More remains found in McArthur probe
Police scour ravine behind home linked to accused killer
Human remains have once again been found at a home on a quiet residential street in midtown Toronto, a discovery coming just hours after Toronto police resumed their search of the grounds once kept by alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.
Less than six months after investigators removed large planters containing the dismembered remains of seven alleged McArthur victims, police working behind the Mallory Cres. home uncovered more human remains during an exhaustive excavation, which launched Wednesday morning.
The discovery — made with the help of cadaver dogs, then through a painstaking search of the steep ravine behind the Leaside home — marks the first time human remains were found elsewhere on the property.
Alongside a forensic anthropologist and police specialists from the OPP and Durham Region, Toronto investigators were only hours into what was expected to be a weeks-long excavation when the remains were located, prompting a call to the Ontario’s Coroner’s Office.
The speed with which the remains were found was remarkable even to the lead investigator.
“We had anticipated being here for weeks, and when we found them that quickly it was a bit of a surprise,” Det.-Sgt Hank Idsinga told reporters at a news conference outside the home Thursday.
Aside from their discovery, police could say little else about the human remains or what they might mean for the investigation — including whether a new, previously unknown victim has been found. The remains are now undergoing examination at the Ontario Forensic Pathology Services, where pathologists will attempt to identify them.
How long that will take depends on the process. Identification can be done through fingerprint analysis, dental records or DNA and could take “days, weeks or months,” Idsinga said.
The homicide investigator said it was possible the human remains may be those of more than one person, or those of one of the seven men whose remains have already been found inside the planters; the body of the eighth victim, Majeed Kayhan, has not been located.
The excavation is centred at the back of the Mallory Cres. home, near Bayview and Moore Aves. — a corner lot that backs onto a forested ravine stretching to a nearby rail line. The remains were found in what police described as a landscaping compost in the ravine.
Idsinga said whether McArthur himself started the compost pile was “something for the courts to determine.”
Canine units brought in weeks ago gave indications further digging was required on the property. The cadaver dogs had also been sent out to 100 properties in the Greater Toronto Area that were linked to McArthur through his landscaping work. In some cases the dogs provided what Idsinga called “false positives” and minor excavations were done at some sites, but nothing was discovered.
The Mallory Cres. home is owned by Karen Fraser and Ron Smith, who say they were introduced to McArthur through his sister, Sandra. The self-employed landscaper required a place to store equipment for his company and agreed to mow their lawn in exchange for use of their garage, Fraser previously told the Star.
In an interview Wednesday, Fraser said it was terrible to ponder that there may be “another victim found at my property,” adding that she wants any remains to be found, “so their loved ones can know.”
The search required co-ordination with the City of Toronto, which is responsible for the ravine. Idsinga estimates the excavation will continue at least into next week.
McArthur, 66, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Kayhan, Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam. Their deaths range from 2010 to 2017.
McArthur is scheduled to appear in court later this month.