TORONTO — Dismembered skeletal remains have been recovered from the bottom of large planter boxes at a home linked to an alleged serial killer who worked as a landscaper, Toronto police announced on Monday.
In what police called an unprecedented situation in Canada's largest city, investigators announced three more first-degree murder charges against Bruce McArthur, who had already been charged with killing two men who had disappeared in the city's gay village. They also said they there might be more victims.
"We do believe there are more. I have no idea how many more there are going to be," Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said. "We're investigating some 30 properties. We believe there are more remains at some of these properties that we're working to recover."
Forensic experts have yet to identify the remains, Idsinga said.
McArthur, 66, was charged Jan. 18 in the presumed deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman. He was further charged on Monday in the deaths Majeed Kayhan, 58, Soroush Mahmudi, 50, and Dean Lisowick, 47.
Kayhan went missing in 2012, Mahmudi was reported missing in 2015, while Lisowick was never reported missing. Mahmudi and Lisowick did not fit the profile of some of the other men who were reported missing — Middle Eastern men known to frequent Toronto's gay village area.
"We know that many in the community are struggling to understand and process these developments," Idsinga said. "(But the investigation) certainly encompasses more than the gay community. It encompasses the city of Toronto," Idsinga said.
Police had initially shut down the rumour that a serial killer was prowling the streets of the city's gay village, stressing in December that they did not know whether Esen's and Kinsman's disappearances were linked or even if the men were still living. That has now changed dramatically.
Investigators said they have identified 30 properties where McArthur worked and are now scouring them for any further evidence. They also said they are planning to excavate at two properties "where people might be buried" but said it's not known what, if anything, they might find.
"We believe there are more remains at some of these properties that we're working to recover," Idsinga said.
