Police recover remains of six people in alleged serial killer probe
An alleged serial killer accused of murdering five men is expected to face more charges after Toronto police announced the discovery of more human remains on Thursday.
Homicide Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said that the remains of six individuals have now been recovered from a residential property where Bruce Mcarthur, a 66-year-old self-employed landscaper, had worked.
“I do anticipate more charges,” Idsinga said outside 53 Mallory Crescent, where the remains had been discovered in several planters. “I don’t have a timetable for that, I don’t have a number for that, but I would expect more charges will eventually be laid.”
Idsinga said police have identified at least one set of remains as belonging to Andrew Kinsman, one of the men Mcarthur is accused of murdering, but said investigators are still working to determine who the other alleged victims are.
Mcarthur was charged on Jan. 18 with 49-year-old Kinsman’s death, as well as the presumed death of 44-year-old Selim Esen. Both men went missing from Toronto’s gay village in 2017.
Late last month, police laid three more first-degree murder charges against Mcarthur related to the disappearances of Majeed Kayhan, 58, and Soroush Mahmudi, 50, as well as the death of Dean Lisowick, either 43 or 44, who had never been reported missing.
At that time, police had said skeletal remains belonging to three unidentified individuals had been discovered in planters in the backyard of the Mallory Crescent home. After working on the property for a week and a half, Idsinga said the number of remains recovered had doubled.
An extensive excavation of the home’s back yard under the guidance of a forensic anthropologist was expected to get underway later on Thursday. Idsinga said police had been thawing the frozen ground for a week to expedite the dig, adding they have already identified some areas of particular interest.
Idsinga said the investigation, which he previously described as unprecedented in scope, is proceeding on multiple fronts.
Once police are finished with the evidence so far, Idsigna said they will re-examine “literally hundreds” of missing persons cases in search of potential links to Mcarthur.
He also said police were taking a detailed look at Mcarthur’s extensive digital presence.
“We’re going through computers, we’re going through cellphones, we’re going through online applications and different apps,” he said. “We’ve prepared warrants on different providers, so that’s a very big part of this investigation.”
Police previously announced that they were searching at least 30 properties connected to Mcarthur. Idsinga said investigators were also sifting through the contents of at least 15 planters recovered from multiple properties, at least some of which had contained human remains.