What to know about today’s hearing

Hi, Thomas Daigle here. I’m a senior reporter with CBC News and I’ve been covering the Kenneth Law case for three years. 

Today’s key hearing at the Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ont., marks a new chapter in a long and painful saga for families who’ve lost loved ones. 

Between 2021 and 2023, Law is accused of operating websites that sold packets of a toxic substance and other suicide paraphernalia to vulnerable people. The 60-year-old former hotel cook has been in custody since his arrest at his Mississauga, Ont., home in May 2023.

Initially charged in connection with two suicides in the area, Law was later linked to a dozen more deaths across the province. 

Today, Law is expected to plead guilty to abetting 14 suicides in Ontario — people who police said were between the ages of 16 and 36.

For each one of those deaths, Law is also charged with first-degree murder. But his lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, has told CBC News that Crown prosecutors will be withdrawing murder charges.

An agreed statement of facts may also be read out in court, potentially revealing more about Law’s actions in the two years before his arrest.