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Toronto Police Find Remains Of At Least 6 People Linked To Suspected Gay Village Killer

A landscaper has been charged in the deaths of five men so far.

After days of excavation, Toronto police on Thursday said they have recovered the remains of at least six different people on property that was landscaped by suspected serial killer Bruce McArthur, who has been charged with the murder of five men connected to the city’s gay village.

Police said last week they had found dismembered remains of at least three people on the property, a number that has now doubled. A final count is not yet known.

Arrested in January, McArthur, 66, has been charged in the deaths of five men: Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick.

Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga said at a press conference that Kinsman’s remains were among those found in planters at the suburban home where McArthur mowed the lawn in exchange for storage space in the garage.

The identities of the other five people found on the property are not yet known. Idsinga would not confirm whether those bodies belonged to any of the other four men McArthur is accused of killing.

“I do anticipate more charges being laid,” he said, later adding that Toronto police are also working with unnamed “agencies overseas.”

Due to the cold Canadian winter, police say they will require at least another week to dig into parts of the frozen ground identified with radar as areas of interest. Another site may be excavated afterward as authorities look into other homes where McArthur worked.

Rumors of an active serial killer persisted for years in Toronto’s gay community before McArthur was brought into custody. McArthur drew police attention after Kinsman, with whom McArthur had been in a sexual relationship at one point, went missing. One morning last month, officers surveilling McArthur saw a young man enter his apartment, and moved to arrest McArthur out of fear for the man’s safety. The man was found tied up but unhurt.

Following an assault conviction in 2001, McArthur was banned from an area of Toronto that includes the neighborhood known as the gay village. According to reports, he used social media and dating sites to attract the men he allegedly killed. Authorities are analyzing his digital footprint for clues.

“We’re going through computers, we’re going through cellphones, we’re going through different apps,” Idsinga said.

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