WARNING: This article contains graphic content.Inside a downtown Toronto courtroom packed for the first day of sentencing submissions in the case of serial killer Bruce McArthur, the Crown prosecutor began with a grave acknowledgement.“For years, members of the LGBTQ community believed that they were being targeted by a killer,” Michael Cantlon said in his opening address Monday. “They were right.” Cantlon went on to describe an unprecedented Toronto police investigation, revealing new details about past police contact with McArthur, new information about the deaths of the eight men McArthur murdered, and revelations about the ways he preyed on Toronto’s LGBTQ community. Here are some major take-aways from the Day 1 of the serial killer’s sentencing.How detectives broke the case A combination of two key pieces of evidence lead Toronto police to “crack the case” of serial killer Bruce McArthur wide open, Cantlon said. First, there was surveillance video that showed a glimpse of a red van outside the home of Andrew Kinsman, McArthur’s final victim. Second, there was a simple note in Kinsman’s calendar from June 26, 2017, the day he went missing: “Bruce.” Toronto police Det. David Dickinson was able to determine the make and model of McArthur’s van — a special-edition 2004 Dodge Caravan. He then searched registry information to produce 6,181 matches for similar vehicles. Of those, five owners were named Bruce. But only McArthur had any recent contact with Toronto police — he had been arrested, but not charged, in 2016 over a report the 67-year-old had attempted to strangle a man. McArthur was made a person of interest in Kinsman’s disappearance. It was the start of the months-long investigation that led to his Jan. 18. 2018, arrest.Read more: Opinion | Rosie DiManno: A note in a calendar led to the undoing of serial killer Bruce McArthurCrown details how break in Kinsman ...
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