Grief and pain flow at hearing for Canadian suicide poison vendor

Relatives of people who died after using poison sold by Kenneth Law addressed the court on Wednesday as the judge considers the former chef’s prison term.

Their statements described the pain and loss left behind by suicides linked to chemicals Law sold, according to the court account.

Guilty plea followed limits in murder case

Law pleaded guilty in May to aiding in the suicide of 14 people in Canada.

Prosecutors had determined they lacked evidence to convict him of murder over his online forums, where he advised people on how to end their lives.

Law has admitted that he proactively looked for customers.

He appeared on a suicide discussion forum under a pseudonym and made fatal substances available for purchase.

Families describe loss to sentencing judge

The hearing placed the relatives’ grief before the judge who must decide Law’s sentence.

Family members of those who killed themselves using chemicals he sold spoke about their loss in court.

Maria Lopez, the mother of Jeshennia Bedoya-Lopez, gave one of the statements read out Wednesday by prosecutors.

“I cannot stop thinking that my little girl will never come back,” Lopez said in the statement.

Jeshennia Bedoya-Lopez died in 2022 at the age of 18.

The proceedings matter because Law’s sentence is being considered after his guilty plea to aiding suicides, not a murder conviction.

The court also heard that his conduct involved online activity, a pseudonym and the sale of fatal substances.

Source: South China Morning Post