Police re-examining cold cases for investigation of Bruce McArthur

Police are currently re-examining 15 cold cases dating back as far as 1975 in their investigation of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

Wednesday morning McArthur was formally charged in the death of Abdulbasir Faizi, bringing the number up to seven counts of first-degree murder. Faizi’s remains were among at least seven recovered from planters at a home where McArthur did landscaping work.

Toronto Police held a news conference Wednesday morning where Detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga gave the details of Faizi’s disappearance, “Abdulbasir Faizi was 42 years old when he disappeared on December 29th, 2010. He had last been seen in the area of Church Street and Wellesley Street in Toronto. His vehicle was recovered on Moore Avenue in Toronto and his family reported him missing shortly afterwards to the Peel Regional Police Service.”

McArthur had already been charged with the first-degree murder of six other men, who are believed to have died between 2010 and 2017. All of the men had ties to Toronto’s L-G-B-T-Q community.

Police have also released an enhanced version of a photograph of a man believed to be another one of McArthur’s alleged victims. Despite receiving hundreds of tips, police haven’t identified him.

Detective Idsinga says police are currently re-examining 15 cold cases dating back as far as 1975. They plan to investigate 75 properties linked to McArthur as early as next month.

Accoridng to the Detective, “We really don’t know how deep this is going to go. I don’t want to hazard putting a final number on it. I’ve said before, we may discover cases from the 70s. We may discover that 2010 was the first murder. We just don’t know yet.”

Police also remain on scene of McArthur’s east Toronto apartment. They call it an unprecedented investigative scene.

Police would encourage anyone with any further information or insight whatsoever, to please give them or Crimestoppers a call.