A POISON-PEDDLING chef dubbed the “Merchant of Death” has been charged with 14 counts of first-degree murder.
Kenneth Law, 57, is linked to the deaths of 93 Brits after allegedly selling 1,200 packages of lethal substances on the internet.
AFPPoison seller Kenneth Law is linked to the deaths of 124 people including 93 Brits[/caption]
muchloved.comOne of Law’s alleged victims is Neha Raju, who died aged 23[/caption]
Times Media LtdBritish university student Tom Parfett, 22, allegedly died after buying a lethal substance from Law[/caption]
Chris EadesImogen Nunn, known as Deaf Immy on TikTok, also allegedly died after Law sent her a ‘suicide kit’[/caption]
He was originally charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder in December, but the charges have now been upgraded to first-degree murder, Law’s lawyer Matthew Gourlay told The Times.
Gourlay reportedly said Law, who is in custody and due to appear in court in Canada next week, will be pleading not guilty to the charges which include 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide.
He will face an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years if found guilty.
The poison-peddler, known by some as the “Merchant of Death”, has been charged with 28 offences relating to 14 victims in Ontario, Canada.
But he has been linked to the deaths of 124 people across the world, including 93 in Britain, with many of his customers reportedly shepherded to him by an online suicide forum.
Law’s alleged victims include teenagers and young adults.
In Britain, Tom Parfett, 22, Michael Dunham, 38, Neha Raju, 23, Imogen Nunn, 25, and a 21-year-old student allegedly died after buying products from Law’s company.
The father of Mr Parfett, born in Berkshire, said: “I believe my son would still be alive if it wasn’t for this man and this substance.”
The National Crime Agency, which has opened an investigation into Law, confirmed 288 people in the UK are now known to have bought from Law.
An agency spokesman said on Thursday: “We are investigating potential criminal offences linked to the deaths of 93 individuals who purchased substances to assist with suicide from these websites.
“Following the initial list of 272 individuals, we recently received further intelligence from Canadian authorities relating to another 16 UK-based purchases made during the same period. Of those, three had sadly died in the intervening time.”
Since 2021, the trained engineer had repeatedly featured in UK investigations involving suicide, but officers did not realise he was allegedly actively selling a certain unnamed poison for death.
He was arrested in Ontario in May last year after admitting to an undercover reporter from The Times that he had “hundreds” of UK customers – “many, many, many, many” of whom had died.
It was later revealed by police that he had sent 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries.
He was charged with two counts of counselling and aiding suicide, then received a further 12 charges of counselling or aiding suicide in August.
Investigators are now understood to be looking into deaths in the US, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, France, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland as well as in the UK and Canada.
The TimesA writer for The Times, James Beale, confronts Kenneth Law outside a post office in Ontario[/caption]
APYork Regional Police Inspector Simon James speaks during a news conference in Mississauga, Ontario[/caption]
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