Crown reveals McArthur 'staged' some of his victims after serial killer pleads guilty to 8 murders

A year afterhis arrestsentshock and anger through Toronto, BruceMcArthuron Tuesday morning admittedto killing eight men from2010 to2017.

The self-employed landscaper was arrested inJanuary 2018,after years of speculation within Toronto's Gay Village that a group of men who had gone missing from the neighbourhood were somehow connected.

From then on, McArthur, a stocky, bearded man who had worked part time as a mall Santa,was referred to as an alleged serial killer. The case has beencovered around the world.

Ultimately, McArthur was charged in the deaths of Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushna Kanagaratnam.

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to all eight counts of first-degree murder.

Appearing before JusticeJohn McMahon in Superior Court,McArthur lookedgaunt, with his beard and head shaved.As the name of each of his eight victims was read out,hereplied "guilty" in a quiet voice.

Michael Cantlon, a lawyer for the Crown, revealed some details of the killings, telling the court that each murder included planning and deliberation, and that six were sexual in nature.

He said that during a search of McArthur's bedroom, police found a bag containing duct tape, a surgical glove, rope and zip ties.

Cantlon also said McArthur"staged" some of his victims after they were murdered andkept some of their items as souvenirs, including jewelry.

According to the Crown, sentencing will startthis coming Monday, when more details ofthe case willbe revealed.

Read the full brief statement of facts read in court:

'This isn't closure'

Family of the victims and othersimpacted by McArthur's action will have the opportunity to file victim impact statements before he'ssentenced.

The court will have Farsi, Tamil and French interpreters on hand to assist family members who aren't at ease in English.

'We will never get all the answers'

6 years ago

Duration 0:30

Haran Vijayanathan says it will never be over for the victim's families despite Bruce McArthur guilty plea.

He said Tuesday the hardest part for many families may be yet to come.

"They're going to have to relive all that loss again as they put these victim impact statements together. Whenever you have to recount the details, it brings everything back up."

Families of McArthur's victims 'have closure now'

6 years ago

Duration 0:22

Haran Vijayanathan, the executive director of the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention, describes the feeling of family and friends of Bruce McArthur's victims following the serial killer's guilty plea.

Kinsman's friend Nicole Borthwicksaid the guilty pleas have left her feeling angry.

"This isn't closure," she told CBC News.

A sentiment also expressed by Karen Fraser, who owns the home where remains of McArthur's victims were found.

No sense of closure

6 years ago

Duration 0:21

Karen Fraser, who owns the house where the remains of McArthur's victims were found, explains why there will be no closure for her.

Toronto Mayor John Tory also released a statement on the pleas, writing that McArthur"is a monster that preyed on our city." Tory also said histhoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.

First disappearance in 2010

The McArthur case dates back years.

The first man to go missing was Navaratnam, who was last seen in September2010 and who McArthur had a relationship with for a number of years.

A complete timeline of theMcArthur investigation can be found here.

Kinsman was the last man to gomissing, a day after Toronto's Pride weekend in June2017.

His disappearance proved to be a turning point in the police investigation, with the lead investigator, Insp. Hank Idsinga, sayingif Kinsman had not been reported missing within 72 hours, police may have missed a key piece of evidence that led them to McArthur.

In court on Tuesday, it was revealed that police collected video evidenceof Kinsman getting into McArthur'svan that day.Kinsman'sDNA was found inside in November 2017.

McArthur was arrested two months later.

Over time, police went on to recoverthe remains of seven of the men in large planters at a residential property in midtown Toronto where McArthur worked. The remains of theeighth man were found in a nearby ravine.

Fraser, the owner of that property, tells reporters she met some of the men McArthur killed.

What haunts her

6 years ago

Duration 0:18

Karen Fraser describes what haunts her to this day.

Controversy over police handling of case

The police drew heavy criticism for their investigation of the missing men, including for comments made by police Chief Mark Saunders in December2017 a month afterMcArthurbecame a suspect in the murder of Kinsmanthat police had no evidence of a serial killer operating in the Gay Village.

In the wake of that criticism, Toronto police created the service's first-ever missing persons unit.

How the Toronto police handle cases involving missing people will also be subject to an independent review set up by the Toronto Police Services Board. The review is being advised by a panel of representatives from the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups.

On Tuesday, Saunders tweeted thanks to police officers for their work on the case, and pledged to offer support to the victims' families and communities.

Det. David Dickinson, one of the lead investigators in the McArthur case, echoed that sentiment, adding he believes McArthur pleading guilty"is the best possible outcome."

Asked about the review, he said "if there were mistakes, then we should learn from them."

A 'jovial' fixture in the village

McArthur was self-employed as a landscaper with a long list of well-heeled clients, and also worked as a part-time mall Santa.

He had been livingwith his wife,son and daughter in Oshawa, Ont., before moving to Toronto after his marriage ended in 2000.

On Halloween 2001, he attacked a man with a metal pipe in Toronto, and in 2003 was handed a two-year conditional sentence for the assault.

Ten years later, he joined Facebook and began documenting what seemedto be a busy social life, sharing photos of dinner parties and evenings out.

Many of his photos also featured young men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent.

People who knew McArthur say he was a fixture in Toronto's gay village and came off as "kind," "generous" and "jovial."

Catch up on what happenedin our live blogfrom court below: