Investigation into Kenneth Law reaches west as police contact B.C. mother 2 years after son's death

Investigators from Peel Police appear to be expanding their probe into the operations of a man accused of selling sodium nitrate to people at risk of self-harm and suicide, reaching out to a B.C. mom in June – about two years after her son took his own life.

The mother, Isabella, told CTV News Toronto investigators called her last month looking to know more about her son Jaden’s dealings with Kenneth Law, the man who faces two charges of aiding and abetting suicide in Peel Region, and whose company’s products may be connected to more than 21 deaths around the world.

"Every day, a thousand times a day (I think of him)," Isabella said. CTV News is not sharing her surname at her request.

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Jaden was Isabella’s only son, she said in an interview in July. He had a love for playing guitar and a passion for hockey.

E-mails between the son, Jaden, and Mississauga’s Kenneth Law show the pair discussing the potential purchase of a breathing regulator. It’s one that has the same name as another sold by the now-defunct website of one of Law’s companies identified by police.

“With high demand for the Premium Stickstoff Kits, we cannot hold onto a kit for you much longer,” Law says in the e-mail. “If we don’t hear from you by the end of business day Friday, we’ll release your reserved kit back into available inventory.

Isabella can be seen, left, alongside Jaden, right. (Handout by Isabella)

Police arrested and charged Law, a former chef, in May. At the time, investigators warned he had sent some 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries and highlighted sodium nitrite, a substance that is typically used to cure meats but is deadly in high concentrations, as a common product sold.

A month ago, investigators updated their warnings to include hoods or masks that can be used to cause self-harm.

After Jaden’s death, Isabella said she looked on his phone and discovered he’d joined an online suicide forum.

“They were giving him specific instructions. They were encouraging him and they were normalizing it,” she said.

She said the forum pointed to Kenneth Law as a place to purchase the products. She, like many parents or loved ones CTV News has spoken to, went to their local police, but said the experience left them feeling dismissed.

“I went to them two and a half years ago with information about Kenneth Law and his website and they did nothing,” she said.

It wasn’t until a Times of London investigation connected several deaths in the U.K. to Law that police in Peel laid charges.

READ MORE: Police charge Mississauga man in connection with sale, distribution of sodium nitrate in GTA

Since then, officers across the world have been engaging in welfare checks to people who may have ordered the packages, and others have reopened cases that had been thought to be not suspicious.

Law has denied the charges, and has said he’s not responsible for what people do with his products. He remains in custody. His next court appearance is on August 25.

Neither Peel Police nor the Langley, B.C. RCMP commented on the case.

According to tracking efforts by CTV News, Law’s products may be connected to at least 21 deaths from B.C. to New Zealand. Many are in their 20s. The youngest known individual was a 17-year-old in Michigan.

Investigators warned Law had sent some 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries and highlighted sodium nitrite, a substance that is typically used to cure meats but is deadly in high concentrations, as a common product sold.

Law is not the only seller of sodium nitrite online. Parents in several U.S. states have been calling for regulations that would limit the sale of the so-called suicide kits.

A Quebec coroner called for similar changes in Canada after a sodium-nitrite-related death. However, Health Canada has said when used as intended for curing meats, sodium nitrite is not a risk.

With files from CP24's Aisling Murphy.