The deaths of four people in New Zealand have been officially linked to the purchase of “suicide kits” from an ex-chef-run online store based in Canada, according to findings released on Monday.
Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame found that four individuals – three students aged between 18 and 21, and a 40-year-old personal trainer – took their own lives after acquiring the kits from companies connected with Canadian Kenneth Law.
According to Canadian authorities, Law is believed to have distributed approximately 1,200 “suicide kits” to individuals in over 40 countries between last year and his arrest earlier this year, targeting particularly susceptible people online. The Canadian authorities also alleged that these kits contain a food additive which can cause death when it is used wrongly.
Law was arrested by police in May 2023 and is facing multiple charges in Canada including fourteen counts of murder and another fourteen counts aiding and abetting suicide. He denied all allegations leveled against him.
Following a communication from Interpol, several nations have begun investigating the matter themselves. Authorities in Britain say at least two hundred seventy two persons bought stuffs from his websites with at least eighty eight dead emanating therefrom.
In Italy however officials identified buyers numbering nine with at least one known fatality.
As per Canadian law enforcement, those who died were both male and female aged between sixteen years old and thirty six years old.
New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention Office has asked internet service providers (ISPs) within the country to block access to Law’s website, according to what the coroner said.
