Landscaper Bruce McArthur (Pictured), 66, has been charged with five murders after authorities announced on Monday that they discovered a number of hacked corpses in large planters
A fictional horror story appears to be playing out in real life after Canadian police arrested a man they believe slaughtered his gay lovers before hiding their dismembered remains in gardens across Toronto.
Landscaper Bruce McArthur, 66, has been charged with five murders after authorities announced on Monday that they discovered a number of hacked corpses in large planters in the city.
The killings eerily resemble the plot of ‘Lawnmower Man,’ a short story work of fiction written by legendary horror writer Stephen King.
The book centers around a sex-crazed landscaper who murders the suburban homeowner who hires him.
The story ends after police discover the victim’s scattered remains under the backyard birdbath and throughout the manicured lawn.
Now, as police search for bodies on more than 30 properties that McArthur worked on as a landscaper, speculation has run rampant that the number of victims could be much higher.
Majeed Kayhan (L), Soroush Mahmudi (Center) and Dean Lisowick (R are three men the Toronto police have newly identified as alleged victims of McArthur
McArthur was initially charged with two murders, those of Selim Esen (R), 44, and Andrew Kinsman, 49 (L)
A film released in 1992 titled ‘The Lawnmower Man’ bears no resemblance to King’s original story by Stephen King (L)
The killings eerily resemble the plot of ‘Lawnmower Man,’ a work of fiction written by legendary horror writer Stephen King
Police believe that McArthur mutilated the remains of his victims and hid them inside large flower pots. Authorities added that he may have also buried body parts he tended for his clients throughout the city and surrounding area, according to The New York Post.
‘He’s taken some steps to cover his tracks, and we have to uncover these victims,’ Hank Idsinga, lead homicide investigator on the case, said at a news conference in Toronto last week.
Canadian authorities have yet to publicly state what they believe McArthur’s motive was for the alleged killings.
More than 30 properties where McArthur worked are being inspected by Canadian police, including an ‘extensive’ investigation at one residence where McArthur used a garage to store equipment and flower pots.
The digging first began on January 18, the day McArthur was arrested, when police issued a search warrant to homeowners Karen Fraser and her husband, Ron Smith, who allowed their ‘helpful’ neighbor store some of his landscaping tools on their property in exchange for free yard work.
‘It really took the two of us to form a sentence and to try and make a plan,’ Fraser told Canadian broadcaster CBC during an interview.
More than 30 properties where McArthur worked are being inspected by Canadian police, including an ‘extensive’ investigation at one residence
The digging first began on January 18, the day McArthur was arrested, when police issued a search warrant to homeowners Karen Fraser and her husband, Ron Smith (Pictured)
‘I simply couldn’t think. I was so horrified. Every aspect was more horrifying, and I just — it was really hard to take.’
Fraser said that the arrest came as a complete shock, telling CBC that McArthur presented himself as a kind friend always willing to lend a hand.
‘You have to understand, he has been kind, helpful, helped with our charity work, doing floral gifts for silent auctions,’ Fraser said.
Planters being searched at 53 Mallory Crescent in Toronto during the weekend of January 20th, the home of Bruce McArthur
‘He went above and beyond what our original agreement was to cut the grass. There’s a beautiful Christmas arrangement . . . [that] just showed up . . . a week before Christmas made by him.’
On Tuesday, fresh details emerged about what led to McArthur’s arrest on January 18 after cops made a dramatic discovery in his apartment.
McArthur had been under police suspicion since September as part of a probe into the disappearances of several men from Toronto’s Gay Village area, but investigators didn’t have enough evidence to charge him.
On the evening of January 18, police surveillance teams saw a male ‘date’ going into McArthur’s 19th-floor apartment in the Thorncliffe Park neighborhood, police sources told the Global News.
Fearing for the man’s safety, cops kicked in the door and rushed inside, where they found the man bound to McArthur’s bedposts, shaken but unharmed.
Cops found pictures of McArthur’s alleged victims on his computer, police sources said, offering the first clue of how investigators initially tied him to the murders.
McArthur had been under police suspicion since September as part of a probe into the disappearances of several men from Toronto’s Gay Village area (pictured)
Forensic investigators believe they found blood from at least four of the victims in the apartment as well.
Police have already probed a number of similar and yet unsolved disappearances of men from the Gay Village area – including that of one man in 2010, 40-year-old Skandaraj Navaratnam, who dated McArthur, according to Daily Xtra. As yet, police have not linked McArthur to that case.
Experts voiced a note of caution though, warning that attempts to link McArthur to a string of similar unsolved disappearances might be premature.
‘It is more than likely that McArthur began killing only recently as a response to the confidence his successful attempts inspired in him,’ said Enzo Yaksic, the director of Northeastern University’s Atypical Homicide Research Group, in an email to DailyMail.com.
‘It is desirable to attribute several open homicide cases to one offender but the likelihood that McArthur ranks among the most prolific of serial killers is unlikely,’ said Yaksic.
The criminal profiler said that serial killers sometimes take decades to begin killing, as they struggle internally with their impulse to kill.
McArthur was initially charged with two murders, those of Selim Esen, 44, and Andrew Kinsman, 49, both reported missing from Toronto’s Gay Village area at separate times last year.
Their bodies have not yet been found. Police believe both men had sexual relations with McArthur, and the suspect and victims used dating apps in common.
On Monday, McArthur was charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder.
The fresh charges related to the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, 58, Soroush Marmudi, 50, and Dean Lisowick, 47.
A film released in 1992 titled ‘The Lawnmower Man’ – about a simple-minded gardener who seeks revenge after being placed on a regimen of experimental pills and computer-simulated training sequences that enhances his intelligence – bears no resemblance to King’s original story.
Prior to the release of the film, King successfully sued producers after they attempted to attach his name onto the project, stating in court documents that the film ‘bore no meaningful resemblance’ to his story.
The film debuted at number two at the box office with $7.7 million in its opening weekend, going on to gross $32.1 million domestically, making it a moderate financial success against its $10 million budget.
WHO WERE THE VICTIMS OF TORONTO ‘serial killer’ Bruce McArthur?
Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur, 66, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of five men. Police fear there may be even more victims yet to be uncovered.
Majeed Kayhan, 58
Reported missing on October 25, 2012.
An immigrant from Afghanistan who frequented bars in the Gay Village near Church and Wellesley Streets.
Soroush Marmudi, 50
Reported missing by his family in Scarborough in August 2015.
Marmudi was not known to openly associate with Toronto’s gay scene.
Selim Esen, 44
Last seen April 14, 2017 in the Yonge and Bloor area.
A Turkish native, he frequented the Gay Village area and Kensington Market and often had a small plastic suitcase on wheels similar to a carry-on bag.
His relationship with McArthur is unclear.
Dean Lisowick, 47
A homeless occupant of the shelter system who had not been reported missing.
Police believe he was murdered between May 2016 and July 2017.
Andrew Kinsman, 49
Last seen June 26, 2017 at 71 Winchester Street.
Friends begin posting his image in the area and surrounding neighborhoods soon after he disappeared.
Police believe he had a sexual relationship with McArthur.