UMVA has learned that a former restaurant cook from Toronto has struck a chilling bargain with the courts, pleading guilty to aiding the suicide of dozens of young Canadians while 14 murder charges are set to be withdrawn.
Kenneth Law, once a chef at the Royal York, earned macabre nicknames like “Merchant of Death” and “Angel of Death” after authorities uncovered his covert operation of shipping lethal sodium nitrite to vulnerable individuals across the globe.
Police say the seemingly innocuous white salt, normally used to preserve cured meats, was dispatched in more than 1,200 parcels to 40 countries, with 160 packages arriving at Canadian addresses alone.
Law’s online storefronts, masquerading as legitimate food businesses, operated without age verification, allowing anyone desperate enough to order the poison with a simple click.
When the COVID‑19 pandemic left him jobless, Law allegedly launched a side venture called “Escape Mode,” claiming he was providing “an avenue of escape” for a narrow group of people who felt society denied them the right to choose death.
He boasted that some called him “God’s work,” describing himself as a benevolent angel delivering a final relief to those in unbearable pain.
Victims traced back to Ontario cities—including Toronto, Mississauga, Markham, Pickering, London, Brampton, Aurora and Thunder Bay—paint a grim portrait of a network that facilitated self‑destruction.
One grieving family in Aurora has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Law and the physicians who prescribed the lethal regimen for their 18‑year‑old daughter, Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez.
Another heartbreaking case involved 22‑year‑old Ashtyn Prosser of Thunder Bay, whose mother discovered a purchase from Law just days before his death, prompting her to attend the courtroom proceedings.
A British father, mourning the loss of his 22‑year‑old son, helped expose Law’s operation when he contacted a journalist who posed as a suicidal buyer, sparking the investigation that led to the chef’s arrest.
Law maintained that he was merely selling a product, denying any role in the deaths, yet the court now faces the stark reality of a man who turned a kitchen staple into a weapon of despair.
With murder charges withdrawn, Law now faces a maximum sentence of 14 years for aiding suicide, a legal outcome that still leaves many questions about accountability and the dark market that flourished behind his kitchen doors.
