Alleged Toronto serial killer now charged with seven counts of first-degree murder

Accused killer Bruce McArthur appears via video link in a Toronto courtroom to face a sixth charge of first-degree murder on Feb. 23, 2018. (Sketch by John Mantha)

TORONTO -- Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur is now facing a seventh charge of first-degree murder.

The 66-year-old landscaper appeared by video in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday morning to face the new charge in the death of Abdulbasir Faizi, one of three men whose disappearances had been probed by police years earlier.

McArthur has already been charged with the first-degree murder of six other men who have connections to the city's LGBTQ community.

Police allege McArthur killed Faizi on or around Dec. 29, 2010, in Toronto, court documents show. Further details are expected at a police news conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

McArthur, who appeared wearing an orange jumpsuit, spoke in court only to say his name and acknowledge that he understood the charges against him. He is scheduled to return to court April 25.

Police arrested McArthur in January and charged him with the murders of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen, who went missing from Toronto's gay village in 2017.

Later that month, McArthur was charged with the first-degree murder of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, and Dean Lisowick. In February, he was also charged in the death of Skandaraj Navaratnam.

Over the years police launched two projects into the disappearances of men from the gay village.

The first police probe -- named Project Houston -- was launched in 2012 to investigate the disappearances of Faizi, Kayhan and Navaratnam. It closed after 18 months as it did not establish the whereabouts of the missing men or resolve the circumstances on their disappearances, police said.

In August 2017, police launched Project Prism, which looked into the disappearances of Kinsman and Esen. McArthur popped up onto police radar in the fall of 2017 as part of Project Prism.

Since his arrest, police have said they've recovered the dismembered remains of seven people from planters at a Toronto home where McArthur worked and stored equipment. They've identified three sets of remains so far -- those of Kinsman, Mahmudi, and Navaratnam.

In addition to the ongoing homicide investigation, there are a number of other related probes, including an internal investigation that a source says is related to a previous police interview of McArthur.

The city's police board has also approved an external review, requested by Mayor John Tory, that will look into how the force handled the cases of men missing from the gay village. Police Chief Mark Saunders has also initiated an internal review that will become public, and has called for some form of public inquiry.