Caitlin Maree Hungerford: 22yo Cairns girl dies after digesting ‘suicide kit’
The heartbroken mother of a young woman who screamed for help says she wants justice for her daughter.
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A 22 year-old Queensland woman died after she digested a “suicide kit” she was able to buy online from a Brisbane business via eBay.
Caitlin Maree Hungerford was 22 and living in Cairns when she bought a toxic poison used to cure meats via a West End business in 2021.
Her mother Katy Gunn says the lethal substance had been advertised in an online forum by Kenneth Law as a way to commit suicide.
She is speaking out now hoping her daughter’s death is thoroughly investigated.
Mr Law is a Canadian man who is facing 14 murder charges for supplying poisonous chemicals to people who died by suicide.
It’s understood Mr Law sent 1200 parcels containing the lethal substance to around 40 countries.
One of those packages arrived at Caitlin’s home weeks after she died from a similar substance she ordered from West End Brisbane, not linked to Mr Law.
The Cairns Post is not accusing the business of wrongdoing and no charges have been laid in relation to Caitlin’s death.
Ms Gunn said her daughter took the substance at her Mooroolbool home when she ran screaming to her brother for help. He phoned triple zero and Ms Gunn but Caitlin lost consciousness.
Ms Gunn said her daughter took the substance on Saturday night.
Her brother phoned triple zero and Ms Gunn but Caitlin lost consciousness.
“I was at work later that night (the day she opened the package),” Ms Gunn said.
“I was working an overnight shift in my carer’s job. My son rang up just after midnight and said ‘Mum, Caitlin is not breathing properly and I can’t wake her up’.
“He told triple zero (paramedics) were on their way.
“When I arrived home the paramedics were still working on her, but I could tell she was gone.”
Caitlin had just been discharged from Cairns Private Hospital, knowing that several packages (one from Brisbane and one from Canada) were expected to arrive in the mail.
“It was just a little package (from Brisbane). Brown paper,” Ms Gunn said.
But what appeared innocent wasn’t.
Ms Gunn said the first package looked like bath crystals.
“I remember saying, ‘Oh, is that your package? Are you going to soak your feet?’ ... I said ‘That’s a fantastic idea. It’s going to be really good for you’. And she responded ... ‘Yeah’ ... with a smile on her face.”
That image haunts Ms Gunn to this day — her daughter smiling at the thought of the deadly crystals she would eventually consume.
Two weeks after her daughter’s death, Ms Gunn received a second package also with the deadly substance in it, postmarked from Mr Law.
“I was so angry when I got this second package,” she said.
Ms Gunn said authorities claimed there was nothing they could do with a Queensland coroner finding no reason to hold an inquest.
“I do not propose to hold an inquest because the investigation has revealed sufficient information to enable me to make findings about Caitlin’s death and there does not appear to be any prospect of making recommendations that would reduce the likelihood of similar deaths occurring in future or otherwise contribute to public health and safety of the administration of justice,” Coroner James McGoufall wrote.
But Ms Gunn believes Mr Law should be extradited to Australia, and is encouraging other families to come forward if this has happened to them.
Ms Gunn also wants the business who sold the lethal substance in Brisbane investigated.
“You could say she was being preyed on ... telling kids how to do it, preying on these kids, making money from these kids, these kids are troubled.”
Ms Gunn said she cannot bring her daughter back, but she can get justice for her.
“I’ve been through tough patches, things get better,” she said.
“But lives are being cut short, and there has been no action taken for my daughter.
“These kids’ lives were not for nothing. They had every right to live their lives and they deserve justice.”
Mr Law 57, was arrested in May 2023 and is facing 14 first-degree murder charges and 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.
He is expected to face trial in Canada in September 2025.
According to the BBC, British detectives have linked him to 90 deaths in the UK.
Investigators say Mr Law ran several websites that were used to promote and sell the substance.
The former aerospace engineer has reportedly been linked to more than a hundred suspected suicides in places including Germany, New Zealand and the United States.
Caitlin is believed to be the first Australian connected to Mr Law.
In a statement to the Cairns Post, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said because of reports of “promotion of the substance as a suicide agent” selling the substance became highly restricted.
“In making the decision it was noted that significant hurdles exist to the implementation and enforcement of additional measures by states and territories, such as the prevention of direct personal importation or person-to-person sales, particularly in cases involving online sales,” a spokesman said.
The Australian Federal Police declined to comment.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
SANEAustralia Tel: 1800 18 SANE (7263)
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
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Originally published as Caitlin Maree Hungerford: 22yo Cairns girl dies after digesting ‘suicide kit’
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