Here are some major take-aways from the Day 1 of the serial killer’s sentencing.
How detectives broke the case
A combination of two key pieces of evidence lead Toronto police to “crack the case” of serial killer Bruce McArthur wide open, Cantlon said.
First, there was surveillance video that showed a glimpse of a red van outside the home of Andrew Kinsman, McArthur’s final victim. Second, there was a simple note in Kinsman’s calendar from June 26, 2017, the day he went missing: “Bruce.”
Toronto police Det. David Dickinson was able to determine the make and model of McArthur’s van — a special-edition 2004 Dodge Caravan. He then searched registry information to produce 6,181 matches for similar vehicles. Of those, five owners were named Bruce.
Two weeks after he was interviewed as part of Project Houston, McArthur purchased a new van: the 2004 Dodge Caravan that would lead to his arrest.
McArthur’s plan for a ninth victim — and his rescue
McArthur was under police surveillance on Jan. 18, 2018, when a younger man was spotted entering his Thorncliffe Park apartment. It was then that Toronto police made the decision to arrest the killer, Cantlon said, reading the statement of facts.
The man told McArthur his name was “John.” He said he was a recent immigrant to Canada who was married and whose family and friends were unaware of his sexual orientation. The man told police he had been intimate with McArthur on several occasions, and on that day McArthur had asked if anyone knew the two were meeting.
“John told McArthur it was a secret and no one knew,” Cantlon said.
The two arrived at McArthur’s apartment, where the killer told the man to go to his bedroom. McArthur returned with handcuffs and told him “they were going to try something different.”
He then put a black bag over the man’s head. The man took it off then McArthur tried to tape his mouth closed.
That’s when police, “due to exigent circumstances, knocked on the door and arrested Mr. McArthur.”
Forensic analysis later revealed McArthur had a USB drive containing nine subfolders — one for each of the men he had killed , and a ninth labelled “John.”
That folder contained photos of the man police found handcuffed to McArthur’s bed.
On the day of Kinsman’s murder, forensic analysis found, McArthur had searched for “John” and downloaded photos of him from social media.
How McArthur ‘staged’ his victims
Court heard McArthur’s bedroom was a “frequent” site of the killings, most of which were made possible under the pretence of sex.
The investigation uncovered what Cantlon called “post-offence rituals,” including that McArthur posed his victims, took photos of them and kept some of their belongings.
McArthur took photos of Kinsman, Kayhan, Kanagaratnam, Selim Esen, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick after killing them. Forensic analysis showed McArthur looked at these photos, which were organized into separate folders, “long after the killings.”
The 2016 choking incident
Cantlon described new, detailed information about a June 20, 2016, incident in which a man told police McArthur had attempted to choke him, but the killer was released without charges.
The victim reported McArthur showed up at his place of work and asked him to meet later that evening in his van in a parking lot. The man did so and reported finding McArthur had removed the seat behind the driver’s seat so that there was room to lie down, revealing a plastic sheet on the floor of the van and a fur coat on top of that.
McArthur asked the victim to lie on the coat and instructed him to put an arm behind his back. Then, “with a look of determination on his face,” he “grabbed the victim’s throat and started strangling him,” Cantlon said.
“What do you want from me,” the victim asked. McArthur did not respond and “continued squeezing the larynx” of the victim, who was unable to swallow properly for a week, Cantlon said.
The victim managed to roll away and escaped the van. He later called 911.
McArthur went to the police station on his own and was arrested, but gave an exculpatory statement.
“An officer released Mr. McArthur without charges, believing his statement to be credible,” Cantlon said.
Police later located photos of the victim on McArther’s electronic devices. In some of those images, he is seen wearing a fur coat that “appears identical” to the one seen in photographs of McArthur’s victims.
The similar lives of the people he killed
McArthur’s eight victims shared several things in common, court heard, including ties to Toronto’s Gay Village and a “social life” within the community. Many also met and corresponded with McArthur through dating apps.
They also had physical similarities, including that most had facial hair or a beard. Six victims were immigrants of South Asian of Middle Eastern descent.
Read more: Eight men, eight stories: What we know about serial killer Bruce McArthur’s victims
“Most of the deceased had traits that made victimization more likely or harder to detect. Some were forced to live parts of their lives in secret because of their orientation. Some lacked stable housing,” according to the statement of facts.