Kenneth Law to face 1st-degree murder charge as new intelligence emerges in poison seller case

Alleged poison seller Kenneth Law will face at least one first-degree murder charge in connection with a death in Ontario, CBC News has learned.

The upgraded count signals another significant shift in the way authorities approach the case. Law initially faced charges of abetting suicide last year; 14 counts of second-degree murder were later added.

Toronto-area police have alleged Law, 58, operated websites selling a potentially lethal substance to clients at risk of self-harm. According to a tally by CBC News, his products are suspected of being connected to at least 124 deaths worldwide — most of them in the United Kingdom.

Canadian authorities recently shared new intelligence with British investigators suggesting the Ontario man had sent out more packages containing suicide paraphernalia than initially thought.

Until now, Law was charged with both second-degree murder and counselling or aiding suicide in connection with 14 deaths across Ontario. It's not clear how many of the second-degree murder charges will be upgraded to first degree, nor when Law will make his next court appearance.

York Regional Police Insp. Simon James, who co-ordinates the sprawling Ontario investigation, said in December the second-degree murder charges stemmed from unspecified evidence that had come to light.

"We are constantly assessing evidence," he said.

According to the Criminal Code, a first-degree murder is a homicide that's both planned and deliberate. A contract killing — when someone pays to order a death — is considered first-degree murder. The lesser charge of second-degree murder generally applies when the killing is deliberate but no planning was involved.

First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

Before the charges were upgraded, the parents of one of Law's alleged victims told CBC they hope the perpetrator will feel "the full weight of the law."

Law has previously denied wrongdoing.

Law, a former hotel cook, has been in custody since his arrest in Mississauga, Ont., last May. Around that time, Interpol distributed the names and addresses of Law's customers — provided by Canadian investigators — for authorities to carry out wellness checks in the U.S., France, Malta, Australia and elsewhere.

The U.K.'s National Crime Agency was initially informed of 272 buyers in Britain but recently learned of 16 further purchases made before Law's arrest. In all, 93 Britons are now believed to have died after placing an order from Law's websites.

Ontario's Peel Regional Police declined to say how investigators learned of the additional buyers. The provincial task force handling the case has previously said Law was believed to have sent 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries, and roughly 160 to Canadian addresses.