Accused killer faces eighth charge
Police release corpse photo in investigation
Toronto police charged Bruce McArthur with an eighth count of first-degree murder after taking the rare step of releasing a photograph of a victim’s corpse to the public in hopes of identifying him.
Little more than one month after releasing the photo, police identified the man as Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam.
At a Monday morning news conference, Det-Sgt Hank Idsinga said Kanagaratnam, 37, moved to Canada from Sri Lanka in 2010 and had been living in Scarborough, Ont.
McArthur, Idsinga believes, killed Kanagaratnam between Sept. 3, 2015 and Dec. 14, 2015 — less than a month after another alleged victim, Soroush Mahmudi, was reported missing by his family.
Kanagaratnam’s remains were found buried in planters that McArthur, a landscaper, kept stored at the home of one of his clients.
The dismembered remains of all the victims — except for Majeed Kayhan — were found in them.
Although police initially said they found the remains of eight people, Idsinga could not definitely say if the remains of other victims not yet identified were also mixed into the planters.
Police were able to identify Kanagaratnam after taking what Idsinga called a “last resort” and releasing a photo where he appeared to be dead.
In the photo, Kanagaratnam’s head is tilted back as if he were laying on the ground, his face appears swollen and his eyes are closed.
Idsinga said at the time that “artifacts” were removed from the photo. Photoshop tools such as the eraser tool, smudge tool and spot healing brush tool were each used more than 50 times, according to a Post analysis of the metadata. The Post has chosen to no longer publish the photo out of respect for Kanagaratnam.
Police received more than 500 tips after releasing the photo and whittled the list of identities down to 70 potential names last Wednesday.
After receiving assistance from an unnamed international government agency, Idsinga said police were able to identify the victim.
But even after widely publishing the photo, Kanagaratnam’s name wasn’t one that police were closely eyeing in relation to the tips.
Kanagaratnam wasn’t reported missing in Canada or in Sri Lanka, Idsinga said, and there is no evidence linking him to the Gay Village in Toronto. Each of the other victims and McArthur himself have ties to the LGBTQ community.
The Post reported in March that McArthur, according to source close to the investigation, changed his pattern when it came to targeting potential victims after being interviewed as a witness in the disappearance of Skandaraj Navaratnam — a man who would later be identified as a victim.
McArthur, the source said, began to target men whom he had no links to and who fewer people would notice missing.
During this time, McArthur allegedly murdered Mahmudi, a man who lived in Scarborough with his wife and hadn’t come out to his family; Dean Lisowick, a sex worker who struggled with homelessness, and Selim Esen, a recent immigrant with few friends.
Kanagaratnam, whose only family in Canada appears to be a few distant cousins, suggests he’s the latest to follow the pattern.
Kanagaratnam’s disappearance did not go unnoticed in Jaffna Park, Sri Lanka where most of his family lives. On Dec. 9, his brother wrote on Facebook that the family had not heard from Kanagaratnam in a year.
Another family member posted a local newspaper clipping that appeared to show that Kanagaratnam was missing overseas.
McArthur is also accused of murdering Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Mahmudi, Lisowick, Kayhan, Navaratnam and Abdulbasir Faizi.