Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Crown prosecutors are withdrawing all 14 murder charges laid against an Ontario man accused of selling a toxic substance to people at risk of self-harm, according to his lawyer.
In turn, Kenneth Law will plead guilty to counselling or aiding suicide, Matthew Gourlay told CBC News on Friday evening.
Law’s case is scheduled to return to a Newmarket, Ont., court on Monday afternoon.
The developments signal Law’s criminal trial — which had been delayed and was scheduled to begin earlier this month — will not take place.
Instead, the 60-year-old will formally enter his plea at a later date.
Law, a trained engineer who worked as a hotel cook, had been charged with both first-degree murder and counselling or aiding suicide, in connection with 14 deaths across Ontario.
He’s been in custody since his arrest at his Mississauga home in May 2023.
Police previously said Law operated online storefronts which sold a legal — but potentially lethal — chemical and other suicide paraphernalia. An indictment filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice says Law has been linked to 14 deaths in several cities, including Toronto, Thunder Bay and London, Ont.
The families of 18-year-old Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez, 19-year-old Ashtyn Prosser, and Stephen Mitchell Jr., 21, have all identified their loved ones as alleged victims. Police have said the other deceased ranged in age from 16 to 36.
Ashtyn Prosser, Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez and Stephen Mitchell Jr. are all listed in court documents as alleged victims of Kenneth Law. (Submitted by Kim Prosser, Leonardo Bedoya, Stephen Mitchell Sr.)Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday evening.
If Law’s murder charges are indeed dropped, he will face a shorter prison sentence.
According to the Criminal Code, abetting suicide carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. A murder conviction automatically means life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.