Closed-door session for McArthur set for today

Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, who is accused in the deaths of eight men over the span of seven years, is expected to appear in Ontario Superior Court Friday.

McArthur, 67, last month waived his right to a preliminary hearing, a move that sent his case directly to trial. He appeared in person before Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon earlier this month, where the judge said a trial could begin as early as September 2019 or the following January.

Ajudicial pretrial — where the judge, Crown prosecutor and lawyer for the accused meet behind closed doors — is scheduled to take place immediately before McArthur’s appearance Friday.

The self-employed landscaper is facing eight counts of firstdegree murder in the deaths of men between 2010 and 2017. All of his alleged victims had ties to Toronto’s Church and Wellesley community — the city’s Gay Village.

His alleged victims are: Andrew Kinsman, 49; Selim Esen, 44; Majeed Kayhan, 58; Soroush Mahmudi, 50; Dean Lisowick, 47; Skandaraj (Skanda) Navaratnam, 40, Abdulbasir Faizi, 42, and Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam, 37.

McArthur was arrested in January at his Thorncliffe Park apartment complex and has been in custody since. The arrest — initially on two counts of first-degree murder — marked the expansion of a sprawling probe that continues today.