Kenneth Law, 'Chef of Death,' set to plead guilty to aiding suicides in Ontario

Toronto Sun Crime reports that 14 murder charges against Kenneth Law are expected to be dropped Friday after a plea deal on aiding suicide counts.

Plea deal sees murder charges dropped against notorious sodium nitrite seller

Fourteen murder charges against Kenneth Law, a 60-year-old former cook at Toronto's Royal York hotel, are expected to be withdrawn in a Newmarket courtroom Friday morning after he agrees to plead guilty to aiding the suicide of Ontarians aged 16 to 36, Toronto Sun Crime reports. Families of alleged victims are expected to be present for the hearing.

The plea deal arrives three years after Law's arrest for allegedly operating several online storefronts through which he distributed toxic sodium nitrite to vulnerable buyers around the world. Police have warned that at least 1,200 packages of the lethal white substance were mailed to 40 countries, including 160 to Canadian addresses.

Law has been referred to in media coverage as the "Merchant of Death," the "Chef of Death," and — by his own account — an "Angel of Death."

A legal but lethal substance

Sodium nitrite is a fine white salt widely used to cure meats such as bacon and hot dogs. In larger doses, however, it prevents blood from carrying oxygen and causes death. Law reportedly sold the substance through storefronts styled as legitimate food businesses, one of them operating under the name Escape Mode. According to reports, there was no age verification in place.

Law opened the online operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was reportedly bankrupt and out of work. For roughly three years, he allegedly made regular trips to a local Shoppers Drug Mart to mail out packages to buyers across the globe. His alleged victims were traced to communities including Toronto, Mississauga, Markham, Pickering, London, Brampton, Aurora, and Thunder Bay.

When investigators and journalists pressed him on his role, Law maintained he bore no responsibility. "I'm not assisting anything," he told The Times. "I'm selling a product." He also told the publication he wanted to create an "avenue of escape" and claimed some buyers had told him he was "doing God's work."

A British father's investigation led to arrest

Law's downfall began with a grieving British father, David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son had died by suicide. Parfett contacted Times journalist James Beal, who went undercover posing as a suicidal buyer. Beal's resulting report documented Law's online operation in detail. Weeks after publication, Law was arrested.

Law had described his motivations partly in personal terms, claiming he developed the side business after watching his bedridden mother suffer for more than seven years following a stroke.

Victims' families await sentencing

Among the alleged Canadian victims was Ashtyn Prosser, who died in Thunder Bay in March 2023 — one of the last deaths attributed to Law before his arrest. His mother, Kim Prosser, told Toronto Sun Crime in an interview two years ago that a review of her son's bank account showed he had made the alleged purchase from Law six days before his death. She stated she plans to attend Friday's court hearing in person.

The family of Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez, an 18-year-old from Aurora, is pursuing a $2 million civil lawsuit against Law and her doctors.

So far, Law has only faced charges in Canada. Authorities in the United Kingdom are said to be considering an extradition request, and a petition has called for his prosecution in the United States as well.

Maximum sentence of 14 years

With the murder charges set to be withdrawn, the possibility of a life sentence is removed from the proceedings. Aiding suicide under Canadian law carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, meaning Law could still face a significant custodial term. No sentencing date has been reported yet.

The case has drawn widespread attention to the largely unregulated online sale of sodium nitrite and its use as a means of suicide, prompting calls for stricter controls on the substance in multiple countries.

Source: Toronto Sun Crime