Toronto police name eighth victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

A reserved Sri Lankan man who was among hundreds of Tamil asylum-seekers to land on Canadian shores in 2010 has been identified as the eighth victim of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur. Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam arrived on Vancouver Island as one of 492 refugees aboard the ship MV Sun Sea, and later settled in Scarborough. He was named by Toronto police Monday as the dead man whose photograph investigators had released last month after all other attempts at identifying him had failed.“He only came here to protect his life,” said Pranavan Thangavel, who got to know Kanagaratnam on the journey from Thailand to Canada aboard the rickety cargo ship. “But he’s not with us now. It’s really bad news.” Kanagaratnam’s identification late last week resulted Monday in yet another first-degree murder charge against McArthur, who is alleged to have killed him between September and December 2015. Just 37 at the time of his death, Kanagaratnam is the youngest of the men McArthur is alleged to have killed. He had never been reported missing in Canada.Kanagaratnam was identified with the help of an international government agency, Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters Monday. The lead homicide investigator in the McArthur case declined to elaborate, but confirmed that Kanagaratnam’s remains had been identified by forensic experts among “at least” seven sets of dismembered human remains found in large planters at a Leaside property where police allege McArthur concealed his victims. The identification came together only within the past few days. Last week, as he released a touched-up version of the photograph of the dead man and a new illustration, Idsinga said police were cautiously optimistic they had narrowed the man’s identity to one of 22 on a list of possibilities. However, Idsinga confirmed Monday that Kanagaratnam’s had not been one of the names on that list.Police have never officially revealed ...