Toronto police obtained permission to “covertly” search alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur’s apartment — including copying and examining data, hard drives, memory sticks and more — just over a month before his arrest, newly unsealed court documents show. As first reported by the Star in June, investigators probing McArthur surreptitiously entered his Thorncliffe Park Dr. apartment and “cloned” his computer in December 2017.Documents unsealed by a judge Wednesday — following an application by the Star and other media — shed new light on investigators’ secret item into McArthur’s 19th-floor apartment, just over a month before the 66-year-old landscaper was arrested.Believing McArthur was a suspect in Kinsman’s murder, police were seeking “documents, records, photos, videos, objects or things of any kind,” related to the former bartender in Toronto’s Gay Village who went missing in June 2017, including his cellphone. Police were also seeking “physical evidence” of Kinsman, “including his remains and/or bodily fluids.”Police had earlier found Kinsman’s blood inside McArthur’s vehicle in November, the documents show.The heavily redacted documents also reveal that as early as August last year, police were linking Kinsman’s disappearance with those of four other men from the Village — all of whom are now alleged to be among McArthur’s victims.“Given that none of the other males who went missing from The Village have turned up, it is reasonable to believe the worst,” wrote Det.-Const. Joel Manherz. The statement came four months before Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders assured the public there was no connection between multiple disappearances from the Village, downplaying a long-held concern that a serial killer was targeting the area. Meaghan Gray, spokesperson for the Toronto Police, said Wednesday that the serv ...
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