Serial killers target marginalized groups, experts say
There could be more victims related to the murders of two gay men, police say
Serial killers often target people from marginalized groups because of the lack of attention their cases receive from media and law enforcement, experts say.
“This is something we see time and time again,” said Jooyoung Lee, an expert on serial killers at the University of Toronto. “Serial killers are opportunists and this is part of the reason why they target marginalized groups.
“They know that people who are from marginalized populations won’t get the same attention, whether they are marginalized for their sexuality, gender or their race.”
Toronto police arrested a man Thursday, charged him with the deaths of two men and said they believe there are more victims. This left Torontonians to wonder if the deaths of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen were the work of a serial killer. Both men were members of the LGBTQ community from the Church and Wellesley area.
Bruce McArthur, 66, a self-employed landscaper, was charged in the murders of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen. Investigators have said they believe there are more victims.
McArthur appeared to be connected on Facebook to Skandaraj “Skanda” Navaratnam, one of three middle-aged men active in the Church and Wellesley area who went missing between 2010 and 2012. The others were Abdulbasir “Basir” Faizi, and Majeed “Hamid” Kayhan.
Police haven’t labelled McArthur a serial killer. But they didn’t discour- age use of the term, saying it was up to the media to decide.
Lee said he could not comment on the McArthur case because there is no conviction yet.
However, he said that, generally speaking, serial killers target people from certain groups or communities.
“Sometimes there is evidence that they target a certain type of people and it becomes a very ritualistic thing, where they continuously look for that certain type of victim; once they find them, that becomes their obsession,” he said.
“In other cases, it really is a matter of practical access; they were around; they were easy victims; they were people who they had access to.”
He added: “It really comes down to the pragmatics of murder; serial killers are often very smart and intelligent and they target communities that won’t get the attention.”
Lee said that if McArthur is guilty and has targeted members of the LGBTQ community, the case really “underscores the frustration this community has, because they think police are not really taking their concerns seriously.”
“What we see is that people from marginalized groups don’t get that same kind of attention until something like this comes to light,” he said.
Simon Fraser University criminology professor Neil Boyd also said serial killers kill according to repetitive patterns, with similar motivation. The victims they select often have a common theme.
Speaking to the Star about a previous case, Osgoode Hall Law School professor Alan Young said planning and deliberation are normally involved with serial murders, and there is a pattern of killing and respite.
Lee added that beyond the number of people that serial killers murder, it is the compulsion to kill others that characterizes them.
“They tend to enjoy the psychologi- cal and physical control over another person,” he said.
Killers have targeted Toronto’s queer community before. Marcello Palma killed three sex trade workers in 1996 within a two-hour span.
Other multiple-murder cases, which took place over longer time spans, mark the city’s history.
Many were connected to other criminal activity. Mark Garfield Moore, who was convicted of killing four people in 2010, was known to be connected with gang activity.
Adrian Kincaid was convicted of three murders, one of which took place during a robbery.
Other killers that sparked fear and drew attention in Toronto include Terrence Allan Fitzsimmons, who was convicted of killing Toronto dentist Norman Rasky in 1993, as well as two other people in Montreal and Ottawa. With files from Victoria Gibson