Alleged landscaper gay serial killer charged with 6th murder

Bruce McArthur, the Canadian landscaper accused of killing men associated with Toronto’s gay community, has been charged with murdering another victim.

McArthur, 66, was previously charged with the deaths of five men: Selim Esen, 44, Andrew Kinsman, 49, Majeed Kayhan, 58, Soroush Marmudi, 50, and Dean Lisowick, 47.

He allegedly targeted gay or bisexual men in Toronto’s Gay Village area and disposed of their dismembered bodies in pots and gardens in which he worked around the city.

The remains of at least six individuals have been found.

It’s been claimed that McArthur met some of his victims – who ranged from a homeless sex worker to a closeted family man – on dating apps. On one of his profiles he described himself as “a bit shy until I get to know you, but am a romantic at heart”.

At a press conference on Friday, police said that McArthur is now facing a sixth first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 40-year old Skandaraj Navaratnam, a refugee from Sri Lanka.

His remains, along with those of Kinsman and Mahmudi, have been positively identified through dental records and DNA. The remains of the other individuals have not yet been identified.

Skandaraj was last seen leaving a gay bar with another man on 6 September 2010 and was reported missing 10 days later by a close friend.

It’s believed that he had been employed by McArthur and that the men had a sexual relationship.

The authorities became suspicious in September last year that McArthur may have been involved with the spate of disappearances.

On 18 January, officers saw him taking a man into his apartment. They burst into the residence and found the potential victim bound to a bed.

Sources have told the media that police believed that the man was in “imminent danger”. Investigators also discovered photos of McArthur’s alleged victims on his laptop as well as blood evidence in the apartment.

Police have been criticised for earlier rejecting the idea that a serial killer was on the prowl in Toronto following the disappearances of men from the city’s gay village that started in 2010. They have also been accused of racism by not being more active in the investigation because a number of victims were of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin.