Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey speak to media about mental health this month. Video / NZ Herald
WARNING: This story is about suicide.
Kenneth Law is accused of being linked to more than 120 suicides worldwide and is awaiting trial for multiple charges of murder in his home country of Canada.
Today, a coroner here has found the deaths by suicide of four New Zealanders, including two university students, are connected to Law, a man some overseas media call the “Merchant of Death”.
The Suicide Prevention Office had asked New Zealand Internet Service Providers to block access to Law’s website.
As a personal trainer, James Plunket loved helping people to improve their health and feel better about themselves, his brother Jack says.
Outside of his day job, the “clever and outgoing” Wellingtonian was a DJ with a passion for house music and a “giant nerd” who devoured fantasy novels, especially those by best-selling author Robin Hobb.
“If he liked the book, and he thought you’d like it, you were definitely getting that book. And [there’d] be some in depth conversations afterwards about what was going on,” Jack said.
But Plunket, younger brother of broadcaster Sean Plunket, also struggled with challenges in his life, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July 2022, the 40-year-old died by suicide after buying a product sourced from a Canadian man connected to at least 127 suicide deaths in 40 countries.
By law, the Herald can’t report on the specific method of deaths by suicide in New Zealand.
It can be reported today that a coroner has found that Plunket and three other Kiwis died by suicide between April 2022 and April last year after receiving packages sold through an online mail order business of Canadian Kenneth Law.
Kenneth Law pictured after his arrest by police in relation to multiple suicide deaths in Ontario, Canada. Products that Law sold online have also been linked to deaths by suicide around the world, including in New Zealand. Photo / Peel District Police
Law is accused of assisting suicides worldwide by hosting discussion forums and enabling the distribution and marketing of materials online for people considering suicide.
The 58-year-old former engineer and low-level hotel cook is in custody on 14 first-degree (intentional) murder and 14 counselling or aiding suicide charges in connection with 14 deaths in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Law has denied the allegations and an eight-week trial is expected to begin in September next year, CBC News reported last month.
New Zealand courts have no jurisdiction in Canada so Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame made no recommendations directed towards Law’s activities in findings made public today.
“[And] other [New Zealand] agencies are already working together to reduce the risk posed to vulnerable New Zealanders by Mr Law’s activities,” she said.
Kenneth Law was an engineer turned hotel cook from Mississauga in Ontario, Canada, before he was arrested May 2023 for the sale and distribution of products that have been used in instances of suicide around the world, including New Zealand.
Photo / Peel District Police
This included Te Mana Whakaatu - Classification Office classifying eight discussion threads from forums associated with Law as objectionable last August.
The office noted that although content on the threads changed day to day, and it didn’t have the power to classify all future versions of the threads, the test for objectionability was cleared “by some margin”, Cunninghame wrote.
“[The Classification Office said] it would take significant changes to the publications for them not to be objectionable.”
The Suicide Prevention Office had asked New Zealand internet service providers to block access to Law’s website based on the Classification Office’s decision, she wrote.
A working group to co-ordinate a joint approach to the sale of a product - following the deaths of six people by suicide in similar circumstances to the people in Cunninghame’s rulings - was also set up after Coroner Tracey Fitzgibbon made recommendations to various agencies last November.
The recommendations to Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, GPs, first responders, WorkSafe NZ and other agencies were made in the hope further deaths could be prevented, Cunninghame wrote.
The working group, whose remit also covers international online sales of the product, includes Customs and other border agencies.
James Plunket loved house music and being a DJ when he wasn't working as a personal trainer, his brother Jack Plunket said.
Customs had set criteria to identify imports of the product that did not appear to comply with relevant controls and worked closely with other agencies to stop it getting past the border into New Zealand, Customs’ northern inspections manager Tony Davis said.
As a result, they’d evaluated eight consignments, Davis said.
“Where this evaluation led to the belief the import was a risk of non-compliance, Customs notifies [other agencies], who will carry out further assessments.
“Targeting details are confidential, so as not to compromise the integrity of operations.”
Customs hadn’t issued any warnings or taken any prosecutions relating to the matter, he said.
“There’s been one instance where Customs has legally seized a consignment ... however this was unrelated to the issue of self-inflicted death.”
James Plunket’s family supported work already under way to protect vulnerable Kiwis, Jack Plunket said.
“We’re interested in seeing some of those changes recommended in those coroners’ reports about making ... importation ... more regulated, and making sure the ISPs are blocking websites, and making sure people who work in mental health are aware of this in terms of ... [what] people can access.”
A bereaved American dad told a Canadian publication all the things his family had done to help their struggling daughter before she died by suicide after receiving a package from Law’s online business.
“I would die for my children, and there are predators out there who would take them.”
Jack Plunket said his family didn’t “have much interest in Kenneth Law”.
“James’ death was ultimately his final choice, and we desperately wish that he had not made that choice - but he did.”
Items with the branding of Law’s business were found where Plunket died in Wellington, Cunninghame wrote in her findings.
Plunket had been struggling with drug addiction, housing insecurity, the break-up of his 17-year marriage, and hardships related to the Covid-19 pandemic before his death, she wrote.
“He had a history of recreational drug use and had started using methamphetamine during the Covid-19 lockdown. The evidence before my inquiry suggests that James’ drug use was a factor in his separation.
“James’ work had suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and after he moved out of the marital home he could not find stable accommodation.”
James Plunket had struggled with addiction, housing and job insecurity, and a marriage break-up before he died by suicide in July 2022, a coroner has found.
Six months before his death, Plunket was hospitalised after he had a drug-induced psychotic episode, later being discharged into the outpatient care of addiction services, she wrote.
Five days before his death in July 2022 - and after he’d already received an online order from a business New Zealand police have confirmed is connected with Law - he denied suicidal thoughts or plans when asked by a health worker.
“There is no evidence that [the worker] was not entitled to accept what James reported about his mood … I am satisfied that the care provided to him was of an acceptable standard,” Cunninghame wrote.
Two months earlier, another Wellington man also died by suicide after ordering online from a business connected with Law.
The 21-year-old psychology student, a twin, was described by his mother as a private person who was an avid chess player and who enjoyed writing, Cunninghame wrote in her ruling on his death released today.
His family had earlier grieved the loss of the man’s infant nephew after the baby was murdered by their stepfather. The stepfather was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of almost 15 years.
Another Kiwi - a woman who was 21 - died by suicide in November 2022 after ordering an item online from a business connected to Law, Cunninghame wrote in decision released today.
She had grown up in a “supportive and caring environment”, but had a history of mental health challenges since her teens, when she had abnormal eating patterns and self-harmed in response to stress, the coroner wrote.
There were also instances of suicidal ideation and a suicide attempt, and substance abuse including the use of methamphetamine and MDMA.
However, the woman had told her GP two months before her death she hadn’t taken illegal drugs since May, and her former boyfriend told police after her death that she’d been clean from methamphetamine for four months.
In a fourth case, an 18-year-old was in their first year at Otago University when they died by suicide on April 20 last year, Cunninghame wrote.
The person, who identified as non-binary and was a twin, had struggled with their mental health, including previous suicide attempts.
“Their sister said family looked out for [the person], who was good at hiding their struggles and actively avoided seeking help.”
Analysis of their phone showed they’d visited websites and discussion forums associated with Law, and had ordered an item online from a business connected with the Canadian, Cunninghame wrote.
The families of the three unnamed people in this story declined to comment when approached by the Herald.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
