In 2010, the LGBT community in Toronto began to fear that there might be a predator in their midst. Described as an LGBT enclave, Church and Wellesley is known as Toronto's gay village. Protective of their people, they noticed that young men were going missing and no one knew what was going on. Did they move? Did something bad happen?
The LGBT people in Church and Wellesley demanded an investigation into their missing people. In 2012, after years of petitioning the police to figure out what was happening, Toronto Police Services started an investigation they called Project Houston.
Originally started as an investigation into the disappearance of Skandaraj "Skanda" Navaratnam, who went missing in September 2010. Project Houston began due to a post on a "Cannibal" website where a poster admitted to killing and eating a man in Toronto, 2010. This info was later dismissed, Riverdale park was searched with friends of Navaratnam and cadaver dogs, but there were no leads.
By 2013 there were 2 other missing men linked by geography and location, Abdulbasir "Basir" Faizi and Majeed "Hamid" Kayhan. All were middle age immigrant men of South Asian origin who disappeared between 2010 and 2012. All also were linked to Church and Wellesley.
In 2013 police questioned Bruce McArthur because he had been linked to two of the missing men. He had been in a relationship with Navaratnam and had visited Kayhan. McArthur denied the relationship with Navaratnam, saying that they were longtime friends. WIth Kayhan, McArthur admitted that they had had a sexual relationship and that Kayhan had been employed at McArthur's landscaping company at one point.
Project Houston, in a 2016 summery, found no evidence linking the disappearance of these men, or even if a crime had been committed, and no suspect.
In 2017 a man named Andrew Kinsman went missing from Cabbagetown, a neighborhood in Toronto. He was reported missing after the 2017 Toronto Pride Parade. After not hearing from Kinsman for a few days, friends gained access to his apartment but found nothing out of place aside from the fact his 17-year-old cat was out of food and water.
Andrew Kinsman was openly gay and had deeps roots with the LGBT community in Toronto. His friends considered him to be a responsible man, and it was really out of character for him to leave his senior cat for any length of time. Wherever Andrew Kinsman was, he also left behind his daily medication.
A friend of Kinsman, Greg Downer lead a social media campaign and search for his friend Andrew, and distributed posters of missing men. Greg Downer had two groups going, one specifically dedicated to Andrew Kinsman, and another general Missing LGBT group called Toronto's Missing Rainbow Community. The posters featured 11 missing men and fed fears that there may be a serial killer stalking the community.
At the end of 2017, another task force was formed called Project Prism to investigate the disappearance of Kinsman and another missing man, Selim Esen. At a meeting with the members of The Rainbow Community, the task force gained valuable information about the LGBT community and the shocking amount of violence directed at them. Safety hotlines were set up and the Rainbow Community provided strategies for online safety and safety using dating apps.
Fears grew after people were the body of Tess Richey was found in November, and the following day the body of Alloura Wells, a transgender woman was found in a ravine. Police found that these cases were not connected but that didn't do much to quell peoples fears.
Due to the vigilance of Kinsman's friend's police were able to find a crucial piece of evidence that police attribute to Kinsman's disappearance being reported quickly. The same date that he was last seen, police found the name "Bruce" written on his calendar.
The continued investigation started to link Bruce McArthur to more of the missing men. By October, they had circumstantial evidence linking Bruce to 5 of the missing men. Police were looking for Bruce's minivan that he had recently sold because they found the van in a surveillance video.
After canvassing local buisnesses, they were able to locate the new owner of the van. After a thorough search of the van, they found trace amounts of blood that were later identified as Andrew Kinsman. DNA from Esen was found in the van as well.
Later, police took cadaver dogs to a residence that Bruce rented storage space from the tenant in exchange for landscaping. Nothing was found at this time, but police did install a camera to monitor activity at the storage space.
After finding the evidence in |Bruce's old van, police were able to obtain a warrant and entered Bruce's apartment covertly and cloned the hard drive of his computer. A forensic analysis of his hard drive found deleted pictures of the dead bodies of Kinsman and Selim Esen.
On January 18, 2018, police decided to arrest Bruce after he was observed a young man enter his apartment. The police found the young man chained to the bed when they entered the apartment. He had a black bag on his head and his mouth was taped shut. If the police hadn't intervened, it is likely that this man would have been added to the victim list.
By the end of January, police realized that they were dealing with a serial killer. The investigation swelled to nearly 200 investigators. Police started to search residences that were linked to Bruce's landscaping business. Near the end of the month, police found remains in large planter boxes located at these houses. Analysts suggest that the method of disposal suggested a serial killer that had years to perfect his craft.
The investigation resulted in 8 charges of first-degree murder for Bruce McArthur. The names of his known victims are:
- Abdulbasir "Basir" Faizi
- Majeed "Hamid" Kayhan
- Skandaraj "Skanda" Navaratnam
- Soroush Mahmudi
- Andrew Kinsman
- Selim Esen
- Dean Lisowick
- Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam
On January 29, 2019, Bruce McArthur plead guilty to the 8 counts of first-degree murder. Bruce kept trophies from his victims including jewelry and a notebook as well as keeping some of their hair clippings in ziplock bags. He had hundreds of post mortem photographs, many of them staged with a ligature around their necks or posed naked in a fur coat and hat. One photo showed a victim with a ligature around his neck which was tied to a metal bar that was used to control the pressure during strangulation, similar to the technique that serial killer John Wayne Gacy used on some of his victims. That metal bar was found in Bruce's new vehicle and had the DNA of Kinsmen and Esen on it.
Bruce McArthur could have many more victims that police haven't been able to connect to him. Criminal Psychologists believe that Bruce is a seasoned serial killer that had many years to develop his M.O. , there could be so many more victims we don't know about.
For now, we can take solace in the fact that even in the unlikely scenario that Bruce is paroled in 25 years, he would be 91 and at that point, I doubt he would be a danger to anyone.
Thanks for reading
Till next time.
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Another good read, Liam. I had heard of MacArthur before and I believe there are more victims yet to be found.
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