TORONTO: Police in Canada's largest city of Toronto on Monday accused a landscaper of murdering five people and placing their dead bodies in large planters on his clients' properties across the city in an "unprecedented" case.

The deaths are tied to a series of missing-persons cases in Toronto's gay village.

Toronto police said they had laid a total of five charges of first-degree murder against Bruce McArthur, 66.

McArthur, who is in custody, was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder earlier this month.

"It's an alleged serial killer," Detective-Sergeant Hank Idsinga told reporters at a news briefing, describing the case as "unprecedented."

"The city of Toronto has never seen anything like this," he said.

Idsinga said police had found bodies hidden at the bottom of large planters at multiple addresses, and believed there were more victims than the five people identified so far.

Police are searching other properties where McArthur has done landscaping work, he said.

"We do believe there are more and I have no idea how many more there are going to be," he added.

McArthur is accused of killing Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Marmudi and Dean Lisowick. </s> The 67-year-old self-employed landscaper was arrested in January 2018

Bruce McArthur is shown in a Facebook photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Facebook)

An alleged serial killer accused of preying on men from Toronto’s gay village has pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder.

READ ALSO: Remains of all eight Bruce McArthur victims now identified

Bruce McArthur, who had been set to stand trial next year, entered the guilty plea during a hearing in a Toronto courtroom.

The 67-year-old self-employed landscaper was arrested in January 2018.

Police eventually charged him with first-degree murder in the deaths of Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, and Kirushna Kanagaratnam.

The victims went missing from the gay village between 2010 and 2017.

READ ALSO: McArthur could stand trial as early as September 2019

Police said they recovered the remains of seven men in large planters at a residential property in midtown Toronto where McArthur worked while the remains of an eighth man was found in a nearby ravine.

More to come.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur now faces three additional counts of first-degree murder, bringing the total to five in what police are calling a serial killing case that the city has never seen before.

Det.-Sgt Hank Idsinga said Monday that investigators have reason to believe McArthur killed Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick.

"What kind of case is this?" Idsinga asked rhetorically at a news conference. "It's a serial killer."

'I have no idea how many more there are going to be,' says Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga 1:35

Idsinga said there may be even more victims who have yet to be identified.

"We do believe there are more and I have no idea how many more there are going to be."

McArthur, 66, was previously charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, who both disappeared in 2017.

Police say Kayhan went missing in October 2012 and Mahmudi in August 2015. They believe Lisowick was killed in 2016 or 2017.

Remains found in planters

Idsinga said police discovered dismembered remains in the bottom of large planters after searching a property linked to McArthur at Mallory Crescent in midtown Toronto.

"There's at least the remains of three people among those body parts," said Idsinga.

McArthur now faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick, left to right. (Toronto Police Service)

He added that more DNA and other analysis is being done on the remains to determine the exact identities of the victims.

Karen Fraser lived at the Mallory Crescent property with her husband and told CBC's As It Happens McArthur would often store equipment — including large planters like the ones where the body parts were found — on her property in exchange for cutting grass.

McArthur would do more for her, including helping her with charity work, she added.

Toronto police probed a home linked to Bruce McArthur, located on Mallory Crescent in the area of Bayview and Moore avenues. Although McArthur didn't live there, he did landscaping work for the couple who lived at the property and stored equipment there. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC) "He has been kind, helpful, helped with our charity work, doing floral gifts for silent auctions," she said. "He went above and beyond what our original agreement was to cut the grass."

Fraser said she now struggles to fall sleep and thinks about how some of the alleged victims were immigrants.

"I know sometimes they feel incredibly vulnerable. A lot of them are here without family," she said.

"I picture these men, glad to be making friends. They found a community. They really think that their new life is going to be maybe more than they ever dreamed possible — and then that someone took advantage. The terror, the horror — that's what I have real trouble with"

Other sites to be searched

Since McArthur's arrest, police have identified approximately 30 properties where the self-employed landscaper may have worked.

Idsinga said police have searched the majority of the properties, and urged anyone who may have employed McArthur to contact them so they can search the area where he may have worked.

"He's taken some steps to cover his tracks and we have to uncover these victims," Idsinga said.

Investigators have also seized other planters to go through and have identified at least two other sites to be excavated.

Toronto police recovered body parts of 'at least' three victims inside planters at the Mallory Crescent home. (CBC)

'Unprecedented' investigation

Idsinga also confirmed that McArthur was first identified as a suspect in September in connection with Kinsman's disappearance.

Officers arrested him after uncovering evidence that also linked McArthur to Esen's death.

The ensuing investigation has required "unprecedented" resources, police said.

"We've never seen anything quite like this with the number of crime scenes that we have to process," Idsinga said. </s> Toronto police said Thursday they’ve recovered the remains of at least six people from planters on a property connected to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

Lead investigator Det. St. Hank Idsinga said the remains, found on property McArthur used as storage in exchange for doing the landscaping, included some from one of the five men McArthur is already charged with killing, Andrew Kinsman.

McArthur was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the disappearances of Kinsman and Selim Esen, two men last seen in the “Gay Village” district of Toronto. Not long after that, he was charged with the murders of three more men and police said they were on a wide search for other possible victims.

Read more at the NY Post </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Bruce McArthur was arrested last January and pled guilty on 18 January 2019

A Toronto landscaper accused of killing eight men who went missing between 2010-17 has pleaded guilty to their murders.

Bruce McArthur, 67, was arrested last January and charged in the deaths of two men, and police subsequently charged him in six other cases.

Most of his victims had links to Toronto's Gay Village neighbourhood.

Many of the victims' remains were found in plant pots on one property in Toronto's Leaside neighbourhood.

Each of the first-degree murder charges carry an automatic life sentence, meaning he will not be able to apply for release until the age of 91.

His sentencing hearing will begin on 4 February, in which friends and relatives will be give impact statements, describing how the killings have affected their lives.

Image caption The victims clockwise from upper left: Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Soroush Mahmudi

The judge must also decide whether to sentence him to consecutive life sentences, or whether he can serve eight life sentences concurrently.

What were his crimes?

In court on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Michael Cantlon described how McArthur had "staged" and photographed the victims, keeping mementos such as jewellery and a notebook.

He described all of the crimes as "sexual in nature", adding that there is evidence he tied the victims up during the murders.

While many of the remains were buried in planters at 53 Mallory Crescent in Toronto, where McArthur worked as a gardener, others were buried in a nearby ravine.

McArthur had an agreement with the home's elderly residents to store his landscaping equipment there in exchange for free lawn care, according to the authorities.

Police say they found a duffle bag with duct tape, a surgical glove, rope, zip ties, a black bungee cord and syringes in his bedroom when they searched his property, according to court documents.

They say that some of the victims were killed during a sexual assault or while being "unlawfully confined".

The arrest launched a massive investigation that spanned Canada's largest city, one of the largest such investigations in the history of Toronto police.

Investigators searched dozens of properties linked to the self-employed landscaper and looked into cold cases dating back decades.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A bagpiper played a lament for victims on the one year anniversary of McArthur's arrest

Why?

By Robin Levinson-King in the Toronto court

In a packed courtroom, Bruce McArthur's eight guilty pleas marked the beginning of the end of a saga that has haunted Toronto's LGBT community for years.

Dressed in a black cable-knit sweater and a plaid shirt, McArthur spoke softly and matter-of-factly when addressing the court, which was filled with family and friends of his victims.

As the plea deal was read, they were stoic, but outside of the courtroom, many embraced with signs of relief in their eyes.

For years, rumours of a serial killer stalking Toronto's Gay Village has left the city's LGBT community afraid.

McArthur's conviction, and his subsequent sentencing to life in prison, will bring closure for many.

But nagging questions remain: how did he get away with it for so long?

Why did he do it?

Who are the victims?

So far, all of the eight victims except one had ties to the city's Gay Village.

Many were immigrants from South Asia or the Middle East.

Members of Toronto's LGBT community have criticised police, saying they did not take their concerns about the missing men seriously.

The first two alleged victims were identified in January as Andrew Kinsman, 49, and Selim Esen, 44, who both went missing in 2017.

Since then, police have named Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, who disappeared on Labour Day weekend in 2010; Soroush Mahmudi, 50, reported missing in 2015; Dean Lisowick, 47, who is believed to have been killed in April 2016; Abdulbasir Faizi, 42, who disappeared in 2010; Majeed Kayhan, 58, who disappeared in 2012; and Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, who police believe was killed in January 2016.

What's the reaction?

Karen Fraser, one of the residents of the home where victims were recovered, told reporters outside the courthouse that the couple feels "violated" by the man they knew for more than a decade.

"What does remorse look like? I only saw a blank face," she said, calling him "evil" and a "shuffling, broken man, as he should be".

She had previously met two of the victims, whom she did not name, at her property with McArthur. She said thinking about their last moments "haunts her".

"They're not just on a list or a photograph, they were people standing in front of me."

Mrs Fraser said that in her mind, there were two Bruce McArthurs: "Bruce A" and "Bruce B".

Lead Homicide Detective David Dickinson said investigators are glad for the guilty plea, which will spare victims and families a trial.

An independent review has been ordered to look into how police handle missing persons cases.

"If mistakes were made we should learn from them," Detective Dickinson said.

Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention Director Haran Vijayanathan, who has been speaking on behalf of many victims' families since McArthur's arrest, said they are grateful.

"We have closure now finally. We don't have to guess and wait and anticipate and come to court meetings and just walk away with no answers," he said.

"So this is really good for closure for everyone." </s> Toronto police homicide investigators say the remains of at least six people have now been recovered at a property on Mallory Crescent as part of the investigation into alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

One set of remains has been confirmed to be that of Andrew Kinsman, Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said outside of the residence in Toronto’s Leaside neighbourhood on Thursday.

He said the remains of five other people have yet to be identified.

READ MORE: Tips on alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur coming from around the world”

McArthur, a 66-year-old self-employed landscaper, was charged last month with five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of missing men from the city’s Church-Wellesley Village.

McArthur was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman on Jan. 18 following a months-long probe into missing persons cases.

READ MORE: Police seize planters from more GTA homes where suspected serial killer Bruce McArthur worked

On Jan. 29, police said McArthur was charged with three more counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick and Soroush Mahmudi.

Investigators said they believe there are more victims.

When contacted by Global News Thursday, Patricia Kinsman expressed relief that her brother’s remains have been recovered.

“We’re glad that he’s been found – or most of him has been found,” she said. “Now we’re just waiting to have him return to us, which will take a couple of months probably.”

READ MORE: Police seize planters from more GTA homes where suspected serial killer Bruce McArthur worked

She said the family remains “in shock.”

“When we were looking for him in July, August, September and right up into December, we just thought we were looking for Andrew – a body. It turns out we weren’t even close to the truth. Never in my nightmares did I think that this is what was going to come of it.”

Patricia Kinsman, Andrew Kinsman’s sister tells me she’s in shock after learning her brother’s remains were found in a planter. “I just hope it was quick. This is just the start of it. How many more are there?” #BruceMcArthur has been charged with Kinsman’s murder. More at 5:30 — Catherine McDonald (@cmcdonaldglobal) February 8, 2018

LISTEN: Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga joins The John Oakley Show on 640 Toronto

View link »

Meanwhile, investigators are continuing to examine large planters seized at sites throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Idsinga said 15 planters have been collected in total.

READ MORE: Who are suspected serial killer Bruce McArthur’s alleged victims?

He said the Leaside property — where McArthur stored landscaping equipment and visited several times — is the only place where remains have been discovered.

Police were seen emerging from the home on Thursday morning with bags and boxes. At the press conference, Idsinga said investigators have finished their search inside the home, and are moving outside to dig up the backyard.

Police have been thawing a 20-by-20-foot area for about a week, he said.

Kathy Gruspier, a forensic anthropologist with the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, is leading the excavation.

Just moments ago, four forensic investigators emerged from Mallory Crescent home where #BruceMcArthur landscaped with bags & boxes of evidence @globalnewsto pic.twitter.com/FE7fmIZKMG — Catherine McDonald (@cmcdonaldglobal) February 8, 2018

McArthur, who was under police investigation since September, remains in custody. The charges have not been proven in court. He is scheduled to appear again in court on Feb. 14.

READ MORE: Timeline of events for Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur

Police launched Project Houston in 2012 after three men went missing in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood. Their investigation concluded in 2014 when leads in the case dried up.

Toronto police started a missing persons probe called Project Prism last August after Esen and Kinsman disappeared just a couple of months apart.

Police were subsequently criticized by the LGBTQ community for not escalating their search efforts and for dismissing rumours that a serial killer was in their midst.

Anyone who retained McArthur to do landscaping work or has information is being asked to contact the Toronto police team dedicated to the investigation at 416-808-2021 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.

With files from Nick Westoll and Catherine McDonald </s> Investigators now say they have found the remains of “at least” six individuals on a property linked to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

Police said Thursday that some of those remains belong to Andrew Kinsman, who went missing last summer. The other remains have yet to be identified.

McArthur, 66, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder. The charges are related to the presumed deaths of Selim Esen, 44, Majeed Kayhan, 58, Soroush Mahmudi, 50, Dean Lisowick, either 43 or 44, and the death of Kinsman, 49.

The victims had disappeared over the past eight years and were known to be part of Toronto’s gay village, in the neighbourhood of Church and Wellesley streets.

Since McArthur’s arrest on Jan. 18, investigators have been scouring approximately 30 properties linked to him.

The remains of six people were found inside large flower planters around 53 Mallory Cres., an east-end Toronto home, Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters on Thursday.

Police have previously said that McArthur stored supplies used for his landscaping business on that property.

Idsinga said forensics investigators are still working to identify all the remains found in the planters and he anticipates that more charges will be laid against McArthur.

“It’s going to be a very, very extensive investigation,” he said.

Investigators are now preparing to dig up the backyard at 53 Mallory Cres., and have been heating the frozen ground, Idsinga said.

Ground-penetrating radar showed “areas of interest” in the backyard, and a forensic pathologist will be overseeing the dig, he said. A large tent covered the backyard on Thursday.

Idsinga said police have finished their search inside the house and the homeowners will be able to return Thursday night if they want to.

He said there is another site connected to McArthur that investigators are “interested” in, but it’s not clear yet whether any digging will be done there.

In a brief statement to CP24, McArthur’s son, Todd McArthur, said his family has been “going through hell.”

“This has been absolute hell...that’s all we have to say for now. There will be no further comment from the family,” he said.

None of the allegations against McArthur have been tested in court. </s> Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur now faces three additional counts of first-degree murder, bringing the total to five in what police are calling a serial killing case that the city has never seen before.

Det.-Sgt Hank Idsinga said Monday that investigators have reason to believe McArthur killed Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick.

"What kind of case is this?" Idsinga asked rhetorically at a news conference. "It's a serial killer."

Idsinga said there may be even more victims who have yet to be identified.

"We do believe there are more and I have no idea how many more there are going to be."
• Toronto police now open to any possible links between Bruce McArthur and earlier disappearances
• Man missing since 2010 was romantically involved with accused killer Bruce McArthur, says friend
• 'A different standard': Disappearances of men of colour not taken seriously enough, LGBT leader says

McArthur, 66, was previously charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, who both disappeared in 2017.

Police say Kayhan went missing in October 2012 and Mahmudi in August 2015. They believe Lisowick was killed in 2016 or 2017.

Idsinga said police discovered dismembered remains in the bottom of large planters after searching a property linked to McArthur at Mallory Crescent in midtown Toronto.

"There's at least the remains of three people among those body parts," said Idsinga.

He added that more DNA and other analysis is being done on the remains to determine the exact identities of the victims.

Since McArthur's arrest, police have identified approximately 30 properties where the self-employed landscaper may have worked.

Idsinga said police have searched the majority of the properties, and urged anyone who may have employed McArthur to contact them so they can search the area where he may have worked.

"He's taken some steps to cover his tracks and we have to uncover these victims," Idsinga added.

Investigators have also seized other planters to go through them and have identified at least two other sites to be excavated.

Idsinga also confirmed that McArthur was first identified as a suspect in September in connection with the disappearance of Kinsman.

Officers arrested him after uncovering evidence that also linked McArthur to the death of Esen.

The ensuing investigation has required an "unprecedented" number of resources, police said.

"We've never seen anything quite like this with the number of crime scenes that we have to process," said Idsinga. </s> (TORONTO) — Toronto police said Thursday they’ve recovered the remains of at least six people from planters on a property connected to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

Lead investigator Det. St. Hank Idsinga said the remains, found on property McArthur used as storage in exchange for doing the landscaping, included some from one of the five men McArthur is already charged with killing, Andrew Kinsman.

McArthur was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the disappearances of Kinsman and Selim Esen, two men last seen in the “Gay Village” district of Toronto. Not long after that, he was charged with the murders of three more men and police said they were on a wide search for other possible victims.

Idsinga said police expect to lay more charges.

Authorities have checked at least 30 other places where the landscaper was known to have worked, including some of Toronto’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Police have said they expect to find more remains in the planters they’ve retrieved from around the city. Idsinga said they have about 15 planters now.

Investigators are also starting to excavate part of the lawn at the home where the new remains were found. Police have set up a tent and heaters on the property to keep the ground from freezing and a forensic anthropologist arrived at the property on Thursday.

Idsinga said investigators finished searching inside the house and the garage and said the occupants of the home are free to return, but can’t go into the backyard.

He said police have thought about excavating a second property, but said it might depend on what they find in that backyard.

Investigators have not yet released complete details, but the 66-year-old McArthur is believed to have met his victims cruising around the city in the van he used for work and on gay dating apps for older and large men with names such as “SilverDaddies” and “Bear411.” In his SilverDaddies profile, McArthur described himself as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 221 pounds and primarily interested in younger men. “I can be a bit shy until I get to know you, but am a romantic at heart,” he wrote.

On his Facebook page, he posted pictures of his cats, children and grandchildren and of himself dressed as Santa Claus.

Edward Royle, a lawyer for McArthur, has declined comment on the case. McArthur is due back in court on Feb. 14. He has yet to enter a plea.

The other three known victims are 58-year-old Majeed Kayhan, who went missing in 2012, Soroush Marmudi, 50, who went missing in 2015 and Dean Lisowick, who went missing between May 2016 and July 2017. Police said Lisowick, who was in his mid-40s, was homeless, stayed in public shelters and had not been reported missing. Kinsman, 49, went missing last June and Esen, 44, was reported missing last April.

Police will eventually look at hundreds of missing person cases and try to determine if they were victims of McArthur. They are also running down tips that have come in from around the world.

“We are dealing with some agencies overseas,” Idsinga said.
Toronto Police charge landscaper Bruce McArthur with a total of five counts of first-degree murder, after garden planters containing the remains of three additional people are found on a property linked to him.