A former Canadian chef accused of selling “suicide kits” online that led to the deaths of around 100 people in several countries was charged Monday with 14 counts of murder linked to suicides in Canada.
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Kenneth Law was arrested in May for having sold a substance used as a food additive since the end of 2020 on several websites, targeting vulnerable people.
The new charges against the 58-year-old man in Newmarket court, near Toronto, add to the 14 charges he already faces for “assisted suicide” and concern the same victims, according to court documents consulted by AFP.
His lawyer Matthew Gourlay also confirmed to AFP that his client had been “charged with 14 new counts of second-degree murder”, a crime punishable by life imprisonment in Canada.
Matthew Gourlay did not wish to provide further details.
In total, local police estimate that Kenneth Law sent more than 1,200 packages to around 40 countries.
In Canada, 14 victims aged 16 to 36 used his “kits” to end their lives. And this number is likely to increase, according to authorities who have identified 160 packages sent across the country.
Police are expected to provide an update on the investigation Tuesday morning.
In the United Kingdom, of the 272 people who purchased these products online, 88 died according to British police.
The man who has been detained since his arrest intends to plead not guilty, his lawyer Matthew Gourlay indicated in September.
“This is a unique procedure of its kind” which involves “troubling” accusations according to him, because his client is being prosecuted “for having sold a legal substance on the market” which was “until recently sold on Amazon” . “The alleged behavior does not fall within the scope of this offense,” he told AFP.
Alerted by Interpol, several other countries have opened investigations, such as New Zealand and Italy. Australian authorities have also reportedly started research.
For its part, France reported around thirty buyers in September, but “did not open an investigation”, considering that “the use of this type of product does not constitute an offense”, had explained to AFP a police source with knowledge of the case.
Same observation in Ireland which records a “small number” of deaths, but has not launched a criminal investigation.