He knew what his customers were using it for. He had an account on here. He knew that anyone on here who bought it from him were not going to use it to cure meat.
He even offered phone consultations where he gave people tips on how to increase their chances of a successful attempt. That is crossing a line. He didn't know how old these people are or what their reason was to want to end their life. He didn't care. He was just exploiting people's suffering and profiting off of their death.
Yes, he did more than just selling to these people.
@Emeralds is entirely correct here. There is no question, under Canadian law, he is guilty of counselling and aiding suicide.
As to the murder charges, it's looking virtually impossible for the prosecution to make those charges stick
under current case law.
First, identifying a couple players here:
- CBC (Canada's federal public broadcasting network)
- The Province of Ontario (prosecuting the case)
- Court of Appeal for Ontario (hears appeals relating to provincial cases)
- Supreme Court of Canada (has final say over all matters of law in Canada)
Information up to date as of this morning's news cycle...
Kenneth Law is charged with 14 counts of first-degree murder, as well as 14 counts of counselling and aiding suicide. These charges have not yet been contested in court.
According to the CBC, the Province of Ontario is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to make a ruling on a
separate case that would clarify the law on aiding suicide.
In this
separate case, the Court of Appeal for Ontario had previously ruled that in order for a case to be potentially considered murder, the defendant must have "
overbore the victim's freewill in choosing suicide." Otherwise, the "
the offence strictly amounts to abetting suicide."
This is currently the highest legal ruling on the matter. The province wants that changed.
They believe that under current law, they're (obviously) not going to be able to make their first-degree murder charges stick, so they're pushing the Supreme Court of Canada to make a ruling that would increase their chances of success.
The Kenneth Law trial is scheduled to start in September 2025, and the province wants the Supreme Court of Canada to hear their appeals case and make a ruling on it before his trial begins. Regardless of how that ruling goes, he'll definitely still be prosecuted for counselling and aiding suicide.
