Canadian man expected to plead guilty to selling lethal substances to people who killed themselves

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man accused of selling lethal substances online to people who took them to end their own lives is expected to plead guilty Friday to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, his lawyer said.

Kenneth Law is scheduled to appear in a Newmarket, Ontario, court to enter the plea and sentencing is expected to take place later. Canadian prosecutors will withdraw 14 murder charges in exchange for Law's plea, his lawyer Matthew Gourlay said.

Police in Canada and around the world have been investigating more than 100 suicides linked to Law. All charges against him in Canadian court are related to 14 people across Ontario who were between the ages of 16 and 36.

Canadian police said Law, from the Toronto area, used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance commonly used to cure meats that can be deadly if ingested.

Law is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries with about 160 of those allegedly sent to addresses in Canada, police said. He has been in custody since his arrest at his Mississauga, Ontario, home in May 2023.

Authorities in the United States, Britain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand also have conducted investigations. British police in 2023 were investigating the deaths of 88 people who bought products from Canada-based websites allegedly offering lethal substances to people at risk of self-harm.

Those found guilty of aiding suicide in Canada can face up to 14 years in prison, while first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

A New Zealand coroner found that four people who died by suicide there had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, but noted that Law’s activities are outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts.

It is against Canadian law to recommend suicide, although assisted suicide has been legal since 2016 for people 18 and older. Any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability may seek help in dying, but they must ask for assistance from a physician.

Kim Prosser speask to the media outside the Ontario Court of Justice, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Newmarket, Ontario, after Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, including the death of Prosser's son Ashtyn. (Christopher Drost/The Canadian Press via AP)

Leonardo Bedoya shows footage of his daughter Jeshennia, at right, on his cellphone outside the Ontario Court of Justice, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Newmarket, Ontario, after Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, including the death of Bedoya's daughter. (Christopher Drost/The Canadian Press via AP)

Leonardo Bedoya embraces his wife Maria Lopez outside the Ontario Court of Justice, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Newmarket, Ontario, after Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, including the death of Bedoya's 18-year-old daughter, Jeshennia. (Christopher Drost/The Canadian Press via AP)

Kim Prosser holds a photo of her son Ashtyn outside the Ontario Court of Justice, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Newmarket, Ontario, after Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, including the death of Prosser's son. (Christopher Drost/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - York Regional Police Inspector Simon James speaks during a news conference in Mississauga, Ont., Aug. 29, 2023, with the image of Kenneth Law, a Canadian man accused of selling lethal substances on the internet to people at risk of self harm, displayed on screen. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

DALLAS (AP) — Firefighters responding to reports of a gas leak at a Dallas apartment complex had already arrived and were preparing to evacuate residents when the building exploded in a massive fireball, killing three people and injuring several more, the city's fire chief said Friday.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball said the first group of four firefighters arrived within two minutes of the call reporting the gas leak on Thursday.

“Right before they were going to enter and evacuate, it exploded,” Ball said.

Firefighters had been on scene for about 10 minutes, conducting necessary safety protocols that include blocking off the street, finding the leak, donning protective gear and setting up a water supply, he said, describing their actions as “heroics.”

“No time was wasted,” Ball insisted. “That takes time to put all the safety protocols in place. I would be criticizing them if they had not done that."

The explosion shook nearby homes and the resulting inferno razed the two-story complex. A child and two other people were killed and at least five people were injured and sent to hospitals. No firefighters were injured, Ball said.

The building's 22 units were occupied by 19 families. Ball said authorities searched the charred wreckage late into Thursday night and early Friday morning with drones, cadaver dogs and specialized urban rescue teams, and did not expect to find any more victims.

“There is nobody unaccounted for or we’d still be searching,” Ball said. “We've had no one come to us and say, ‘Our family member is missing.’”

Several blocks of streets around the explosion site were still closed off by police cars and police tape Friday. The smell of smoke lingered over the area as law enforcement officials and workers in bright yellow vests circled the rubble of what was once the apartment building.

The cause of the gas leak before the explosion is still unknown.

The National Transportation Safety Board said a team of eight investigators arrived Friday. The agency investigates gas pipeline accidents, and said initial reports indicated a contractor had damaged an underground gas pipeline.

Atmos Energy, a natural gas provider, also said in a statement they were told by fire officials that a construction crew unrelated to the company had damaged a pipeline near the site of the fire. Atmos did not provide details.

Natural gas service to the area remained shut off, and company officials were working with investigators on-site, the company said.

An attorney for the apartment owner said the building was being sold to a buyer who planned to build a new housing unit. He said an engineering firm hired by that company struck the gas line while doing soil testing.

“The owner is shocked by this outcome and likewise mourns this outcome,” attorney Geoff Henley said.

Phone and email messages left with an engineering company that the complex’s owner said was doing soil testing were not immediately returned.

Sherry Woods, who lives in an apartment across an alleyway from the fire site, said Friday she was sitting outside her front door when she and her boyfriend smelled what they believed to be gas.

Moments later, the explosion nearly knocked her down.

“All you heard was ‘boom.’ I shook like something was hitting me. It was scary to hear something like that. I felt the building shake,” Woods said.

Trish Thompson surveyed the site from across a grassy field Friday morning and could see the gap on the block where the apartment complex stood just 24-hours earlier.

Thompson, who lives nearby, described hearing a “loud rumble, something more like a train to me” and seeing smoke and fire.

“Pray for them,” Thompson said.

Associated Press journalist Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed.

Damage is visible following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Officials stand near rubble following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Officials stand near rubble following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Trish Thompson looks over a fence at the damage left behind following an apartment complex fire not far from where she lives, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A vehicle is seen damaged following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)