Gay Village Serial Killer ~ The Case of Bruce McArthur Part 2

 

Bruce McArthur's name was out there and he was becoming well-established as a landscaper; it seemed like life was going to be okay for him. His company was called "Artistic Designs". Boy, were we all mistaken!!! He definitely knew how to put on an act, because not a single person questioned him when he was a mall Santa Claus on the off season.

(There is a vital reason I include all of this in explaining about this evil being).

A mere few weeks after Bruce's 50th birthday, on Halloween, 2001 he had went home with Mark Henderson, who was both an actor and model. He wanted to show off his Halloween costume to Bruce. We cannot be sure what happened, and how it got so twisted, but Bruce McArthur grabbed an iron pipe and hit Mark Henderson in the back of his head several times. 

Bruce didn't kill Mark, but he left him unconscious. Fortunately for the actor, he woke up and was able to call 911. Mr. Henderson spent six weeks in physiotherapy and required a number of stitches to both his head and hand. Without skipping a beat, Bruce admitted to the attack and turned himself in; but he claimed to have no memory of what he did nor why.

On April 11, 2003, Bruce was sentenced to 729 days (a fancy way of saying 2 years, less a day); but after a psychiatric evaluation; Bruce was deemed a low risk to reoffending and he was not incarcerated. Although Mark Henderson expressed his own fears about Bruce, it was believed that his behaviour was a result of his anti-seizure meds and a muscle relaxer (amyl nitrite ~ which is also taken recreationally before sex). 

He was sentenced to a year under house arrest and then another half year of curfew, all while he had 3 years of probation. During this time, he was banned from the Church and Wellesley area, other than for work or medical appointments. There was a restraining order on him from Mark Henderson, which meant he couldn't be anywhere near his home, nor work. He was not allowed to spend time with any male hookers/prostitutes. He was not allowed to possess any form of a firearm, nor could he touch any type of drugs, other than what he was prescibed by his doctor. The biggest thing was Bruce McArthur needed to submit his DNA to the database and had to go to counselling; which clearly included "anger management".

It is said that this was a very strict sentence and it seemed clear that the judge who presided over the case, did feel McArthur would reoffend; but according to police officers, parole conditions are not enforcable and they were not allowed to be published publicly. The only time the police are able to catch a perp violating their conditions is if they cause something that would draw the attention of law enforcement officers; other than that, it really was just a piece of paper with writing on it.

The craziest thing to me is that Bruce McArthur was able to get his conviction expunged in 2014, which means that it will never appear on his record... odd, right???

There was also the fact that in 2002, Bruce joined a fetish dating website; him looking for submissive men. He joined a total of 9 of these websites; even joined Facebook in 2011; mostly featuring pictures of gatherings and parties; including photos of younger South Asian and Middle Eastern men. As of 2007, Bruce McArthur moved into an area of Toronto called Leaside Towers, that was in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. A place that is predominently filled with immigrants.

I don't want to get too much into the nitty gritty of his business and the few odd confrontations he had with various people, as I would like to get to the criminal part, the missing men, the crimes and consequences. There is a lot more to say about Bruce, it should be noted that he continued to have an excessively bad temper; never liked being questioned about anything from any Joe blow, so to speak. He felt he didn't owe anyone an explanation.

The last part I would like to add, in this part of the story, is that Bruce and Janice's son, Todd was eventually charged and convicted for his obscene calls. He was court ordered to live with Bruce, and helped Bruce with his budding landscaping company. Note that a friend of Todd's came to visit and was shocked when he saw Bruce's room, where the walls were plastered with naked men; most of them East Indian men. Todd explained that those men were his dad's friends and Bruce himself found it funny that Todd's friend saw that. 

I am now going to do an entry about the missing people and who his victims were. To be continued....