Bruce McArthur, the Canadian landscaper tied to at least six slayings dating back to 2010, was charged with his seventh murder on Wednesday.
CBC News reports that McArthur, 66, was officially charged with the murder of Abdulbasir Faizi. Faizi was 44 when he disappeared in 2010.
The man’s nephew said Faizi visited Toronto’s Gay Village but kept that a secret from family, according to CBC. The Guardian reports that after his disappearance, his family accessed his computer and discovered his trips to the Gay Village and his use of gay dating apps for larger and older men.
A relative who spoke with The Guardian under the condition of anonymity said she believes Faizi’s remains have been found. It’s unclear if Faizi’s body was the one Toronto police found in February but were not able to immediately identify.
The relative said police initially believed Faizi had left on his own accord, resulting in his wife divorcing him as she believed he abandoned her and their two daughters.
Arrested in January, the Toronto landscaper has been charged with the murders of Soroush Mahmudi, 50, Andrew Kinsman, 49, Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, Selim Esen, 44, Majeed Kayhan, 58, and Dean Lisowick, 47. Including Faizi, all seven men vanished between 2010 and 2017.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police suspect that McArthur was involved in the presumed death of a man who disappeared in 2013 while vacationing in Toronto. While McArthur is believed to have met his victims on dating apps or Toronto’s Gay Village, Judi Riley told CBC News that her brother, Jon, wasn’t gay.
READ More: Police link possible EIGHTH victim to accused serial killer Bruce McArthur
However, Judi said her missing brother had visited Toronto to get some landscaping work and he reportedly stayed at hostels in the Gay Village. McArthur occasionally hired workers for his small landscaping business. One of McArthur’s employees was a 40-year-old man who disappeared in 2010.
Toronto police are expected to reveal “substantial” developments in their investigation on Wednesday afternoon.
[Featured Image: Bruce McArthur/Police handout; Abdulbasir Faizi/Toronto Police]
