Canadian who supplied poison for suicides expected to plead guilty on Friday

Kenneth Law set to admit to 14 charges of aiding or counselling suicide, multiple sources have confirmed

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Published May 26, 2026  •  3 minute read

Kim Prosser's son Ashtyn killed himself with help from Kenneth Law, who is expected to plead guilty to 14 charges of aiding suicide. Photo by Jorge Uzon /AFP/File

A Canadian man accused of shipping poison to people contemplating suicide around the globe is expected to plead guilty to several counts on Friday, ending a case that has shocked the public.

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While Kenneth Law is set to admit to 14 charges of aiding or counselling suicide, Canadian prosecutors are withdrawing second-degree murder charges, multiple sources have confirmed, causing anger among devastated families.

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Law, 60, is a former chef accused of running a number of online forums that offered predominantly young, distressed people advice on how to end their lives.

He allegedly shipped to hundreds of people in dozens of countries parcels containing sodium nitrite, a legally available preservative that can be fatal in certain concentrations.

Kim Prosser’s son Ashtyn took his own life in March 2023, weeks before Law’s arrest. His is one of the 14 Canadian deaths at issue in the case being heard in Newmarket.

Kenneth Law, of Mississauga, is accused of selling suicide kits online. Photo by Handout /Peel Regional Police

Attorney general’s office confirms plea date

Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with media by Law’s defence lawyer Matthew Gourlay.

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The office of Ontario’s attorney general told AFP Law will appear in person on Friday “to take a plea.”

Prosser, who said she will attend the hearing, spoke of the excruciatingly painful three years since her son’s death on March 30, 2023.

She said she received his ashes that April 13, her birthday, just two weeks before what would have been Ashtyn’s 20th birthday.

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

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‘For me, it’s murder’

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 one of nearly 100 British suicides reportedly linked to Law’s online forums.

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

He noted that while he is not a lawyer, he believes Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law’s conduct.

“This was a man who was more than urging and assisting suicide,” Parfett told AFP.

David Parfett, seen in 2023, has become a vocal advocate for change since the death of his son, Thomas. Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS /AFP/File

“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.

Leonardo Bedoya — whose 18-year-old daughter Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez died in 2022, allegedly with Law’s help — told CTV he was furious with the plea deal.

“He’s an assassin. A serial killer. They should treat him like a murderer,” Bedoya told the network.

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‘Heinous crime’

Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP prosecutors seeking to try Law for murder were handcuffed by a legal “gap.”

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Under Canadian law, it is not clear if “murder is a separate crime from counselling suicide or whether the same conduct can make up both of those crimes,” he said.

Prosecutors had hoped a Supreme Court decision in a separate case would resolve the uncertainty, but Canada’s top judges “declined to clarify” the issue, Currie added.

Because Law’s prosecutors doubted they could secure murder convictions, they’re “going with the bird in hand,” Currie said, stressing that counselling suicide is a serious offence.

Experts suggest Law is likely to be jailed for 10 to 20 years in Canada, depending on whether he receives concurrent or consecutive sentences, at a subsequent hearing.

“Given the heinous nature of this crime, I would be surprised if he didn’t get something fairly stiff,” Currie told AFP, noting Law could face further justice elsewhere with extradition to the U.K. a plausible future step.

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