A iendly garner and mall Santa, McArthur may also have been the worst ever serial killer of gay men. Did police turn a bld eye?
Contents:
- BCE MCARTHUR: GAY VILLAGE SERIAL KILLER GETS LIFE SENTENCE
- CRACKG THE TORONTO GAY VILLAGE SERIAL KILLER CASE: HOW BCE MCARTHUR WAS FALLY CGHT
- UNEXPECTED VICTIM MAY HAVE REVEALED CANADA'S 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER
- TORONTO'S ALLEGED 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER FACG 7TH MURR CHARGE
- THE GAY MEN FREQUENTED MANHATTAN PIANO BARS. SO DID THEIR KILLER.
- BCE MCARTHUR ADMS TO BEG SERIAL KILLER WHO PREYED ON TORONTO’S GAY MUNY
- “UNVER: THE VILLAGE”: A SERIAL KILLER, TORONTO’S GAY COMMUNY, AND A PODST THAT TRANSCENDS TE CRIME
- SERIAL KILLER DOCERI 'LAST CALL' RECKONS WH NYC'S HISTORY OF ANTI-GAY VLENCE
- TORONTO POLICE FD 7TH VICTIM 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER SE
BCE MCARTHUR: GAY VILLAGE SERIAL KILLER GETS LIFE SENTENCE
For almost a , Bce McArthur ed Toronto's Gay Village as a huntg ground for victims. * gay village serial killer *
McArthur will not be eligible for parole before he is source, Toronto Police/BBCImage ptn, Clockwise om upper left: Selim Esen, Andrew Ksman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Soroh MahmudiMost of his victims had ti to Toronto's Gay Village neighbourhood, as did McArthur were Selim Esen, Andrew Ksman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, Skandaraj Navaratnam and Soroh Mahmudi. NBC News lled him "Canada's 'Gay Village' serial killer, " sce the seven years before his arrt, he had murred at least eight men nnected one way or another to the Church and Wellley neighborhood, the cy's gay enclave. Ksman was well known the neighborhood for his gay rights activism and his time tendg bar at a popular Church and Wellley waterg hole, and his iends drew attentn to his disappearance by postg flyers wh his picture on them.
CRACKG THE TORONTO GAY VILLAGE SERIAL KILLER CASE: HOW BCE MCARTHUR WAS FALLY CGHT
The HBO doceri Last Call digs to the hunt for a serial killer who targeted gay men New York the early '90s—and why the victims were almost lost to history. * gay village serial killer *
At the time, they were livg Oshawa, a small cy east up the ast of Lake Ontar om Toronto, where there was no such thg as a gay scene. McArthur also began explorg his newfound sexual eedom by equentg Toronto's gay district, the Church and Wellley neighborhood, but he soon began to show that he was not as jolly as the red velvet su would lead one to believe.
UNEXPECTED VICTIM MAY HAVE REVEALED CANADA'S 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER
Bce McArthur, a 66-year-old landsper, allegedly targeted men he met through datg apps and gay bars, as well as male prostut. * gay village serial killer *
For years, members of Toronto’s gay muny warned that there was a serial killer on the loose, that vulnerable men were gog missg, that the streets were not safe. He plead guilty last month.At a sentencg hearg that end Tuday, Canadians heard how he lured and murred men he met Toronto’s Gay Village, then posed rps stum, keepg pictur of each victim labeled digal folrs.They learned McArthur was stopped when police raid his home, fdg a man tied to a bed.
He was a potential nth victim, the urt heard, and McArthur had a folr wag.In a cy that pris self on beg gay-iendly and welg to new Canadians, McArthur sought out men margalized by their sexualy, ethnicy, immigratn stat or poverty.
TORONTO'S ALLEGED 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER FACG 7TH MURR CHARGE
Between 2010 and 2017, Bce McArthur, a Toronto grandfather and landsper who’d moonlight as a mall Santa, lived a secret, unsettlg life as a serial killer. He targeted the cy’s LGBTQ-iendly enclave, The Village, preyg primarily on immigrants, refuge, and vulnerable men who stggled wh their sexualy, addictn, and homelsns. After killg his victims, McArthur dismembered some of them and buried their remas enormo planters on a property where he worked. A new Oxygen special, “Catchg a Serial Killer: Bce McArthur,” tak a ep dive to one of Canada’s most famo crim and how police fally ptured the mass murrer. Rumors about men gog missg and a possible killer the Village began 2010. Police eventually lnched an vtigatn November 2012, after the disappearanc of Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, Abdulbasir Faizi, 42, and Majeed Kayhan, 58. Called Project Hoton, ran for two years. Durg that time, they even terviewed McArthur — but as a wns, the Natnal Post reported 2019. Police had asked McArthur to e for an terview 2013 bee they’d lked him to two of the men through his ername for an onle datg se. Over the next three years, three more men lked to the cy’s gay neighborhood vanished, cludg Soroh Mahmudi, 50, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, and Dean Lisowick, 47. Around this time, McArthur had another n- wh police. In 2016, he was arrted for allegedly tryg to strangle a man si his van. McArthur shgged off the cint as a misunrstandg. Police believed he was “credible” and “released him whout ndns,” The Natnal Post reported. After Selim Esen, 44, went missg April 2017, and Andrew Ksman, 49, who was whe, vanished two months later, police stepped up the foc to the se. “It’s a fair asssment to say that that changed the plexy of the vtigatn,” Adrian Ghobrial, vtigative journalist for CyTV, Toronto, told producers. They lnched Project Prism on Augt 14, 2017, reported 2018. Police then searched Ksman’s home and found the name “Bce” on a lendar on the date June 26. Another clue emerged when surveillance footage of Ksman’s buildg showed a van pullg to his parkg lot on the day he went missg. Police eventually found the van, which belonged to McArthur and had trac of Ksman’s blood si . Although there wasn’t enough evince to make an arrt, McArthur was now a spect, and police closely surveilled him. “We uldn’t let him out of our sight,” said Toronto Police Service Inspector Hank Idsga, addg that they had to “keep vert.” In December 2017, officers secretly searched McArthur’s apartment, where they found crimatg photos on his electronic vic. They also turned up imag of McArthur’s ad victims posed gradg ways. When he was arrted on January 18, 2018, McArthur, who police had seen enter his apartment buildg wh another man, had his potential nth victim chaed to a bed. His rampage had been stopped jt time. McArthur was ially charged wh the murrs of Esen and Ksman. After search of McArthur’s home and workplac turned up evince, cludg human remas of the other missg men, he was charged wh six more murrs. On January 29, 2019, McArthur plead guilty to eight unts of first-gree murr. He is servg eight ncurrent life sentenc. To learn more about the se, watch “Catchg a Serial Killer: Bce McArthur” on Oxygen, or stream the episo here. * gay village serial killer *
Some had not revealed they were gay.The tails of the se are so btal, the crim so praved, that the headl at tim obscured the fact that eight men — Skandaraj Navaratnam, Majeed Kayhan, Abdulbasir Faizi, Soroh Mahmudi, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, Dean Lisowick, Selim Esen and Andrew Ksman — had been killed.Now, wh the trial over, advot want to put the foc back on why so many died before police cracked the se.
Some have argued that the police rponse was slowed by homophobia and racism — that the force might have acted more quickly if different men had disappeared. It was there, the early 1980s, that police raids on bathho spurred Canada’s gay rights movement.McArthur was a regular the area.
A recent edorial the Toronto Star exprsed hope that an pennt review of the vtigatns uld shed light on whether systemic bias played a role how the disappearanc were handled.“Why did the police seemgly not take the ncerns of the LGBTQ muny more serly?” the paper asked.“Would police have taken more and swifter actn if McArthur’s victims had not been gay or people of lour, homels or addicted to dgs?” the edorial read.
THE GAY MEN FREQUENTED MANHATTAN PIANO BARS. SO DID THEIR KILLER.
* gay village serial killer *
Over the next three years, three more men lked to the cy’s gay neighborhood vanished, cludg Soroh Mahmudi, 50, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, and Dean Lisowick, 47. Jt 22 years after clash wh police outsi the Stonewall Inn Greenwich Village opened a promisg new ont the ongog fight for LGBTQ+ rights, AIDS was cimatg the queer muny and hate crim were on the rise, no small part due to the tragilly wispread misperceptn of the vis as a gay disease and lack of unrstandg about how was transmted. Last Call: When a Killer Stalked Queer New York, a four-part HBO seri premierg July 9, lv to the grisly murrs and a not-so-distant past when blatant homophobia was still the norm and queer bars, as one activist puts the show, "were one of the few plac the muny where we uld e and feel safe.
"And even then, adds Bea Hanson, who served as a liaison between the NYC Gay & Lbian Anti-Vlence Project and police, "There was always this sort of 'you've got to watch your back at the same time too' sort of feelg.
Tony Brooks, a 26-year-old ndidate for cy uncil at the time, told police he and Anrson had gone to Manhattan together the night of May 3 to attend a fundraiser at the Central Park Wt home of Robert Browne, a proment gay rights activist. "Sometim he went for male pannship, " rells former New Jersey State Police Detective Nick Theodos, who not the seri that Mulhy's murr was the first se that brought him to close ntact wh the gay muny.
BCE MCARTHUR ADMS TO BEG SERIAL KILLER WHO PREYED ON TORONTO’S GAY MUNY
“Last Call,” by Elon Green, retrac the murrs of four men by a serial killer the 1990s, at a time when gay men felt prsured to hi their sexualy and were often the victims of homophobia. * gay village serial killer *
Sakara, an openly gay 56-year-old who equented the Five Oaks piano bar the Wt Village, where he was last seen alive on July 30, 1993, acrdg to vtigators. He plead guilty to murrg eight men between 2010 and 2017, who had all disappeared whout a trace om Toronto's Gay Village district.
"There's a part of me that says Bce wanted to get ught bee he broke that pattern of preyg on the vulnerable, " said Haran Vijayanathan, a muny activist and the executive director of the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Preventn set up a special task force to look to the disappearanc of men the "Gay Village" area of Toronto shortly after Ksman went missg. Friends said McArthur employed and had a sexual relatnship wh Navaratnam, who was last seen 2010 leavg Zipperz, a now-closed gay bar. Tryg to terme why, his Mlim fay accsed his puter and was shocked to disver he had been secretly gog to bathho the Gay Village and was on gay datg apps for olr and large men wh nam such as "SilverDaddi" and "Bear411" — s police later lked to McArthur as they then went to police, officers suggted he had probably jt left, the relative said.
Alleged Toronto serial killer Bce McArthur, who is said to have targeted the lol gay muny, is now facg a seventh murr charge.
“UNVER: THE VILLAGE”: A SERIAL KILLER, TORONTO’S GAY COMMUNY, AND A PODST THAT TRANSCENDS TE CRIME
Sarah Larson on “Unver: The Village,” a podst, om the Canadian Broadstg Company, about a seri of murrs Toronto’s gay muny, reported and hosted by Jt Lg. * gay village serial killer *
McArthur is currently thought to have bee active 2010, but police announced Wednday they are vtigatg 15 ld-se homicis om 1975 to 1997 that have been lked to Toronto's Gay Village or, as Idsga scribed, "the gay liftyle. Tryg to terme why, his Mlim fay accsed his puter and was shocked to disver he had been secretly gog to bathho the Gay Village and was on gay datg apps for olr and large they then went to police, officers suggted he had probably jt left, the relative said.
Police had asked McArthur to e for an terview 2013 bee they’d lked him to two of the men through his ername for an onle datg the next three years, three more men lked to the cy’s gay neighborhood vanished, cludg Soroh Mahmudi, 50, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, and Dean Lisowick, 47. Some argued that police were too slow to warn the muny of a possible serial killer, sayg liv uld have been make matters worse, Toronto police appeared to put some blame on the gay muny for the killgs when chief Mark Snrs told reporters that they might have ught McArthur sooner had rints of the gay village been more forthg. Their requt to participate 2018 was, April, a move that some have terpreted as an acknowledgment of their neglect of the gay muny, police announced that they were reopeng 25 ld s – all murrs associated wh Toronto’s gay date om 1997 all the way back to no one is suggtg is Santa to serial killerWhile vtigators are still velopg a profile of the alleged serial killer, they are certa of one thg.
SERIAL KILLER DOCERI 'LAST CALL' RECKONS WH NYC'S HISTORY OF ANTI-GAY VLENCE
HBO's new serial killer doceri "Last Call" re-exam New York Cy’s yearslong search for a murrer who targeted gay men the early 1990s. * gay village serial killer *
His age, as well as his unthreateng appearance – round featur and a broad, cheery se – ma him seem approachable to children shoppg wh their parents, as well as to gay men seekg a dark sexual enunter wh someone they uld McArthur a photo posted on a social media acunt. Photograph: RtersAfter divorcg his wife, McArthur, who had been active on his church board Oshawa, east of Toronto, beme a regular the cy’s gay village.
McArthur had been brought to the attentn of lol police 2002, when he was arrted for attackg a gay prostute wh a metal bar. He was sentenced 2003 to two years probatn and told to stay away om the gay 2010, reports started to e through of men gog missg om the village. The first, Skandaraj Navaratnam, rts particularly heavily on the md of Haran Vijayanathan, executive director of the Alliance for South Asian Aids Preventn (ASAAP) men are Sri Lankan, Ta and gay.
Jt as gay men om North Bay and Moose Jaw flocked to Toronto the 1970s to live ee and open liv, a new generatn of gay men om south Asia and the Middle East have been drawn to Canada the last 20 years for the same reasons.
TORONTO POLICE FD 7TH VICTIM 'GAY VILLAGE' SERIAL KILLER SE
Gay men – particularly gay refuge or other relatively new Canadians – f to a populatn that clus prostut, aborigal women and then there is what Lee refers to as “missg whe woman syndrome”: the ia that police, media and the public are ls cled to pay attentn to crim that are perpetrated on margalized muni. Vijayanathan, who is one of the most outspoken crics of how Toronto let s gay muny down, sists that police only took the vtigatns serly when Andrew Ksman, one of two whe victims, was reported he also pots to racism wh the gay muny – parg the massive lol search mounted after the reported disappearance of the other whe victim, Andrew Ksman, wh the slower and ls hive rponse to the disappearanc of the brown-skned victims. Vijayanathan also believ the fai of some of the missg immigrant men failed to report their some s, he says, the disappearanc were the first time fay members learned their relative was gay (or MSM, men who have sex wh men but don’t intify as gay).
For example, Kishna Kumar Kanagaratnam was a Ta refugee who me to Canada 2016 and was never reported missg, and after Navaratnam’s refugee claim was nied he rarely left the nf of the gay village.
“Throughout our history, people have e to the cy as a refuge and a place to explore their sexualy – often whout the knowledge of their fay and iends, ” says Tom Hooper, a York Universy historian who has voted much of his studi to the gay experience Toronto the Hooper also pots the fger at police.