The man charged with the murder of two gay Toronto men who went missing in 2017 made his first court appearance on Jan 19, 2018.
Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old landscaper who lives in the Toronto neighbourhood of Thorncliffe Park, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Selim Esen, 44, and Andrew Kinsman, 49.
McArthur will remain in custody and will have to apply to the Ontario Superior Court if he wishes to have a bail hearing. His next court appearance, by video link, is scheduled for Feb 14, 2018.
Police have not found either Esen or Kinsman’s bodies, but believe they have sufficient evidence to charge McArthur.
Kinsman was last seen in Cabbagetown, a neighbourhood in Toronto’s downtown east area, on June 26, 2017. Esen was last seen near the Village on April 14, 2017.
McArthur’s Facebook page, which has now been deactivated, showed a man who appeared to live an eminently normal life. He vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, volunteered as a mall Santa and took the ALS ice bucket challenge.
One of the friends listed on his page was Skandaraj “Skanda” Navaratnam, a gay Toronto man who has been missing since 2010. Navaratnam’s disappearance, along with that of Abdulbasir “Basir” Faizi in 2010 and Majeed “Hamid” Kayhan in 2012, led the police to launch Project Houston, in an attempt to track the men down. No new information has become public since then.
While police have stated that they believe Esen and Kinsman may not be the only victims, McArthur has not been charged in connection with the disappearances of the three men.
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