Serial killing charges up to eight now
Toronto Police have identified the deceased man in a photograph they published in March and laid an eighth charge of first-degree murder against Bruce McArthur today.
The alleged eighth victim is Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, who arrived in Canada from Sri Lanka in 2010 and lived in Scarborough, Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga told a press conference this morning.
“He was not on file as missing and we have no prior evidence which would link him to the Gay Village,” Idsinga said.
Police believe Kanagaratnam was murdered between Sept. 3 and Dec. 14, 2015. He would have been 37 at the time of his death.
The latest charge against McArthur follows the seventh charge announced by police five days earlier. On Apr. 11, a charge of first-degree murder was laid in relation to the death of Abdulbasir (Basir) Faizi, 42.
Faizi had been reported missing to the Peel Regional Police Service on Dec. 29, 2010.
That brought to six the identities of human remains recovered from planters in the backyard of 53 Mallory Cres. in Leaside, where Thorncliffe Park landscaper McArthur worked and stored supplies. At least one set of human remains was still unidentified but has now been revealed to be those of Kanagaratnam.
The body of one alleged victim, Majeed Kayhan, has yet to be found, police said.
After publishing the photo of the deceased man on March 5 and a composite sketch on April 9, police received 70 tips as to his identity, which they reduced to 22 possible identifications. However, identification of Kanagaratnam did come from any of those tips, Idsinga told reporters.
Police identified the man in the photograph on April 12 with the help of an “international government agency,” he said. He would not reveal any more details of that international assistance.
“While we are saddened, we are also tremendously proud and relieved to have been able to bring closure to the friends and family of Mr. Kanagaratnam and the seven other victims,” Idsinga said.
Idsinga would not speculate on whether he expects any additional charges to be laid.
He said police are looking at cold cases of missing men going back as far as 1975 but so far he has not seen any evidence linking McArthur to any cases earlier than that of Skandaraj Navaratnam, who disappeared in September 2010.
