Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur appeared via video link from the segregation unit where he is being detained at Toronto’s College Park Criminal Court this morning . McArthur appeared around 9:45 am. looking sullen and visibly less rotund. Throughout the proceedings, McArthur intermittently gazed at the camera and at the floor.
It was announced that McArthur is now facing a seventh charge of first-degree murder in the death of Abdulbasir Faizi who went missing on December 29, 2010. Mr. Faiza was last seen in the Church and Wellesley area and was reported missing by family shortly after his disappearance. Although Faizi was one of the three men who disappeared between 2010 and 2012, his disappearance had not been formally linked to McArthur until now.
Abdulfasir Faizi disappearanced on December 29, 2010
Abdulbasir Faizi had moved to Toronto from Afghanistan and was working as an assistant machine operator at a printing company in Mississauga. He had visited The Village on the evening of his disappearance, December 29, 2010, and was reported missing by his family shortly thereafter. His 2002 Nissan Sentra was discovered in early January 2011 on Moore Avenue near Welland Avenue (approximately one kilometre from Mallory Crescent).
At today’s Toronto Police press conference, Detective Sergeant Hank Idsinga released new information in the McArthur investigation. Idsinga announced that some of the previously unidentified remains found at Mallory Crescent have now been confirmed as those belonging to Dean Lisowick, Selim Esen and Abdulbasir Faizi. One set of remains has yet to be identified. Idsinga clarified that, although the police have “at least seven sets of remains”, this is “not definitive” and “there could be more” remains. Although police could not previously establish the time of Dean Lisowick’s death, Idsinga announced today that Dean Lisowick was killed in April 2016. Mated Kayan has not yet been identified. When asked by a member of the press, how the remains have been identified, Idsinga replied that the forensic examiners have been using fingerprints, dental records and DNA evidence.
Police are calling on all media outlets to share these photos of an unidentified individual. Nicki Ward of the LGBTQ community has worked on and enhanced the photo previously released on March 5, 2018. Police have received over 500 tips leading to 70 potential identities of the individual in the photo. They have ruled out most of these possibilities and have 22 options remaining for investigation.
Enhanced photo created by Nicki Ward
Idsinga also announced that the number of properties to be investigated has grown from 30 to 75. These include both private and public properties. He clarified that additional properties have been included based on client lists and tips. He added that a number of people, who have been McArthur’s clients, have not contacted police “because they don’t want police at their properties”. It appears that third parties have notified police of some of these properties. When asked if the property located in the rural Ontario near Madoc is still of interest, the lead detective first hesitated and then stated that he “would like to revisit Madoc when the weather’s a bit warmer”.
It was also announced today that Toronto Police’s Cold Case Unit, led by Stacy Gallant, will be reopening fifteen separate cold cases dating from 1975 to 1997. Idsinga described Project Houston as “an exhaustive investigation” and mentioned that, having spoken with some of the original investigators, they expressed “a sense of closure that all three men have now been accounted for”. On the contrary, it appears with good reason that many in our community do not share a feeling of resolution in the hideous matter of this ongoing investigation.
REAL HUMDINGER 