Remains of six people found in planters
More charges expected in serial killer probe
Toronto police say they expect to lay more charges after announcing Thursday that they have found the remains of six people buried in planters at a home in an upscale neighbourhood where an alleged serial killer worked as a landscaper.
Homicide Det. Sgt. Hank police have identified at least one set of skeletal remains as belonging to Andrew Kinsman, one of five men Bruce McArthur is accused of murdering, but said investigators are still working to determine who the other alleged victims are.
That could bring the number of victims to at least six or as many as 10.
“I do anticipate more charges. 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 outside the home on Mallory Crescent in the city’s Leaside neighbourhood.
McArthur, 66, was initially charged with the firstdegree murders of Kinsman, who was involved in a sexual relationship him, and Selim Esen, 44, on Jan. 18. Eleven days later, police charged McArthur for the first-degree murders of Majeed Kayhan, 58, Soroush Mahmudi, 50, and Dean Lisowick, 47. All but Mahmudi had been missing from Toronto’s gay village since as early as 2012. Lisowick was the only victim who was never reported missing. The alleged murders took place in more than one location, Idsinga said.
McArthur mowed the lawn at 53 Mallory Crescent in exchange for being able to use the homeowners’ garage to store his landscaping equipment. He also kept several planters on the property before selling them to customers.
About 15 planters have been confiscated from homes across the Greater Toronto Area linked to McArthur’s landscaping work and Idsinga said police are still looking to speak to anyone who hired him.
Forensic anthropologists have begun digging into the planters taken from other homes but have yet to find any remains, Idsinga said.
Wearing white coveralls, some investigators were seen leaving the Mallory Crescent yard Thursday carrying boxes of evidence. Idsinga would not specify what was being removed. The search inside the home andthegarageisnowcomplete, but after more than two weeks, police are far from done with the property.
Investigators set up a tent in the back yard more than a week ago and have been attempting to thaw the frozen soil so they can begin digging.
According to Idsinga, they used a ground-penetrating radar to “identify a couple of spots we’re interested in.”
The radar sends a sound wave into the ground and detects differences in the density of the soil, according to forensic anthropologist Scott Fairgrieve, who isn’t working on the case. It won’t tell police that there are bones in the soil, but it will show them where it has been disturbed.
Investigators were expected to begin digging Thursday after Idsinga’s press conference but put it off until Friday, saying there is still some difficulty in thawing the ground.
Fairgrieve, founder of the forensic science program at Laurentian University, said investigators may not be able to thaw more than a few centimetres of soil with the heaters they’re using.
“I would actually recommend that they’ve got to get some concrete dryers in there,” he said.
The digging will be led by forensic anthropologist Kathy Gruspier. Fairgrieve said Gruspier, the first and only full-time forensic anthropologist in Canada, worked on the high-profile case of Guy Paul Morin, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his nine-year-old neighbour in 1984.
Gruspier will oversee the excavation in the back yard as it’s turned into a test pit — something that resembles an archeological dig. Centimetres at a time, Gruspier will use tiny brushes and sterile tongue depressors to sift through the soil. Once they break ground, Idsinga said the excavation could take as long as a week and a half.
If any skeletal remains are found, Gruspier’s main goal will be to create an osteobiography — a bone biography that allows the team to determine the gender and approximate age of an individual. An osteobiography can narrow down the list of people the remains could belong to before DNA testing provides a match.
As the digging begins, there are plans to continue to increase the scope of the investigation, Idsinga said. Police have identified a second potential excavation site but Idsinga would not say where. Toronto police have been in contact with other forces across Ontario — and even a few agencies overseas — to investigate whether they can link McArthur, who worked as a travelling salesman in the 1990s, to any cold cases. The farm in Fenelon Falls, Ont., where he grew up is not currently of interest, he said.
“We are definitely going to look at his past and take a look at where he’s been and if we can link any outstanding homicides or missing persons to him then we’ll pursue that when we get there,” Idsinga said.