty about what specific crimes had actually been committed.

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Law is expected to make his plea in front of a senior judge of the Ontario Superior Court, Michelle Fuerst, who until a few weeks ago was set to hear his trial before a jury on the far more serious charges of first degree murder. Conviction would have made Law one of Canada’s most prolific murderers, with more victims than child killer Clifford Olson, Toronto van attacker Alek Minassian, or Elizabeth Wettlaufer, a nurse who poisoned patients.