Bruce McArthur was born on October 8th, 1951 in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. He was raised on a farm with his parents, sister, and a few foster children that his parents cared for. At times Bruce’s parents had as many as ten foster children in their care. The McArthur family was held in high esteem in their area.
During his school years, some would remember Bruce as wanting to be the teacher’s pet who loved singing. His mother was Irish Catholic and his father was Scottish Presbyterian, this often led to arguments within the household. Bruce would often side with his mom during these arguments.
During high school, Bruce met his wife Janice Campbell. The two graduated high school in 1970. Bruce went on to graduate from a general business program and then at 23 he married Janice.
Bruce worked for the department store chain, Eaton’s. He was a buyer’s assistant in the downtown Toronto business. Not far from Bruce’s workplace same-sex establishments were being formed. It is quite possible at this time Bruce began to wonder about his sexuality.
Though he went on to have two children with his wife, the couple would welcome home their daughter Melanie in 1981 and then their son Todd in 1986.
Bruce stayed busy with the family and within his church, and this prevented him from examining his homosexual feelings any further.
By the 1990s Bruce’s parents had passed and he began to explore his sexual feelings toward men and have multiple sexual affairs, this is when Bruce came out to his wife. He told her he was having affairs with men, but they chose to remain living together. In 1993, Bruce lost his job and alongside his wife struggled with their finances. On top of these struggles were the legal struggles surrounding their teenage son Todd.
It seemed that Todd had a fetish… He would make obscene phone calls to strange women he did not know. Todd McArthur would go on to serve fourteen months in prison.
In 1997 Bruce and his wife separated and he moved to Toronto. By 1999 they declared bankruptcy.
During Bruce’s time in Toronto, there was not a gay community in his area of Oshawa, so he began spending time in the LGBT-oriented areas
of Church and Wellesley, he frequently visited the local bars there and eventually moved into an apartment on Don Mills Road. In time Bruce entered a four-year relationship with another man. The relationship ended and Bruce’s divorce was finalized.
At this time Bruce began visiting a psychiatrist and was prescribed Prozac. He stated he was having a hard time coping with the end of his marriage and the end of his first gay relationship. Bruce was also trying to move into the landscaping industry. Bruce was friendly to those in his area at this time… He would often see a local model, Mark Henderson jogging and wave to him, Mark would do the same. The two knew each other from the LGBTQ community.
Though on October 31st, 2001, just a few weeks after Bruce’s 50th birthday, he jogged towards Mark as he was unlocking the door at his building. Bruce started a conversation and Mark invited Bruce into his apartment to view his Halloween costume.
The two entered the building and as Mark unlocked his apartment door, he felt a whack on the back of the head. He later described thinking, that the ceiling had fallen initially. Bruce threw punches as Mark dodged them… Bruce used a bar and broke two of Marks’s fingers… He was able to dial 911 at approximately 12:39 pm. Bruce continued to try and pull the phone line out of the wall.
Mark described being laughed at by the paramedics… They asked if he had invited him in for intimate time. Bruce turned himself into the Toronto Police and explained his behavior away… He stated that he blacked out before the attack and it may have been due to the combination of his anti-seizure medication mixed with a muscle relaxant.
He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and three years of probation. In addition, he was banned from Toronto’s Gay Village as well as spending time with gay prostitutes. Obviously, the ban from the gay community was almost unenforceable.
He was ordered to provide a DNA sample to be added to a database and psychologist, Dr. Marie-France Dionne wrote a psychological report about Bruce at the request of his lawyer to determine if any possible mental health issues were present that may have led to the attack.
The psychologist found no signs of any mental health problems. She further reported that Bruce had a very minimal risk for violence.
During the 2000s, Bruce often landed seasonal jobs as Santa, due to his white hair and beard. He also owned and operated his own landscaping business at this time. He hired assistants who were primarily young, immigrant men. Clients noticed his assistants changed constantly, and rarely stayed on with Bruce for long.
At the end of his work days, Bruce would head over to the Gay Village and stalk the area. Though he was banned, he wandered the area anyway.
Bruce had met Skandaraj Navaratnam in 1999, but the two didn’t become involved until the early 2000s. Skanda was also an apprentice under Bruce in his landscaping business. Learning the trade, he would proudly show his friends a Koi pond he’d built with Bruce. Skanda seemed happy in the relationship.
Skanda was last seen on September 6th, 2010, leaving the nightclub, Zipperz. He was reported missing 10 days later. He left his new French Bulldog behind. He had saved for months for this dog and while he had no family in Canada as he was a refugee from Sri Lanka, friends knew something was wrong when they realized he’d left the puppy alone for a while.
Abdulbasir Faizi was a 42-year-old married man with two daughters. He truly lived a secret life. He often visited the Village and socialized with other gay men. He worked at a printing company and the last time he was seen, he was at Steamworks a bathhouse in the village.
December 29th, 2010, he had a brief conversation with his wife and said he was with coworkers. He told her he would be home that evening.
When he doesn’t come home, his wife reports him missing.
Several days later his 2002 Nissan Sentra was found abandoned in Toronto in the area of St. Clair Avenue and Mount Pleasant Rd. This wouldn’t be too far from where Bruce stored his landscaping tools.
His wife Kareema learned of her husband’s double life from the police, leading her to frequent the area of the village in search of her husband. Kareema fully believed her husband abandoned her and their children. She eventually filed for divorce and gained custody of their two children.
His cell phone was disconnected shortly after Abdul was last heard from.
Majeed Kayhan also lived a double life. According to bartenders in the village, Majeed had been active in the village since the mid-1990s. He lives with a partner who also had not come out to his family. Majeed’s partner passes away at one point and Majeed pursues Bruce. They had met at a nightclub called The Black Eagle. Majeed was 58 and an Afghan immigrant, who was also employed for a short time by Bruce. He also had a sexual relationship with Bruce.
Majeed disappeared around October 18th, 2012, and was reported missing by his adult son.
At this time the Toronto police department realizes there are three missing men from the village area. This prompted them to put together an investigation called Project Houston, hundreds of hours were put into this investigation from 2012 to 2014, but there were no suspects brought forward.
Though, Bruce was questioned during this investigation. It was noticed that Bruce frequented the same locations and at least two of the men worked for him, but nothing implicated Bruce.
Bruce admitted to knowing both men, but at this time was simply a witness in a missing persons case.
By June 2014, the Parole Board of Canada expunges Bruce’s 2003 assault conviction. Remember the attack on Mark Henderson? That’s the one, but by this time he had already killed three men…
50-year-old Soroush Mahmudi was the fourth victim. He was married with a stepchild and was a refugee from Iran. His wife Fareena told police he was up early for work daily. Getting up as early as 4 am on work days. On the morning of Saturday, August 12th, 2015, he woke and left her son breakfast and then left. He was never seen again…
I just want to point out here that his last murder before Soroush was committed in 2012 and no others until Soroush in 2015. The task force disbanded in 2014 and I believe that this killer Santa felt more at ease stalking his prey again.
Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam sought asylum in Canada, fleeing war-torn Sri Lanka in 2010. The family stated he called every day to check in, but since he was unable to obtain refugee status, he lived underground. Kirushna’s family was afraid to file a missing persons report as they were afraid he would be arrested and sent back to Sri Lanka if found.
It is unclear when he disappeared since no one reported him missing. Many just thought he was hiding as usual, though it is thought that he was murdered in January of 2016. With no clear ties to Bruce, it has never been clear how the two came into contact.
47-year-old Dean Lisowick would be Bruce’s fifth victim. Dean was a former drug user and former sex worker. All described as being sweet but also mistrusting of people. He was quick to jump in if someone was being harmed or harassed. Friends were baffled by his disappearance as they knew had a strong sense of his surroundings and was quite street savvy.
Since Dean struggled with addiction and homelessness, he was never reported missing. No attempts to find him were made. Dean was last seen at the Scott Mission shelter in Toronto in April 2016. It is believed he was murdered sometime around April 21st, 2016.
By June 2016, Bruce invites a man he has known for years to his van. He had parked his van in a parking lot and his male friend climbed into the back. Once inside, Bruce asked him to lie down on a fur coat that had been laid out. Once lying down, Bruce began to strangle the man, who was able to escape the van unharmed.
The victim called 911 and made a full statement, but Bruce… Went to the police himself and gave a statement and since his record of assault had been expunged, they found no reason to take any action. Bruce was released with no charges.
By March of 2017, Bruce was on to his 7th victim. 44-year-old Selim Esen moved to Canada from Turkey. He was unhappy living as a gay man in Turkey, Selim had lived in Australia before moving to Canada in 2013 to marry his boyfriend. Though Selim was described as smart and kind, he had his own dark struggles and at times struggled with substance abuse.
Selim would disappear on Easter weekend in 2017. He was last seen alive on April 16th, 2017.
Bruce’s final victim would be Andrew Kinsman. Andrew himself had a fascination with serial killers, movies, drawings, and various writings of serial killers who targeted gay men or raped men. Friends thought Andrew may have even discussed serial killers with Bruce.
49-year-old Andrew was described as a friend who would make you dinner when life got too crazy. A warrior who fought cancer twice and won, someone who would take the time to listen and conversate even if it overlapped with his own obligations.
At the time of Andrew’s disappearance, he was a building supervisor. On June 26th, 2017, Andrew sent an email to tenants of the building. The tenants responded around 3:38 pm but never heard any further from Andrew. Though surveillance caught Andrew getting into a red Dodge Caravan at 3:07 pm on that same day. On June 29th a friend reported Andrew missing. Police would go on to search Andrew’s apartment. Once inside they found a calendar and on the date June 26th, 2017 the name Bruce was written, and the time was 2 or 3 pm.
This would be the break the police needed. It prompted them to pull the surveillance footage from that day. They move forward to identify this red van. Since no license plate was captured, investigators go to a dealership with photos, and the van is identified as a 2004, Dodge Caravan 20th anniversary edition.
Two features that were very unique to this model were the chrome side trim and it did not have fog lights. This narrowed down their search leading the authorities to Bruce McArthur.
When police finally tracked down the van. Bruce had left it with a wrecking yard. Police were able to seize the vehicle and send it to forensics. This is how they found Andrew Kinsman’s DNA and blood in the vehicle.
Police moved on to search Bruce’s apartment and they found a bracelet with the name Skanda on it. Further testing of the van and DNA found inside, they cannot rule out that Skanda was in Bruce’s van.
Authorities now know Bruce is a killer. So where are the bodies? Well, do you remember Abdul Faizi? His car was found not far from a location where Bruce stored equipment and worked.
The home at 53 Mallory Cresent was a gray two-story home with brown trim. It’s garage facing closest to the sidewalk. The home was owned by Karen Fraser, a landscaping client of Bruce’s. Bruce stored the majority of his equipment at this home as well.
Authorities found body parts of eight men at this property all in potted plants and a ravine. They also found hair from the victims that had been stored at this property. They also found that Bruce enjoyed taking photos of his victims… He would pose them, naked, unconscious, and dressed in a fur coat. Sometimes a hat and a cigar. In Bruce’s van, authorities would find his murder kit, a duffel bag that contained duct tape, surgical gloves, rope, zip ties, a bungee cord, and syringes.
Authorities determined the murder weapon in at least two of the murders was a metal bar with a rope attached. An iron collar so to speak… All victims were sexually assaulted and died of ligature strangulation.
It seemed that Bruce liked to email himself photos of the victims and in some, the murder weapon is seen around the victim’s necks. Bruce organized the photos in folders with the victim’s name. This is how it was determined that there may have been a potential 9th victim. The ninth folder is titled John.
Investigators had Bruce under surveillance and burst into his home on January 18th, 2018 to arrest him, but found a man tied to McArthur’s bed, mouth taped shut. Though they were surveilling Bruce, they did not intend to burst in that day but felt it necessary when he took this young man to his apartment. It was also later determined that on the day Bruce killed Andrew Kinsman, he began searching for a new victim, “John” and downloaded his photos from “John” social media profile.
Later in court documents, it is said that the majority of the killings took place in Bruce’s bedroom.
This case never made it to trial, as Bruce McArthur pleaded guilty to all eight first-degree murder charges. Bruce was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 25 years. The judge stated the crimes were pure evil and stated Bruce showed no remorse. He would be allowed to apply for parole at 91 years old.
Though as the Toronto Sun noted… Bruce McArthur is overweight and has type 2 diabetes… He is unlikely to live that long.
