The remains of all eight men allegedly murdered by Bruce McArthur have now been recovered and identified, police in charge of the sprawling investigation said Friday.
Acting Insp. Hank Idsinga said the recent excavation around a central Toronto home yielded the only set of remains investigators had yet to locate in their seven-month-long probe of the 66-year-old former landscaper.
While the remains of seven men were recovered from planters at the same property earlier in the year, police had struggled to find any connected to Majeed Kayhan, who disappeared in 2012. Idsinga said Friday that Kayhan’s dismembered remains were finally located during the most recent search, scattered in several locations in a ravine behind the home.
Idsinga said the investigation is still analyzing cold cases and missing person’s accounts for potential ties to McArthur, but said the current evidence suggests there aren’t any more alleged victims.
“As far as we know the first murder took place in 2010,” Idsinga told reporters. “There’s eight victims that we’ve identified, and I hope that it remains at just eight victims.”
McArthur was arrested in January in connection with the disappearances of numerous men with ties to Toronto’s gay community.
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Charges against him have mounted in the ensuing months, and he now stands charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kayhan, Selim Esen, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Andrew Kinsman, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushna Kanagaratnam.
The men all went missing between 2010 and 2017, most often from Toronto’s gay village.
Idsinga said the investigation is still far from over as police continue to sift through tips both from within Canada and abroad.
He said police are also continuing to sort through a rash of unsolved murders dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, but said there is currently no evidence to suggest McArthur had any ties to the cases.
Idsinga said the discovery of the eighth set of remains marks an important moment for the emotional well-being of those impacted by McArthur’s alleged crimes.
“It’s important for the families for closure, for the victims themselves, and for the community … as a whole,” he said. “It’s been a terrible set of circumstances, and hopefully some healing can go on and some closure can be brought to the families.”
Police have searched about 100 properties linked to McArthur, but have only found human remains in and around the one central Toronto home. Idsinga said no other searches are anticipated.
McArthur’s case is scheduled to return to court on July 23.
The Canadian Press
