Editor’s note: If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling or texting the Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8. A list of local crisis centres is also available here.
New Zealand's coroner has ruled that four of its citizens died after ordering products from an Ontario man who is facing murder charges for selling poisonous substances.
In three of those cases, the deaths could be attributed to those products, bringing the number of worldwide deaths linked to items sold online by former Mississauga chef Kenneth Law to 129, according to a tally by CTV News.
The youngest was an 18-year-old university student in the first year of her studies, according to a series of reports provided by the coroner's office to CTV News.
"Police analysis of [her] phone confirms that by February 2023 [she] was visiting websites and discussion forums associated with Kenneth Law," says the report, by New Zealand Coroner A.M. Cunninghame.
By March 12, 2023, she had "ordered an item online from a business in which New Zealand police have confirmed is connected with Mr. Law," and the package was delivered on March 29, 2023, the report said. She was found dead in a residential college room in April 2023.
Another, a 21 year old, ordered an item online from Law in September 2022, the report says, and it was delivered on November 16, 2022. She died two weeks later using the product, the report found.
- READ MORE: American man speaks out after linking brother's death to accused sodium nitrite salesman Kenneth Law
A 40-year-old personal trainer and DJ ordered a package from Law on June 23, 2022. The police could not identify the substance that he purchased, though the coroner found it is "more likely than not" a product sold by Law.
The fourth person, a 21-year-old psychology student, ordered an item from one of Law's websites on December 9, 2021, and it arrived on January 14, 2022. However the report concludes that he ultimately died from a different means of suicide.
The report says a New Zealand government office classified eight discussion threads from forums associated with Law as "objectionable" under New Zealand law.
It also took steps to consult with New Zealand internet service providers to request that websites connected directly with Law were blocked. A working group has been established to co-ordinate a joint response to the sale of certain poisonous substances, the report says.
"Mr. Law lives in Canada. His activities are outside the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Courts and I do not make any recommendations that are directed towards his activities. I do note that media has reported that Mr. Law is facing charges of second-degree murder in Canada as the result of his activities," the report says.
In Canada, Law’s sites were taken down by their host, Shopify, in the wake of his arrest in May of 2023. However discussion forums that promoted the products remain accessible in Canada despite calls to remove them as there is no mechanism in Canadian law to do so.
The Canadian Online Harms Act, introduced in February, would prohibit online content that encourages young people to harm themselves. Earlier this year, the operator of a particular forum that CTV News is not naming said they “don’t care about Canadian law.”
Law remains in custody, facing 14 counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aiding and abetting suicide. He has denied the allegations. His trial is expected to begin in 2025.
