A Canadian man has been charged with 14 charges of second degree murder, according to police, after it was claimed that he assisted over a dozen young people in Ontario in taking their own lives by mailing them poison.
The 58-year-old Kenneth Law was previously accused of 14 charges of counseling or encouraging suicide.
Law allegedly posted over 160 sodium nitrite shipments to Canadians and shipped at least 1,200 items to addresses in more than 40 nations, according to the police.
“It’s clearly significant … to be laying this many (charges) and that’s not taken lightly by the investigative team,” Inspector Simon James from the York police force, northern district of Toronto, said during a press conference.
James refused to reveal the identities of the victims or provide an explanation for the upgrading of Law’s charges, despite their ages ranging from 16 to 36. He added that he had no idea how many people might have perished overseas.
“We continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and collaborate with them globally,” added James.
Citing official data and statements, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said that Law may have been connected to 117 deaths worldwide, the most of which occurred in Britain. Authorities confirmed that Law transported goods to New Zealand, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, according to the report.
“One of the challenges that we face are a number of these sites are located in other countries where Canadian law does not apply,” averred James.
