After following the case of Bruce McArthur for over a year, there is finally a verdict on the trial. McArthur, a 67-year-old landscaper, was accused of killing and dismembering eight men between 2010 and 2017—men he met in Toronto’s Gay Village. McArthur was a regular in the Gay Village and many community members, including city officials, recall frequently seeing him at the various local establishments. McArthur pleaded guilty to eight murder counts last week and now he has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at 25 years—he will be 91 if/when that happens.
The Washington Post reports that McArthur shared details about how he lured men and killed them before posing their corpses in costumes and archiving photos of their bodies on digital files. He was stopped before claiming a ninth victim who was tied to his bed.
McArthur was specific in selecting his victims. He looked for men who struggled with their sexuality and who were marginalized in other areas such as ethnicity, immigration status, or socio-economic challenges. These were individuals who he felt were flawed, struggling with substance abuse, closeted, and who would not immediately be looked for.
The eight men murdered by McArthur are:
Skandaraj Navaratnam, Majeed Kayhan, Abdulbasir Faizi, Soroush Mahmudi, Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Dean Lisowick, Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.
Toronto Police has received much scrutiny for not acting quicker on this case. They discredited the idea that the missing men was linked to a serial killer—until so many lives were lost.
A spokesperson for Toronto Police, Meaghan Gray, said they did everything possible to conduct two investigations and locate the missing men. Gray said:
We will continue to do what we can to support the community and look for opportunities to improve our relationship.
How long will it be before the LGBTQ+ community begins to feel safe again in Toronto, a historically open and inclusive place for the LGBTQ+ community? For the time being, at least the nightmare that was Bruce McArthur is over.
h/t: The Washington Post
Notice how RTE (Instinct’s
Notice how RTE (Instinct's resident troll) is no where to be seen when Muslim men are the victims?
Pointing out RTE's hateful BS aside, my thoughts go out to the families of these victims.I hope they're happy that the justice system finally helped them.