Expanded investigation
The scope of the investigation was expanded at the end of
February 2018, looking at outstanding murder cases, hundreds of missing-persons
cases and sudden death occurrences and coordinating with other Canadian and
international forces. Police had received tips from around the world, including
countries where McArthur had vacationed. Idsinga said that the investigation
would take years.
A police source told the National Post that McArthur had
covered his tracks, using aliases online, using payphones instead of cellphones
and avoiding areas with surveillance cameras. The source suggested that
McArthur had targeted vulnerable men who did not have a fixed address or had
not told their families that they were gay.
Detective-Sergeant Stacy Gallant of the TPS homicide squad's
cold case unit said that active crime scenes of the investigation took
precedence over revisiting cold cases. Each of 600 cold cases was being looked
at for consideration of further attention. They drew up a list of fifteen
homicide cold cases linked to the gay village, and fitting the general profile
of the victims identified thus far. Investigators began reviewing these cases,
dating between 1975 and 1997, for a possible connection to McArthur. By
mid-July, forensic testing related to the cold cases was underway. The cold
cases include some of a series of brutal murders in the gay village between
1975 and 1978, when McArthur would have been 23–26 years old and working just a
few blocks south. The victims of these crimes, all gay men, were found in their
homes, naked, tied to beds, and stabbed or beaten to death in a manner
described as "overkill". In
October 2018, homicide detective David Dickinson said that they had not yet
found any links between McArthur and the cold cases.
Investigators had planned to return to the thirty properties
associated with McArthur in April or May, when the frozen ground had thawed,
allowing cadaver dogs to operate with greater accuracy. Idsinga said he was
particularly interested in excavating at three properties. The excavations
included a return visit to the Leaside residence, where remains had been found.
Additional tip-offs caused the number of properties to be searched grow to 75
then 100, some of them outside the city. A team of seven cadaver dogs, some on
loan from other GTA police forces, were searching the properties by the second
week of May. These searches had concluded by the first week of June. Follow-up
investigations had then considered whether additional searches would be
required.
Between July 4 and 13, twenty police investigators conducted
excavations in the forested ravine behind the Leaside property. They began
sifting through a large compost pile, and then proceeded with the guidance of
trained dogs and a forensic anthropologist. They collected human remains almost
every day of this search. On July 20, it was announced that the remains
belonged to Kayhan, and that the remains of all of McArthur's alleged victims
had been identified. Idsinga said that they had no evidence suggesting McArthur
was connected to any other deaths, though the investigation into cold cases was
continuing.
Waterloo Regional Police contacted Ontario's serial predator
crime investigations coordinator to inquire about McArthur in the November 2002
disappearance of David MacDermott from downtown Kitchener. Jon Riley of Meaford
is another possible victim; he had gone to Toronto to find work in landscaping,
planning to stay in a shelter at Church and Wellesley, and disappeared in May
2013.
Victims
Five victims were noted by investigators for similarities:
middle-aged, bearded, patrons of The Black Eagle bar, and self-identified as "bears" (gay men with overtly
masculine traits). They had also disappeared over holiday weekends: Navaratnam
at Labour Day, Faizi after Christmas, Kayhan during Thanksgiving, Esen on
Easter, and Kinsman after Toronto Pride. During McArthur's sentencing hearing,
prosecutors said that the eight victims had ties to Church and Wellesley and a "social life" in that
community, physical similarities which usually included facial hair or a beard,
and six were from South Asia or the Middle East. Several of the deceased had
characteristics that made them more easily victimized or the crimes easier to
conceal, such as moving between temporary residences or keeping aspects of their
lives secret.
Known victims of
McArthur
Skandaraj "Skanda" Navaratnam, 40,
was last seen in the early morning of September 6, 2010, leaving Zippers, a
former gay village bar, with an unknown man. A friend who saw Navaratnam the
day before said he was excited about having a dog; he left this pet behind at the
bar when he disappeared. He was reported missing September 10 or 11, 2010.
Navaratnam was romantically involved with McArthur, whom he had met in 1999.
Navaratnam also worked for McArthur's landscaping business and friends said
that they were still involved in 2008. Navaratnam was a Tamil refugee from Sri
Lanka and had no family members in Canada.
Abdulbasir "Basir"
Faizi, 42, was last seen December 28, 2010, leaving his workplace in
Mississauga, though banking records later placed him at Church and Wellesley.
His last night out included a stop at The Black Eagle bar and the Steamworks
bathhouse. He was an immigrant from Afghanistan. While living in Iran, a
childhood friend had cautioned him on coming out as gay, advising that he
should "find God or leave". That
conflict remained with Faizi, who was not out to his family. A colleague said
that he had been working overtime to ensure that his two daughters got
everything that they wanted for Christmas. He was reported missing on December
29 to Peel Regional Police, west of Toronto. His 2002 Nissan Sentra was found
abandoned on Moore Avenue, steps away from the Beltline Trail, a small ravine
which is a popular cruising spot for gay men. Moore Avenue connects to Mallory
Crescent and the Leaside residence where McArthur stored his landscaping
equipment. On April 11, 2018, police charged McArthur with the murder of Faizi,
which occurred on or about December 29, 2010.
Majeed "Hamid" Kayhan, 58, was
last seen on October 18, 2012, in the gay village near Yonge Street and
Alexander Street. He was reported missing by his adult son on October 25.
Kayhan was an immigrant from Afghanistan, who fled to Canada with his wife and
children in the late 1980s. Kayhan and his wife divorced in 2002 but, as the
son of a Muslim cleric, he had not come out to his entire family. He had
post-traumatic stress disorder from the Soviet–Afghan War and was a heavy
drinker. According to a bartender, Kayhan had been active in the gay village
since the mid-1990s and would stay at an apartment kept by his partner, who had
also not come out to his family. Following the death of his partner, Kayhan
romantically pursued McArthur whom he knew from The Black Eagle. Kayhan's
remains were found in a ravine behind the Leaside property, the eighth set to
be identified.
Soroush Mahmudi,
50, was last seen alive on August 14, 2015, by his home near Markham Road and
Blakemanor Boulevard in the South Cedarbrae neighbourhood. He was a
manufacturing plant worker who lived with his wife. Police believe that
McArthur killed Mahmudi on or about August 15, 2015. He was reported missing by
his wife in August. Mahmudi had come to Canada as a refugee from Iran and did
not have any family in Canada until he met his wife. They moved from Barrie to
Toronto to be closer to his wife's family. Police and his family had not
connected him to Toronto's gay scene; 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.
Andrew Kinsman,
49, was last seen June 26, 2017, the day after Toronto Pride, near his
Winchester Street residence in Cabbagetown, south of the gay village. He was reported
missing on June 29. A friend who last saw him said that Kinsman was "happy and upbeat". Kinsman
was known as a stable and responsible man, a superintendent of his building and
a community volunteer. Kinsman had known McArthur for at least a decade, back
to when Kinsman was a bartender at The Black Eagle. Kinsman was seen carrying
bags of debris on one of McArthur's landscaping projects in 2011 and had been
in a sexual relationship with McArthur for some time.
Selim Esen, 44,
was last definitively seen on March 20, 2017, near Yonge Street and Bloor
Street, just west of the gay village, though there have been reports that he
was seen as late as April 14 near Bloor Street and Ted Rogers Way in the gay
village. He was reported missing by a friend on April 20. Police initially
described Esen as a man of no fixed address who often pulled a wheeled
suitcase. A friend disputed this, saying that Esen was in an "unhealthy relationship" and
would at times stay with friends. Esen was a Turkish citizen who had first come
to Canada to be with a partner that he had met in Turkey. According to the
friend, he struggled with addiction but was getting control of his problem and
had completed a certificate course in peer counselling from St. Stephen's
community house just before he disappeared. McArthur was also a client of St.
Stephen's and very trusted within the community support organization. He was
killed by McArthur on or about April 16, 2017.
Dean Lisowick's name was added to the Toronto Homeless
Memorial at Church of the Holy Trinity in February 2018.
Dean Lisowick, 43
or 44, was not reported missing. He was a resident of Toronto's shelter system.
He had periodically stayed at The Scott Mission on Spadina Avenue since 2003
and was last recorded there on April 21, 2016. He had faced struggles including
issues with substance abuse but was remembered as being very respectful. He was
trying to work more, as a cleaner or laborer, having previously worked as a
prostitute. He was killed by McArthur on or about April 23, 2016.
Kirushna Kumar
Kanagaratnam, 37, last had contact with his family in August 2015. He was
not reported missing. He was one of 492 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who had
arrived in Canada on the MV Sun Sea in August 2010. When his deportation order
was given, he went into hiding in the Tamil community in Ontario and worked as
a cleaner and mover. McArthur killed him on or about January 6, 2016.
Following the extensive coroner and pathology examinations,
after Crown and defence lawyers had information needed for trial, the victims'
remains were released to their families. A memorial for Kinsman was held in
September, and Mahmudi and Esen's funerals were held in mid-October. Lisowick's
remains were laid to rest in late October.
Legal proceedings
In January 2018, a publication ban was ordered on court
proceedings, limiting what could be reported in the media. McArthur was
detained at the Toronto South Detention Centre. Torstar reported on March 19,
2018, that McArthur was being held "in
segregation and under constant suicide watch". As of November 5, 2018,
McArthur remained held at Toronto South. He made his first court appearance on
January 19, 2018, represented by lawyer Marianne Salih. He made another brief
courtroom appearance on January 29, and subsequently attended via video link,
represented by W. Calvin Rosemond of the legal defence firm of Edward H. Royle
& Partners.
Rosemond noted at a February 14, 2018, hearing that it was
McArthur's third court appearance without disclosure. Crown attorney Mike
Cantlon said his office received disclosure from police on February 13, and was
in the process of vetting and screening it. 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. On April 25, Cantlon said more evidence would be turned
over to the defence before the next scheduled court date, May 23, at which time
defence counsel said that they were continuing to receive disclosure. On June
22, the Crown stated that it had disclosed all evidence to the defense.
A judicial pre-trial was scheduled for June 20, 2018. The
closed-door meeting with the Crown and defence lawyers and a judge was to
address issues such as resolving the case without a trial (such as by entering
a guilty plea), trial length, and procedural and evidentiary issues. Daniel
Lerner, a Toronto defence lawyer and former Crown prosecutor, suggested that
the Crown should consider severing the charges. Lerner noted that a long and
complicated trial could put a burden on the jury and create a risk of mistrial.
Kevin Bryan, a former detective with York Regional Police's forensics unit,
considered the amount of evidence to be catalogued and disclosed, and believed
a trial was "years away".
Several media outlets had applied for the release of the
psychiatric and presentencing reports from McArthur's 2003 assault conviction.
James Miglin, an attorney for McArthur, argued that this could risk his fair
trial rights, but Justice Leslie Chaplin felt the reports were generally positive
toward McArthur and released them on June 27, 2018. Chaplin also allowed the
media to view, but not publish, photographs of the victim's injuries and the
weapon used, citing fair trial rights and the victim's privacy.
In court on October 5, 2018, Cantlon said that "negotiations and discussions are
ongoing". Represented by James Miglin, McArthur appeared in court in
person on October 22, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing, not
contesting whether the evidence was sufficient for the charges to be committed
to trial. McArthur was ordered to be tried for eight counts of first-degree
murder. On November 5, he first appeared at the Superior Court of Justice before
Justice John McMahon, who noted a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, by which
the trial should conclude before August 2020. Following a judicial pretrial on
November 30, McArthur appeared in court and was told that his trial would begin
on January 6, 2020, and was likely to last three to four months.
On January 28, 2019, TPS announced an anticipated "significant development" in
McArthur's case the following day. People queued outside the courthouse from 6
am, following a major snowstorm, and the hearing was moved to the largest
available courtroom. 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.
Reading from an agreed statement of fact, Cantlon divulged
details of the killings, which took place in Toronto between 2010 and 2017.
Each murder was either premeditated or involved other crimes which qualified
them as first-degree: six were "sexual
in nature" and five included confinement. McArthur kept trophies from
his victims including jewelry and a notebook. DNA from four of the victims had
been found in McArthur's van. Cantlon then outlined McArthur's "post-offense rituals".
McArthur had hundreds of post-mortem digital photographs of his victims, which
were recovered forensically after he tried to delete them. 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 in Ziploc bags in a shed near
Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
Cantlon said that McArthur "sought out and exploited [...] vulnerabilities" in his
victims that made his crimes difficult to detect; that he used sex to lure
them, killing many in his bedroom through "ligature
strangulation". One photograph showed a rope around a victim's neck
twisted with a metal bar wrapped in tape, a mechanism to control the pressure
during strangulation. The bar was found in McArthur's 2017 van and contained the
DNA of Kinsman and Esen.
McArthur's sentencing hearing began on February 4, 2019. A
2011 change to the criminal code permits a judge to order that parole
ineligibility periods be served consecutively for offences committed after that
year, which would include six of McArthur's murders. The crown asked for a
50-year parole ineligibility, citing "the
enormity of McArthur's crimes", his lack of remorse (McArthur declined
to address the court), the betrayals upon his victims, the effect of his crimes
on the community, and how he had been a danger up to his arrest. Miglin said
such a sentence would be "unduly
harsh" given McArthur's age and noted he had waived a preliminary
hearing and pleaded guilty, which benefited all involved in the proceedings. On
February 8, Justice McMahon sentenced McArthur to life imprisonment with no
parole eligibility for 25 years. 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.
Despite this, he felt that the sentence should not be one of vengeance given
McArthur's age and his guilty plea. McArthur can apply for parole when he is
91, but McMahon said that it would be "highly
unlikely" he would be granted parole. The Toronto Sun noted that
McArthur is overweight with Type 2 diabetes and is unlikely to live that long.
He is currently held at Millhaven Institution.
Controversies
The high-profile investigation and media coverage have drawn
controversies, including accusations of indifference by the Toronto police
towards the LGBTQ, racialized and homeless persons.
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