Accused serial killer Bruce McArthur pleads guilty to 8 counts of 1st-degree murder
Bruce McArthur has pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder.
McArthur is accused of preying on men who disappeared from Toronto’s Gay Village between 2010 and 2017.
By pleading guilty, he is voluntarily waiving his right for his upcoming trial that was scheduled for January 2020. He will now serve a life sentence in jail.
The 67-year-old self-employed landscaper was arrested in January 2018 and has since been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of several men with connections to Toronto’s gay village.
This includes Selim Esen, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnama, and Abdulbasir Faizi.
“Today, Bruce McArthur pleaded guilty to murdering eight innocent men. It is my hope that he will be put away for these heinous crimes and never again know freedom. He is a monster that preyed on our city,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory.
“My thoughts are with the victims of these crimes, their friends and families, an LGBTQ community that remains shaken and hurt by this tragedy, and a community at large that grieves with them,” Tory continued.
Police have said that McArthur had dismembered his victims and forensic specialists confirmed the remains of seven of the men turned up in planters seized at the 53 Mallory Crescent home where McArthur worked, while the remains of an eighth man were found in a nearby ravine.
McArthur’s arrest launched a massive investigation that spanned Canada’s largest city, which investigators called “the largest forensic examination in Toronto Police Service history.”
Investigators searched dozens of properties linked to the self-employed landscaper and looked into cold cases dating back decades.
McArthur will return to court for his sentencing hearing on February 4, when more details of the case will be revealed.
Friends and relatives of the victims will also have the opportunity to give impact statements, describing how the killings have affected their lives.
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