Bruce McArthur, a former landscaper from Toronto, has admitted to the killing and dismemberment of eight men he met in Toronto’s Gay Village district. The 67-year-old appeared before the Toronto Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder committed between 2010 and 2017.
McArthur was arrested earlier this month after police found the remains of seven of his victims in large planters at a property where he had previously worked. The remains of the eighth victim were found in a ravine behind the same midtown Toronto property. It is believed that he found his victims through bars in Toronto’s Gay Village and via gay dating smartphone apps.
In addition to seven of the victims having had ties to the city’s gay community, a number were immigrants from South Asia or the Middle East as well. The men have been identified as Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Majeed Kayhan, Skandaraj (Skanda) Navaratnam and Abdulbasir Faizi, Selim Esen, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick and Andrew Kinsman.
According to prosecutor Michael Cantlon, all eight cases involved sexual assault and/or forcible confinement, adding that the bodies had also been dismembered and that several of the victims were apparently strangled. It was also revealed by Cantlon that McArthur photographed his victims and kept their jewellery and other personal belongings. He added that the killings were sexual in nature, and concluded by saying that there was evidence of the victims having been tied up during the murders.
McArthur faces an automatic life sentence for each of the murders and sentencing will begin on Monday February 4.
[Source: Pink News]
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