WARNING: this article contains graphic content.At Bruce McArthur’s sentencing hearing Monday, Crown attorney Michael Cantlon began a detailed and disturbing outline of the Toronto police investigation into the serial killer with a vindication of what many in Toronto’s Gay Village had long believed.“For years members of the LGBTQ community believed they were being targetted by a killer. They were right,” Cantlon said less than a week after McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder.Cantlon earlier issued a highly unusual warning to the public gallery at the courtroom at 361 University Ave., saying the evidence presented Monday will be disturbing and could “impact your health and wellness,” including appetite and sleep. “Please think carefully about whether or not you want to expose yourself” to the evidence, Cantlon told the public gallery, adding that if anyone in the courtroom feels overwhelmed, they can speak to court staff for assistance.The sentencing hearing, expected to last three days, is also scheduled hear victim impact statements from at least two dozen people starting Monday afternoon.McMahon told the court that he spent the weekend reading the written victim impact statements that he had received. A brief description of the facts read out in court last week revealed that the majority of the eight killings, spanning 2010 to 2017, were sexual in nature. All happened in Toronto, though the location of each murder has not been revealed. Lawyers for McArthur and Crown prosecutors were to begin deliberations before Justice John McMahon to determine when McArthur, 67, will be eligible for parole. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, guaranteeing McArthur will be in jail until he is at least 91 years old. But it’s possible his sentence for each count of first-degree murder will be served consecutively, assuring the killer would d ...
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