Toronto police continue to search various properties in Toronto and one property near Madoc, Ont., following the arrest of a landscaper who is charged with the murders of two missing men whose bodies have not been found.
Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old self-employed landscaper, was arrested on Thursday morning and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Andrew Kinsman, 49, and Selim Esen, 44.
Kinsman was last seen in late June, while Esen disappeared in mid-April. Police have said publicly that they believe there may be more victims.
A source, meanwhile, has said that police discovered evidence pertaining to four different men when they searched McArthur’s apartment in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood of Toronto.
Police are believed to be searching five properties as part of the McArthur investigation.
On Saturday at a property in the Leaside area of Toronto, investigators wearing white protective gowns, gloves and booties appeared to have pulled the contents of a garage into a home’s driveway and were sifting through it.
Neighbours told local news station CP24 that they had seen McArthur at the brick house many times. Some said he had been going there for years. They said the home is owned by a friendly older couple.
Across the city in the Scarborough neighbourhood, police were present at a two-level brick house. Neighbours told CP24 that they had seen McArthur working in the garden in the past.
Neighbour Yusuf Bulia told CP24 that he is “quite surprised about the whole thing,” he said. “The house was under renovation for most of the summer,” he added.
Police could also be seen searching properties in the Thorncliffe Park and Don Mills neighbourhoods of Toronto.
And police could be seen Saturday with sniffer dogs searching a snowy rural property near Madoc, Ont., which has had a heavy police presence for days. Property records show it is owned by a friend of McArthur.
Madoc is a roughly 220-kilometre drive northeast of Toronto.
McArthur was arrested Thursday after police followed him to a wrecking yard where they say he was about to dispose of one of his vehicles, a source has said. The police prevented the vehicle from being demolished and found blood in it, according to the source.
Police used evidence discovered in the vehicle to obtain a search warrant for McArthur’s apartment.
None of the allegations against McArthur have been tested in court.
With files from Jackie Dunham, CP24 and CTV Toronto
