Toronto Serial Killer Sentenced to Life

Bruce McArthur, a 67-year-old landscaper and former Santa Claus mall entertainer, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of eight victims from Toronto’s gay village. For years, the suspicions of a serial killer terrorized the community and spurred initiatives in an attempt to find the missing persons. Unfortunately, both Project Houston in 2012 and Project Prism in 2017, failed to provide any leads in the disappearance of 7 men, leaving the families with more questions than answers.

It was not until Andrew Kinsman vanished, a man who had left detailed clues to his last whereabouts, that police were able to confirm the identity of the murderer.

Bruce McArthur is said to have chosen marginalized victims, many of them immigrants, refugees, or drug dependents. Police believe he would strangle his victims in his car or bedroom[1]. Then, he would pose their dead bodies for pictures, sometimes placing cigarettes in their mouth.

McArthur would keep files on each of his victims and later dispose of the body by dismembering and placing the parts in various planters around the houses in which he worked[2]. Even when arrested, Bruce McArthur was found to have a man tied to his bed with a bag over his head. This would have been his ninth known victim.

The victims were the following people:

[1] Pazzano, Sam. “Cops Saved Bruce McArthur’s Ninth Victim From Slow Torturous Death: Judge”. Toronto Sun, February 8, 2019.<https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/cops-saved-bruce-mcarthurs-ninth-victim-from-slow-torturous-death-judge>

[2] Rahuala, Emily. “Serial killer who stalked and terrorized Toronto’s gay village sentenced to life.” Washington Post, February 8, 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/serial-killer-who-stalked-torontos-gay-village-to-be-sentenced-friday/2019/02/07/311755b8-2a1c-11e9-97b3-ae59fbae7960_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1d008671b311>