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Toronto police find 6 bodies buried in potted plants

Posted at 12:26 PM, Feb 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-10 12:26:37-05

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada (CNN) — As Toronto police combed through more than a dozen planters and worked to thaw frozen ground in their search for human remains, investigators continued Saturday to piece together what they believe is the puzzle of a serial killer and his victims.

The killer had some sort of relationship with each of his male victims, some of which were sexual, Toronto Police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray said.

Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old landscaper, has been charged with five counts of murder and accused of hiding his victims’ remains in potted plants in Toronto.

“We do believe there are more (victims),” homicide detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga said. “And I have no idea how many more there are going to be.”

So far, McArthur is accused of killing Andrew Kinsman, 49; Selim Esen, 44; Majeed Kayhan, 58; Dean Lisowick, 47; and Soroush Mahmudi, 50. But police have said more victims could be discovered soon.

Investigators found the remains of three victims in potted plants last week, and police said they had found at least three more remains on Friday. Of those six sets of remains, one has been identified as belonging to Kinsman. The five other remains are still unidentified.

Police said even though remains recovered so far have not been linked to the four men named as victims in addition to Kinsman, investigators have “sufficient evidence” to believe they were killed.

All of the remains found so far were located at one property where McArthur stored his landscaping equipment. The expanding investigation is now focusing on that property and one other location closely connected to McArthur.

Both locations will be excavated by investigators for evidence, but the excavation of one property has been partly held up by the frozen winter ground in Toronto, where it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-4 degrees Celsius) Friday afternoon. Toronto police said they have been heating the ground at that property for over a week to thaw it and allow for a fuller excavation.

In addition, police have seized a total of 15 planters from several properties that investigators say could contain more evidence or remains. McArthur is connected to up to 30 properties, and officials have asked more of his landscaping clients to come forward.