Latest news with #JamesBeal
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Daily Mail
The Poison Killer' denies wrongdoing for encouraging vulnerable people to kill themselves in chilling new documentary
A journalist has revealed the chilling response he received when confronting the 'Poison King', who is linked to 99 deaths in the UK and is facing 12 murder charges in Canada. Kenneth Law, a chef from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is accused of sending over 1,200 packages of poison across the globe and is facing multiple first-degree murder charges in Canada. He has pleaded not guilty. Outside of Canada, the National Crime Agency said it launched its probe into the deaths of people in the UK who bought substances online to assist with suicide. Law is thought to have knowingly sold poison to vulnerable people who intended to commit suicide, resulting in devastated families who have lost children and siblings to the poison flogged on the chef's website. When grieving family members went to the authorities regarding the website, they reported being brushed off, with police telling them there's nothing they can do. James Beal, Deputy Investigations Editor at The Times, took the case on and, after a long search in the dark world of online suicide forums, he managed to track Law down in his hometown in Canada, where he led him to admit to selling poison online. 'When I started looking into this story, I had no idea it was going to become as prolific as it's become,' Beal said in Channel 4's Poisoned: Killer in the Post, adding, 'I had no sense that it was going to involve the deaths of hundreds of people from a deadly poison being sold all over the world, intentionally.' However, when Beal finally tracked Law down, he refused accountability. He said, 'It's not my business, it's their life,' adding, 'You can buy a gun, they are committing suicide, I'm not doing anything, I'm just selling a product.' The two-part documentary followed Beal after he heard from a father, who lost his son to the poison purchased on Law's website. He told Beal of his frustrations about the police's failure to pursue Law's website, despite knowingly assisting suicide being a criminal offence. 'When I spoke to [the father], I couldn't understand why police weren't investigating,' Beal said, continuing, 'It was his belief that the person who was selling the poison knew he was assisting a suicide, and it is illegal to assist suicide. 'I felt there was the chance to expose something going on here that hadn't been noticed before. 'After the call with David, I went straight onto [the website], and the first thing you could see is a plate of cold meats, and if you scroll down on the website, it appears to be selling products you might use around the home, liquid food flavouring, salts, and then nestled among them was the poison.' Beal continued, 'I wanted to find out who was behind it, who ran it, and what exactly was going on.' 'Under the contact information, there was a P.O. box address in Canada, located in a city called Mississauga, about 45 minutes west of Toronto. There was also a phone number and an email address. 'These two websites were definitely more explicit with their content and quite clearly selling goods for purposes of suicide.' One testimony reviewing the poison on the website read: 'Yeah, it's a little pricey, but it's probably the last $1000 I'm going to spend.' After browsing the website, Beal said, 'It was shocking to see a website like this could operate under the radar. On both websites, the email address and contact details were the same. 'I googled his name, and immediately a CV popped up of a Kenneth Law, dated from 2005, and then at the bottom of the website, there was a picture of Kenneth Law himself dressed up in a tuxedo smiling at the camera.' 'I had no doubt that there was someone called Kenneth Law living in Ontario, but would somebody really be as brazen or as foolish to use their real name on a website that may well be conducting criminality?' To get to the bottom of the website, Beal settled on tracking down Law. He said, 'I was looking for any information about him, where he might live and what he might be up to other than these websites. 'When I did social media searches, I found the same picture as on the CV for a Kenneth Law in Canada. 'He didn't have many public posts; there was one strange post about erotic art, and there were other posts about the TV show Star Trek. 'A large percentage of his Facebook friends appeared to work at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, a five-star hotel in downtown Toronto. I guessed that either he worked there or had worked there at some stage. 'I was beginning to piece together who this person was,' Beal said, adding, 'There was enough information in front of me to try and conduct a full investigation around the website and the substance.' 'This is someone who's evaded scrutiny and accountability for almost two years...I needed to get him on the phone to admit this.' By January 2023, Beal managed to get Law on the phone by purchasing a 40-minute consultation call advertised on one of his websites, designed to guide prospective buyers. Beal said 'I decided to speak to Kenneth Law under the guise of someone who needed help to get him to tell me things. 'I needed to get him to admit on the phone that he was selling intentionally to a person who was suicidal. This would be the one and only chance to nail down who he was and find out the scale of his operation. Under the name of John, James told Ken that he wanted to be sure about the purchase he would soon be making, asking, 'What do you think the chances are that it will kill me?'' Kenneth said, 'There's a very high probability it will kill you, it's killed hundreds of others.' When asked whether it's illegal, he responded, saying, 'It's a grey area, as long as I don't sell it with intent to commit suicide, then it's fine.' Tom then asked, 'And you can assure me that you've done this before will people in the UK?' Ken assured him that he has, and that they've died because of it. (PICTURE) He added that he believes the figure of deaths caused by the poison in the UK is in the hundreds. Beal said, 'After the undercover call with Kenneth Law, I was enormously shocked. He was being incredibly reckless and open, it clearly didn't cross his mind that he could be speaking to a journalist.' The journalist had received the confirmation he needed to travel to Canada to search for Law. Beal managed to track him down by the PO address on his website. But after months of searching and longing to confront the poison seller, Law seemed indifferent when he approached him. Law told him, 'They're committing suicide themselves, I'm just selling a product. You can buy a gun. I'm sorry - they had their intentions, I can't stop them.' Beal said, 'He took no responsibility for the fact that people had already died because of this poison, and I knew he would continue to sell it if I didn't try and stop him. In April 2023, The Times published Beal's investigation, leading to Law's arrest one week later. He is facing 14 counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aiding and assisting suicide in Ontario, Canada. He is being held at Central East Correctional Facility until his trial. In the UK, no charges have been brought against him, even though he has been linked to 99 deaths in Britain. The suicide forum is still running, and the poison is still readily available from other sellers. Law's trial for the 14 victims is scheduled for January 2026. He did not respond to allegations made in the Channel 4 series.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- The Guardian
Poisoned: Killer in the Post review – the terrible story of the online site for selling lethal doses
What – and I ask myself this question with increasing frequency and seriousness – are we going to do about people? What, more specifically, are we going to do about the number of irredeemably wicked ones and the amount of suffering they bring into the world? If you can get through the two-part documentary Poisoned: Killer in the Post without sliding down on to the floor in despair as these questions thunder through your mind – well, you're a better viewer than I. Poisoned is a meticulous chronicle of the equally meticulous investigation conducted by Times journalist James Beal into the identity of the online supplier of lethal chemicals to people who had congregated on a forum where they shared their suicidal thoughts, discussed methods and, often, plans for taking their own lives. Beal was alerted to the potential story by David Parfett in 2022. A year before, Parfett had lost his 22-year-old son, Tom, to suicide. 'It's just a different world after that.' Parfett had found the forum that Tom had posted on, posed as a new user, and soon found himself directed to a website that, hidden in plain sight among a variety of other goods either permanently sold out or astronomically priced (salt for $9,999 and so on), sold the poison to anyone who ordered it, with no registration requirements and no checks. Tom continued to post on the forum for a short while after he had taken the poison, about his racing heart, then creeping numbness. 'That's my son dying,' says David. Louise Nunn lost her daughter Immy in the same terrible way after years of supporting her through mental health crises that had led to her being sectioned. She took the poison a few hours after her latest release, about which her parents had not been informed; Dawn her stepson Adam – 'He was so loved'; in Arizona, Malyn lost her brother, and Lynn her son, Miles. Like Parfett, they all tried to track down the responsible parties and interest the police in their findings and their growing certainty that one man was behind the distribution of potentially thousands of packages and deaths. Beal synthesises what they have learned with his own discoveries and finds the man behind the website. Pretending to be a customer with concerns about the efficacy of the product, we hear his extraordinary conversation with a Canadian chef called Kenneth Law, who cheerfully confirms for him that people 'in the UK, US and Canada' and other countries have died from his supplies. 'At least a dozen … I've been kept busy, yeah!' On we go, covering Beal's exposé after further investigations, which leads to Law being charged with 14 counts of first degree murder and 14 of counselling or aiding suicide in relation to Canadian deaths. Investigations into multiple deaths linked to him in other countries are ongoing, and the National Crime Agency is considering the possibility of extraditing him. Law has not been found guilty, and did not respond to the allegations made in the series. The documentary does not, I think refreshingly, dwell too long on Law's possible motivations. Sociopathy? Psychopathy? Badness? Some unholy combination of the above? Would it help us to know? Can we protect ourselves against any of them? The more you hear, and the more technology facilitates the spread of the worst of humanity, the more unlikely it seems. Beneath the giant shadow cast by Law, however, are others. There are the failures of the police to link the deaths of people found with the same poison in their possession or who had been posting on the same forum. There seems to have been a readiness across forces to tick the box marked 'suicide', close the case and feel no wider sense of responsibility to prevent further harm. There is the lag between old laws (in the UK, around the sale of poisons, the requirements to report, what constitutes assisting suicide, and international compatibilities) and new technology. There is the widespread and ongoing failure of all sorts of authorities and corporate megaliths to monitor even the vilest, most dangerous tracts of the internet. Whatever happens, of course, it will not bring any of the beloved lost sons and daughters back to their stricken parents. It will not restore her brother to Malyn, or any of the untold number of victims whose deaths may ultimately be laid at Law's door. What a terrible, terrible world. Poisoned: Killer in the Post is on Channel 4 now. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: on the trail of the man accused of murder by mail
9pm, Channel 4 On New Year's Day 2023, 25-year-old Imogen 'Immy' Nunn's body was found in her Brighton home, after she had consumed a poison bought online via a suicide forum. This unsettling two-part documentary shows that Immy was one of many who had used the sites. It looks at the devastating conversations in the forum and meets the families of other victims, with one father reading his son's last posts and the replies from users who cheered him on as he was dying. It then follows the Times journalist James Beal's efforts to find a man accused of shipping this lethal poison globally, which culminates in Beal going undercover and meeting him face to face. (The man is now awaiting trial in Canada over similar allegations.) Hollie Richardson 7.20pm, PBS America Bruno Lohse was a Nazi art dealer who was in charge of looting masterpieces from Jewish people for Hermann Göring. He spent a brief spell in jail, but was released to continue his career in the art trade. Prof Jonathan Petropoulos investigates his story. HR 8pm, Channel 4 The endless booby traps embedded within the UK housing market continue to give rise to new TV variants. In this series, the sibling property developers Stuart and Scarlette Douglas help homeowners sell seemingly unsellable properties. They are in West Sussex confronting challenging market conditions and equally problematic interior-decoration issues. Phil Harrison 8pm, U&W Unusually, this business reality show seems more interested in mentorship than manufactured conflict. The angel investors Ashley Graham and Emma Grede offer useful advice and timely cash injections to their female-led startups. But even amid this supportive vibe, things don't always work out – as one hustler is about to discover. Graeme Virtue 9pm, BBC Three The silly supernatural sitcom feels more like background TV than its British cousin, but it's still plenty of fun. In this triple bill, a belated wedding gift (a children's dinosaur bed, no less) brings the exes Isaac and Nigel back together, before Jay's disapproving folks descend on Woodstone Manor for Christmas. Hannah J Davies 10pm, BBC Four It's a decade since a topless Aidan Turner scythed crops on the Cornish coast – and fans' weak knees have just about recovered. Before revisiting the opening episode, the screenwriter and executive producer Debbie Horsfield discusses how the drama won hearts. HR Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973), midnight, BBC Two BBC Two's week of trying to creep everyone out before bed continues with the scariest film ever made. Nicolas Roeg's 1973 Daphne du Maurier adaptation is a disorientating swirl of creeping dread. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a grief-stricken couple who travel to Venice and find themselves plagued by malevolent clairvoyants and terrifying sightings. The final sequence, in which Sutherland follows a figure through the city, is as nightmarish as anything you will ever see. Stuart Heritage Women's Euro 2025 football: England v Netherlands, 4.15pm, BBC One The second Group D match, in which Leah Williamson will be hoping for a repeat of England's victory the last time the sides met, in 2023. Followed by France v Wales at 7pm on ITV1.
Irish Independent
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Today's top TV and streaming choices: Don't Forget to Remember, Don't Look Now and Shifting Gears
Poisoned: Killer in the Post Channel 4, 9pm Two-part documentary charting journalist James Beal's investigation into the deaths of young people from the UK, US, Canada, Germany and Australia who all had one thing in common — they took a lethal dose of poison obtained on the internet. The Trouble with Mr Doodle Channel 4, 10pm A profile of Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, an artist from Kent who sprang to fame thanks to a viral clip of him drawing, and whose work is now sought by collectors and institutions around the world. NORAID: Irish America & the IRA RTÉ One, 9.35pm New two-part documentary about the organisation run by Irish-Americans that raised money for and offered support to the IRA during the Troubles. Among those interviewed are FBI officers tasked with infiltrating the group, underground gun-runners and unrepentant clergymen. Don't Forget to Remember RTÉ One, 10.35pm Moving film authored by Ross Killeen, aka street artist Asbestos, documenting his relationship with his mother, who is living with dementia. It details not only her worsening condition, but also how he is using their shared past to help her hold onto her identity. Don't Look Now BBC Two, 12am Wonderful supernatural thriller based on a Daphne du Maurier story. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie portray a couple visiting Venice while trying to come to terms with their daughter's death. However, matters take an unexpected turn thanks to a psychic and a series of bizarre spectral visions. Shifting Gears Disney+, streaming now Kat Dennings and Tim Allen have joined forces to star in this new sitcom set in a classic car workshop... Now that's what I call a production meeting. Allen plays the widowed patriarch who has his daughter (Dennings) and her child move back in with him. Ballard Netflix, streaming now Inspired by Michael Connelly's bestselling novels, Detective Renée Ballard (Maggie Q) returns to lead LAPD's cold-case unit, facing decades-old crimes, a potential police conspiracy, and — the purview of all onscreen cops — a luggage load of personal demons. Ziam Netflix, streaming now Yet more South East Asian zombie fodder. For something less brutal and more bloom-fuelled, other foreign language fare includes French offering Under a Dark Sun. Alternatively, there's Gringo Hunters from Mexico. Trainwreck: The Real Project X Netflix, streaming now It's the weekly episodic that keeps on giving. This time, the good people at Trainwreck recount the fallout from a Facebook event posted by a Dutch teen. In 2012, she posted an invite for her 16th birthday, which accidentally went viral, drawing thousands to the small town of Haren. Inspired by Project X, the unplanned crowd overwhelms the area, and with no preparations in place, things spiral into chaos. Quarterback Netflix, streaming now Season 2 of the hit series offers rare access to three NFL quarterbacks — Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and returning favourite Kirk Cousins — as they navigate the highs and lows of the 2024/25 season, on and off the field. All The Sharks Netflix, streaming now If you're wondering, 'Why all the shark-related viewing of late?' Well, the simple answer is that we're currently in the run-up to July 14, which is Shark Awareness Day. This summer also happens to be the 50th anniversary of Jaws, so one should expect an inordinate level of shark-themed programming over the coming weeks. A lot of it, however, does seem somewhat at odds with itself. For instance, last week saw the release of Shark Whisperer, which featured a herd of conservationists expressing concern about people, like Instagrammer Ocean Ramsey, interfering with endangered sharks. Now, Netflix is proffering an almost oxymoronic competition show, where conservationists infiltrate the oceans to tick all the sharks off their assigned apex predator bingo cards. If you favour more traditional shark viewing — ie. without a nigh-dystopic gameshow element — Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory has landed on Disney+. Have you ever considered a parallel universe where Idris Elba is the UK prime minister and John Cena is the US president? Well, now's your chance! For context, their 'special relationship' is under threat on account of their huge egos, but — once confronted with a common adversary — the pair must learn to rely on each other.
