Canada - Bruce McArthur- Pleads Guilty - murders of 8 men, Toronto, 2010-2017 #2

Serial killer Bruce McArthur seriously injured in prison assault
"Convicted serial killer Bruce McArthur is recovering from serious injuries after being assaulted in prison.

Sources confirm to 680 NEWS, the 67-year-old former landscaper was assaulted Thursday evening at Millhaven Institution, a maximum security prison about two hours east of Toronto.

McArthur had to be hospitalized due to his injuries.

There are reports that the OPP are investigating".

 

Unrelated to this case, but especially hurtful to the community after all they have gone through in recent years courtesy of BM, imo, speculation.
May 1 2019
Tense situation as street preacher confronted by angry crowd in Gay Village
"A tense incident erupted at the intersection of Church and Wellesley streets in the heart of Toronto’s Gay Village on Tuesday after a street preacher who denounced homosexuality as sinful was confronted by angry members of the community.

Police tell CityNews they received a call at around 5:18 p.m. for a man causing a disturbance by yelling hateful messages. A second call was placed minutes later for an assault in progress."

 

Four dodged death at serial killer Bruce McArthur’s hands: ITO documents
May 6, 2019
"Four men — including one rescued by Toronto Police while he was hog-tied to sadistic serial killer Bruce McArthur’s bed during his arrest — revealed their chilling close calls with death in police documents released Monday."

"Cribbin and McArthur met in his truck and Cribbin “talked about a serial killer being at large,” but McArthur spoke instead about his livelihood.
At McArthur’s home, Cribbin drank a beverage mixed with GHB, the date rape drug which can induce unconsciousness but also “heightens sexual experience” as well.
GHB can also induce loss of memory."

“The ability to decapitate and dismember his victims and do it repeatedly is pure evil,” McMahon said."

 

Lengthy article.
May 5 2019
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toro...from-notorious-killer-luka-magnotta-1.5124195
"Toronto police investigated whether Gay Village murder suspect had help from notorious killer Luka Magnotta"
"CBC News and other media outlets were in court for a year fighting to unseal information in more than 88 heavily-redacted judicial orders obtained by investigators in Project Houston and Project Prism, the investigation which eventually lead police to focus on McArthur.

On Monday morning, Ontario Court Justice Cathy Mocha unsealed most of the information contained in the thousands of pages of warrants and production orders."

 

Andrew Kinsman was fascinated by serial killers before he became Bruce McArthur’s 8th victim
Lengthy, multi-faceted National Post article.
..
Police found a cache of what investigators call “homicide photos” on McArthur’s computer, which he tried to delete.

Some of the men were photographed in McArthur’s bed, often nude or partially dressed. Several show their bodies posed in a fur coat and some also with a fur hat on.

The fur coat seems to be a marker of McArthur’s murderous pathology.

Police said [reports of] the attacks [by survivors] raise the possibility McArthur killed other victims they don’t yet know about.

 

May 9 2019
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/uncover/listen-uncover-season-3-the-village-1.5128216
LISTEN: Uncover Season 3 - The Village
"For years, Toronto's Gay Village worried a serial killer was in their midst. Men were disappearing from the neighbourhood but police insisted there was no evidence of foul play. Then, in January 2018, police arrested Bruce McArthur for the murders of eight men. Police are now re-opening dozens of unsolved murders from the Village, dating back to 1975. Journalist Justin Ling has covered this story for over five years and now he's going back to shed light on these long-forgotten murders."

 

Any idea of online location for released documents?

 

Families of the missing don’t want him murdered. We are hoping he will eventually be forthcoming about all of his victims.

 

Also posted this on the Toronto crossbow attempted murder thread.
Found the information concerning darker skin types interesting, imo. rbbm
May 28 2019
Toronto cops using facial recognition software since March 2018
"Toronto police have had access to facial recognition software since last March, and say it can find a possible suspect from a surveillance camera or witness image from a crime scene approximately 50 per cent of the time."

"In one instance, the new facial recognition system was used to identify Dean Lisowick, a victim of convicted serial killer Bruce McArthur, who investigators had a difficult time positively identifying after his remains were discovered."

"A study completed in part by a University of Toronto researcher earlier this year found the rate of error for Amazon’s facial recognition system increased as the subject’s skin shade grew darker. It also had more trouble with women’s faces than with men’s.


It found that Amazon’s system misidentified dark-skinned women as men close to a third of the time."

 

Lengthy article.
Why it matters we may never see key video evidence from the investigation into serial killer Bruce McArthur | The Star
June 29, 2019
"Convicted serial killer Bruce McArthur was twice questioned by Toronto police years before he was arrested and charged in the deaths of eight men. Both interviews were videotaped, capturing what the murderer said to evade police suspicion.

But the decision about whether these videos will be publicly released rests with McArthur himself.

The Star filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act for access to both videos: of a November 2013 interview when McArthur was questioned as a witness in the disappearances of his first three victims, and of a June 2016 interview after a man accused McArthur of strangling him during a sexual encounter in the killer’s van.

In both cases, McArthur was released and then went on to kill more men."

 

Review of missing persons probes sparked by McArthur arrest has cost almost $1M, report says
Almost a third of the city’s original budget for the review has already been used

July 26, 2019

"A Toronto Police Services Board probe into the way investigators tackled missing persons investigations, including victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur, has already spent almost $1 million, just 10 months into its three-year mandate.

The independent review, led by the Hon. Gloria Epstein, is working with lawyers from Toronto law firm Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Bergman LLP.

So far, the firm has billed the board $935,746.88 for work done between September 2018 and July 2019.

The review was ordered in March 2018 following the arrest of McArthur. It was started in response to concerns from some members of the LGBT community about how police handled investigations into the disappearances of men in or near Toronto's gay village, included the eight men McArthur was accused of killing....

With two and a half years to go in the review, and a third of the city's original budget spent, it's unclear if enough money has been set aside to cover the inquiry's costs, or how much more might be needed...."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/missing-persons-review-budget-1.5225613



(Top row, from left to right: Skandaraj Navaratnam, Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen and Abdulbasir Faizi. Bottom row, from left to right: Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi and Majeed Kayhan. [John Fraser/CBC])

 

I can’t even tell you how angry this makes me. I wish I could count how many times we asked police to take a missing persons report about our missing brother Jon Riley. And how many times we have been told on social media and by police that there is no manpower and no budget to search for missing adults. We were not asking for a manhunt. We were asking for police to take a missing persons report. Our brother vanished during Project Houston. Why were we not told men were going missing from Toronto at this time? Why did it not trigger red flags? Why wouldn’t they simply take a report? As long as the Canadian system remains disconnected and there is no mandatory recording of missing persons reports, there is no way to track a serial killer. What’s more expensive?!

Makes me icreibly

 

Cop who released serial killer Bruce McArthur has hearing postponed indefinitely

August 28, 2019

"A disciplinary hearing for a Toronto Police officer involved in the 2016 arrest and release of serial killer Bruce McArthur has been postponed indefinitely.

Sgt. Paul Gauthier was set to face disciplinary charges before a police tribunal in October but the tribunal now says too many issues still need to be resolved before the case can be heard.

Among them is whether Gauthier, who has yet to appear before the tribunal due to an undisclosed illness, will be able to participate in the proceedings.

A new hearing date has not been set but the matter is slated to return to the tribunal for an update on Oct. 21"

Gauthier is charged with insubordination and neglect of duty related to his handling of a complaint by a man who alleged McArthur tried to strangle him...."

Cop who released serial killer Bruce McArthur has hearing postponed indefinitely

 

Nov 12 2019 Lengthy article.
Team formed in wake of Bruce McArthur arrest hears there’s a 'lack of priority' in Canada’s missing persons cases | The Star
"Missing persons cases have been a chronically low priority for the police services tasked with such investigations, the civilian review of disappearances linked to Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur has repeatedly heard in ongoing public consultations.

“This has been an issue that so many people — police officers and civilians — have raised with us: the lack of priority of missing persons cases,” said Mark Sandler, lawyer for the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations, in a sit-down interview with the Star on Monday.

And despite Canada’s tragic familiarity with high-profile disappearances, including British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton and the history of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, national research on missing persons “leaves much to be desired,” Sandler said.

“There’s a lot more that has to be done, and it will undoubtedly form part of our recommendations,” Sandler said.

Commissioned in the wake of controversy over Toronto police handling of missing persons cases — including the disappearances of eight men from the Gay Village now known to be McArthur’s victims — the review headed by retired Ontario Court of Appeal justice Gloria Epstein, has spent the last 14 months quietly examining all aspects of how officers have, and should, tackle disappearance cases."

 

|The Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations
"Thank you for your interest in this survey, conducted on behalf of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations."

"The Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations is being led by the Hon. Gloria Epstein, who retired from the Court of Appeal for Ontario in order to lead the Review. She will evaluate how the Toronto Police Service conducts missing person investigations, particularly in relation to LGBTQ2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirited) and vulnerable or marginalized communities. The Review will complete its work by January 2021.

This survey should take about 10 minutes to complete, but any who wish to provide more detail in their answers may do so.

All answers will be kept confidential and respondents' identities will not be known to the Review. We ask for some personal information to understand whether different groups differ on important questions and what groups participated."
rbbm.

 

The Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations in Toronto has introduced an online survey to their “multifaceted” review in order to encourage a wider response.

An anonymous survey can allow a voice to those who “may not want to meet with us,” Mark Sandler, Lead Counsel for the review, told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.
Survey aims to reach LGBTQ community after Bruce McArthur conviction

 

It's an interesting approach, but how can they verify the respondents?

 

“The community needs answers. It needs assurances. And most of all, it needs an opportunity to come together and work collaboratively in achieving those goals. This is a vitally important job and the role of this Review.” – The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein

The Review began in September 2018 and is expected to be completed on or before January 31, 2021.
https://www.missingpersonsreview.ca/

 

Jan 18 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toro...s-bruce-mcarthur-arrest-anniversary-1.5432197

Karen Fraser and Ron Smith outside their home in Toronto's Leaside neighbourhood, where the remains of seven of serial killer Bruce McArthur's victims were found. (Angelina King/CBC)
''The homeowners of a mid-Toronto home now known for being the site where serial killer Bruce McArthur buried the remains of many of his victims held a memorial on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of his arrest.

Braving the cold, pastors and community members joined owners Karen Fraser and Ron Smith on their front lawn at 53 Mallory Cres. to honour the victims and celebrate their lives.

"It's never going to be over," Fraser told CBC Toronto Saturday. "It's just one of those things that seems to stay with people."
''Owner pushing for permanent memorial

Refusing to let McArthur define their home, Fraser and Smith say they held Saturday's memorial to help others heal.

"We don't want the families to think that everyone has just forgotten and moved on because we're fine," Fraser said. "There has to be a moment for such tragedies."

That's why she's now working to set up a permanent memorial in the park across from her house. Fraser says she wants to create a place where people can honour the victims to ensure they won't be forgotten.''

Karen Fraser and Ron Smith now have a quote painted on their garage door. (Angelina King/CBC)

 

To Ron and Karen: Thank you.