", "Police investigated Bruce McArthur for months before telling public there was no evidence of serial killer", "Police 'covertly' searched McArthur's apartment for evidence of Kinsman's death a month before arrest, unsealed documents show", "Police investigating McArthur since October: Auto shop owner", "Police visited auto parts shop where accused killer sold van, owner says", "Police continue to comb through Toronto properties linked to Bruce McArthur", "Traces of blood found by police in Bruce McArthur's vehicle, auto shop owner says", "Police investigated alleged serial killer for months before arrest", "Police secretly cloned Bruce McArthur's computer before his arrest, source says", "Police warn residents about dating apps after disappearances in Church-Wellesley neighbourhood", "Officer implicated in 2016 McArthur arrest says he's being made 'fall guy' for Toronto police errors on serial killings", "Man found tied to McArthur's bed when police made arrest: source", "Police made quick decision to arrest Bruce McArthur to protect life of young man: sources", "Restrained man found in alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur's apartment at time of arrest, sources say", "How alleged Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur went unnoticed", "Toronto gay village murders suspect was under surveillance for weeks: source", "Suspected serial killer Bruce McArthur charged with 3 more murders; remains of bodies recovered from planters", "Twisted Trophy: Cops release shock photo of suspected victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur", "More Charges Against Alleged Serial Killer", "Bruce McArthur now facing 6 murder charges", "Police investigate properties in Scarborough and Madoc with links to accused killer Bruce McArthur", "Police release two Ontario properties connected to Toronto serial-murder investigation", "Report links accused killer Bruce McArthur to Toronto man missing since 2010", "Search intensifies at Leaside property linked with accused killer Bruce McArthur", "Search resumes of Leaside property connected to Bruce McArthur", "Alleged Toronto serial killer buried victims' remains in planter boxes: police", "Toronto alleged serial killer case draws parallels to Robert Pickton", "Serial killer case: Disposal of remains indicator of psychopath, experts say", "Accused serial killer Bruce McArthur ranks with Gacy, Dahmer", "Police probe of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur turns up remains of six people, more charges expected", "Another first-degree murder charge for McArthur", "Remains of at least 6 people found in potted plants in Canadian serial killer probe", "Toronto Serial Killer Was Landscaper Who Murdered 5 and Buried Victims in Planters, Authorities Suspect", "Toronto officers investigating alleged serial killer seize planter from Danforth home", "Police intensify search at Leaside home connected to Bruce McArthur", "Alleged Toronto Serial Murderer Unearthed in East York", "Tips on alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur coming from around the world: Toronto police", "Toronto police searching basement of home connected to alleged serial killer", "Police to wrap up search for alleged serial killer victims at Leaside home", "Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur appears in court via video", "Police will descend on 30 GTA properties linked to Bruce McArthur in search for more human remains", "Excavation could start by midweek at property where Bruce McArthur allegedly hid human remains", "Sister fears foul play in Meaford man's disappearance", "Some of the Gay Village murder victims were allegedly killed at Bruce McArthur's apartment", "Toronto police say trove of evidence found in alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur's apartment", "Bruce McArthur: Police end exhaustive four-month search of accused serial killer's apartment", "Police charge Bruce McArthur with sixth case of first-degree murder", "Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur facing sixth murder charge", "Bruce McArthur was previously questioned, released by police in separate incident", "3 more sets of remains identified in alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur investigation: police", "Toronto police have identified the deceased man alleged to be Bruce McArthur victim", "Tips pour in after police release grim photo of man believed to be victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur", "Investigation into alleged serial killer McArthur expands as new charge laid", "Toronto police ID dead man in photo linked to Bruce McArthur case", "Bruce McArthur charged with 1st-degree murder of Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam", "Latest victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur led lonely life, friends say", "They thought he was hiding: The story behind the Tamil migrant believed to be Bruce McArthur's eighth victim", "Toronto police name eighth victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur", "Eighth murder charge for alleged Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur", "Bruce McArthur, 'alleged serial killer,' now linked to sixth Toronto-area death", "Bruce McArthur charged with sixth first-degree murder. [28] McArthur made a GHB cocktail for the man, who requested a dosage to relax and "heighten the sexual encounter". presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution [151] Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, whose ward includes Church and Wellesley, supported police at the time of McArthur's arrest when they expressed gratitude and noted that it was a complicated case. Monday's . [145] While living in Iran, a childhood friend had cautioned him on coming out as gay, advising that he should "find God or leave". Daniel Lerner, a Toronto defence lawyer and former Crown prosecutor, suggested that the Crown should consider severing the charges. [271], In 2022, British journalist Mobeen Azhar presented a six-part true-crime series on McArthur titled Santa Claus the Serial Killer, broadcast on BBC Three. He opened a landscaping business he named "Artistic Design," and soon had dozens of clients. [48], McArthur's sentencing hearing began on February 4, 2019. McMahon described the crimes as "pure evil" and stated that McArthur showed "no evidence of remorse" and would have continued killing had he not been apprehended. The 67-year-old has been given eight concurrent life sentences, and will not be eligible for . The video did not show a licence plate or a clear picture of the driver, but chrome siding identified it as a 2004 Dodge Caravan. According to the friend, he struggled with addiction but was getting control of his problem[157] and had completed a certificate course in peer counselling from St. Stephen's community house just before he disappeared. As Australia's 7News reports, the landscaper who was great with his clients' kids (he was Santa, after all) "was turning their gardens into graveyards.". [191] On February 8, Justice McMahon sentenced McArthur to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 25years. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. According to the man, McArthur had contacted him on the Bear411 app and suggested that they meet for dinner at Church and Wellesley. The event was chaired by Salah Bachir, president of Cineplex Media, who identified as a "queer Arab man" and was both sad and angry about the crimes, having known some of the victims personally while his sister was a landscaping client of McArthur's. They took more than 18,000 photographs and collected over 1,800 items. ", "Lead detective in Toronto serial killer case refutes charges of racism in probe", "Unsealed documents reveal early Toronto police effort to find victims of alleged serial killer", "The untold story of the first suspect in the Toronto serial killings", "Toronto police investigated whether Gay Village murder suspect had help from notorious killer Luka Magnotta", "The Vanishing Men of Toronto's Gay Village", "Toronto police link three missing persons cases in Gay Village", "Piecing together the story of three missing men from Toronto's gay village", "Toronto police interviewed Bruce McArthur years before his arrest for six murders", "What we learned from Day 1 of serial killer Bruce McArthur's sentencing", "Toronto police officer to be charged in connection to Bruce McArthur investigation", "On the trail of a serial killer 'He's taken some steps to cover his tracks', "Bruce McArthur charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder, police say", "Bruce McArthur: Alleged Toronto serial killer charged with murdering at least six gay men", "Police say he's a serial killer who buried his victims' remains in potted plants", "Search intensifies for men missing from Toronto's LGBTQ community", "With Growing Fears in Toronto's Gay Community, Police Ramp Up Investigation into the Missing Men", "Toronto police to review handling of missing persons cases", "Downtown Toronto disappearances spark dating apps warning", "LGBTQ community holds vigil for murder victims", "Toronto police chief dispels rumours of serial killer in Church and Wellesley neighbourhood", "Head of Bruce McArthur investigation hints at evidence that led to arrest of alleged serial killer", "Bruce McArthur Brief Statement of Facts", "How police caught serial killer Bruce McArthur, according to the agreed statement of facts", "Bruce McArthur investigated months prior to arrest, documents show", "Toronto police reportedly cloned Bruce McArthur's computer what does that entail? Investigations will continue to be run by officers in each of the TPS's seventeen divisions. rights reserved. [247], On June 25, on the recommendation of the working group,[249] the TPSB announced that it had retained Justice Gloria Epstein, who would retire as a part-time Ontario Appeal Court judge on September 1 to lead the review. [15], McArthur separated from his wife in 1997[8] and moved to Toronto, as there was no gay community in Oshawa at that time. Each murder was either premeditated or involved other crimes which qualified them as first-degree: six were "sexual in nature"[182] and five included confinement. A petition started that month called for the resignation of the 519's executive director, alleging prejudice against transgender and homeless people. [195], While defending the Project Houston investigation and responding to criticisms that police should have recognized the alleged serial killer sooner, Saunders expressed his frustrations to The Globe and Mail that some sources were reporting incidents after McArthur's arrest which could have changed the course of the investigation had they been reported at the time. [259], Sara Malabar, who produced the opening and closing events for 2014 WorldPride, started a Facebook page titled "Stop Love Wins Concert" and threatened to organize a protest if it was not cancelled. [39] 51 Division, which includes Church and Wellesley, had 600 missing persons between 2014 and 2018 and about thirty cases remained open in March 2018. Kinsman's disappearance was central to the creation of Project Prism because of a lead obtained at the end of July. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Please try again. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. McArthur's childhood was spent in Woodville, Ontario, a small rural town northeast of Toronto. Part of the problem was that for detectives, McArthur was never the serial-killing monster from central casting. [78][79][80][81] Referred to in court as "John", the man had arrived in Canada from the Middle East five years earlier, was married and had not told his family that he was gay. [98] Additional planters were seized from across the city,[99] including one from the Danforth neighbourhood[100] and two properties in North Rosedale were searched. There were some U.S. media reports in 2018 when Toronto police discovered dismembered body parts of some of the eight missing men killed by McArthur, on the property of Karen Fraser, an unwitting client who hired him as a landscaper. [68] Evidence found in McArthur's apartment shortly after the arrest prompted investigators to charge him with two counts of first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Kinsman and Esen. [7] He frequented the bars of Church and Wellesley, Toronto's gay village, and moved into an apartment on Don Mills Road[6] while pursuing a four-year relationship with another man. HUNTER: How many did Bruce McArthur really kill? He was not reported missing. Its very difficult for people to make sense of how anybody could be capable of such heinous crimes, so theres this yearning for an answer, said Jooyoung Lee, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto. [57] Realizing the difficulty police faced with judicial authorizations for data from servers located outside Canada, which caused delays in the crucial early days of the missing persons investigations,[18][55] Downer appealed to dating apps to provide an option for users to consent to have their data released to police if they went missing. Investigators said they believed they interrupted McArthur from claiming his ninth victim. On Halloween2001, he attacked a man with a metal pipe in Toronto, and in 2003, was handed a two-year conditional sentence for the assault. [59][60] The following day police announced that the body of Alloura Wells, a homeless transgender woman, had been identified, her body having been discovered in a Rosedale ravine in August. As McArthur's lust intensified a number of men began disappearing from the rainbow community. The story of the investigation that led to his arrest is the subject of the new true crime documentary Catching A Serial Killer: Bruce McArthur, which premieres Sunday, April 11, on Oxygen and the NBC app. [224] In July 2017 the TPA claimed that there was a staffing crisis with working conditions at "a breaking point", noting that staff had been reduced by 500 officers since 2010 while a budgetary task force recommended a hiring freeze. [39] Kinsman, who was openly gay and had deep roots in the community, was regarded as a stable and responsible man whose friends felt would not suddenly leave, and certainly not without his cat[18] or his prescription medicine. He also noted that Kinsman's disappearance in June 2017 was important to the creation of Project Prism because of evidence obtained in July, not because of race. [86] Police had received tips from around the world, including countries where McArthur had vacationed. [217] Gauthier had fifteen years on the job and was highly regarded by colleagues, praised for his work with difficult cases involving human trafficking. [88][90], The owners of the Leaside residence were barred from their home January 18 so that forensic investigators could search it. Younger men, who appear to be of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, show up in several of his vacation and nightlife pictures. [156] Police and his family had not connected him to Toronto's gay scene,[28] though before his marriage he had been in a four-year relationship with a transgender woman he met in a bar in Church and Wellesley. Downer's group, the Missing Rainbow Community, provided strategies for staying safe when meeting people from dating apps. [75][59], In a December 8 news conference, Project Prism investigators said they had completed 62 witness interviews, 28 judicial authorizations and assigned 308 actions of which 225 had been completed. He pleaded guilty to murdering eight men between 2010 and 2017, who had all disappeared without a trace from Toronto's Gay Village district. [78] Their bodies had not been found, but police said that they had a "pretty good idea" of how they died. They were canvassing businesses for McArthur's 2004 Dodge Caravan, which owner Dominic Vetere confirmed he had purchased on September 16. [18] On April 11, 2018, police charged McArthur with the murder of Faizi, which occurred on or about December 29, 2010. [248] Past reviews are also to be examined including the review into the 1981 bathhouse raids, the city auditor's report following the Paul Callow investigation, and the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry following the Robert Pickton case in British Columbia. to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about Thomas Donald Bruce McArthur, or Bruce McArthur, was born on October 8, 1951, in Lindsay, Ontario, and was raised on a farm in Argyle, near Woodville in the Kawartha Lakes region. Weve got to make sure that never happens again., Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. Most of McArthur's clients were wealthy elderly women who found him charming, and he had built a client base through personal recommendations. Bruce McArthur was charged with first-degree murder in his death. [116][117] They also announced that a seventh set of remains had been recovered from the Leaside planters. The landscaper, Bruce McArthur, 67, was arrested a year ago and initially charged with killing six men, . After joining Facebook in 2011, McArthur began cataloguing his evenings out, posting pictures of Halloween parties, birthday dinners and concerts. So, Lee said, McArthur embarked on his new life as a middle-aged gay man not feeling buoyant but obliterated. He had suffered injuries to his head and body and needed several stitches on the back of his head and his fingers as well as six weeks of physiotherapy. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. But James McArthur is now considered one of Canada's most prolific serial killers who heinously took the lives of eight men. Legal experts suggested that criminal investigations and prosecutions be protected by a publication ban on witness testimony, or by preserving records and taking witness statements under seal until the trials were over. Abdulbasir "Basir" Faizi, 42,[145][23][83][149] was last seen December 28, 2010, leaving his workplace in Mississauga, though banking records later placed him at Church and Wellesley. The documentary includes interviews with Toronto police investigators Det. He even got a holiday gig working as a mall Santa, since he was pretty much perfect for the part: white skin, white hair, white beard, a big, bouncy potbelly, and a jolly attitude. If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is. McArthur, Nash said, struck him as "a jolly-looking man, pleasant, courteous but seemed straight-laced," adding later that when he first met him, McArthur "could pass as straight.". [238] Tory's March 7 call for a public provincial inquiry was reviewed by Ontario's attorney general, who cautiously suggested that it wait until after criminal proceedings. "[149], Saunders responded that police were not being "coy" about community safety, but that he had been speaking of the evidence that they had at that time. He had post-traumatic stress disorder from the SovietAfghan War and was a heavy drinker. There was one job description that McArthur did not list on his resume: that of an undertaker. On the one hand, he was the jolly mall Santa, and on the other, he had a secret penchant for violent sex. He was born on October 8, 1951, in Lindsay, Ontario, and grew up on a farm in the Kawartha Lakes region. He developed a fetish for rough sex and joined a gay fetish dating website for men into BDSM. In McArthur's stomping grounds where he peddled socks for years, just two men fit the bill, including a confirmed homicide victim. They had exhausted their options in identifying the man and hoped the public could help. He also stated that he believed there were serious issues of systemic bias which required an independent external review, and that he had been working with other officials on how to hold such a review without affecting investigations and prosecutions. The New York Times reported in February 2019 that McArthur pleaded guilty to the murders of the eight men and was sentenced to life in prison, and that he would not be eligible for parole for 25 years. [48], All information should be properly sourced below and is accurate as of June23, 2018[update]. [65] Follow-up investigations had then considered whether additional searches would be required. He took staged post-mortem photographs, typically with ropes around their necks or with them nude in a fur coat or hat; some photographs had them with their heads and beards shaved, with McArthur having kept their hair[188][27] in Ziploc bags in a shed at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Mark Henderson, 56, was attacked by Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur just after noon on October 31, 2001, and is McArthur's first known survivor. Read Story Transcript. [215][219], Gauthier has not made his first appearance at the tribunal. What drove serial killer Bruce McArthur to murder remains a mystery. He moved to Toronto and regularly spent time in the gay village while entering into relationships with men. Bondage, sadism and rough sex were . We dont like things that are unresolved, particularly when it involves something as heinous as murder.. Although the remains had not been identified, police had gathered enough evidence to charge McArthur with three additional counts of first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Majeed Kayhan, a Project Houston subject; Soroush Mahmudi, who disappeared in 2015; and Dean Lisowick, a homeless man who was never reported missing. Before that point youre kind of frozen, he explained. [215] Gauthier's attorney said that the decision to not charge McArthur in 2016 was made in consultation with Gauthier's supervisor,[216] and that the investigation and arrest of McArthur was fully documented. He hopes the documentary will bring a deeper understanding of the many factors that went into creating Bruce McArthur and abetting his crimes.. Perhaps emboldened by this newfound mobility and freedom, McArthur finally came out to his wife and family toward the end of the 1990s. I dont think people often pause to think about the larger social factors that go into enabling a killer like Bruce McArthur to continue getting away with his crimes, says Lee. The owners requested that police keep crime-scene tape up around the yard to deter journalists by whom they were feeling increasingly harassed. [166] He made another brief courtroom appearance on January 29, and subsequently attended via video link,[51] represented by W. Calvin Rosemond of the legal defence firm of Edward H. Royle & Partners. Toronto's Bruce McArthur was a regular feature in the city's gay village. But amid talk of closure there was also a question: Why did he do it? [164] In mid-March the same year, Cantlon said one package of disclosure had been made to McArthur's lawyers, with more to be expected in the following weeks, some in excess of 10,000 pages owing to the case's complexity. More than a year later he came out of the closet to his wife but they continued living together. A new Canadian true-crime documentary about notorious serial killer Bruce McArthur is the first "super deep dive" broadcast about the murders of eight men in Toronto's gay village, says . Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8, pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder, could not find a single or clear motivating factor behind the attack. When reporter Brad Hunter looked into Bruce McArthur's life to put together a biography of the serial killer for the Toronto Sun, what he found was one unlikely suspect. Then he allegedly made a costly mistake", "Documents reveal police had close call while searching apartment of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur", "Prosecutor describes disturbing details of Bruce McArthur's crimes at sentencing hearing", "Bruce McArthur charged with 1st-degree murders of 2 men who disappeared from Toronto's Gay Village", "What we know about the suspect in the disappearances from Toronto's Gay Village", "Accused serial killer Bruce McArthur to pal: 'I'm tired of these f---ing f---ots', "As the murder investigation expands, one man says Bruce McArthur sold him planters. "He had wonderful clients and he was kind and generous to them," said Fraser on As It Happens, describing McArthur as a "cheerful, kind grandfather," who would make her laugh with stories about demanding clients. [180] On January 29, before Justice John McMahon, McArthur pleaded guilty to each of the eight first-degree murder charges that he was facing, ending the possibility of any trial. Criticisms of the TPS's handling of the initial missing persons investigations have led to several internal reviews, an external review called by the civilian Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) and the formation of a dedicated missing persons unit. Idsinga said he was particularly interested in excavating at three properties. From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun. Police did not release any details[115] but Idsinga said it was serious enough to affect the careers of officers involved. how to make immortality in little alchemy 1, city of lancaster water tap fees, long lasting homemade dog treats,
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