Canadian Serial Killer Used His Landscaping Business to Hide the Bodies of His Dismembered Victims!

Canadian Serial Killer Used His Landscaping Business to Hide the Bodies of His Dismembered Victims!

According to a documentary airing on the Oxygen Network, Bruce McArthur, Canada’s most notorious and brutal serial killer, used his skills as a landscaper to hide the remains of his victims – among the homes of his clients!  

As the narration of the true-crime documentary goes, Karen Fraser had no idea what was going on when police arrived at her home and said she had five minutes to leave.

“Half of me was backing away and staring in horror,” she tells the filmmakers. “The other half was trying to think clearly. They didn’t have a search warrant, and I was fully aware of it. I really didn’t have to pay any attention to them if I didn’t want to.”

She continues, “But when the officer said a serious crime had been committed, and Bruce McArthur had been arrested, I then knew it was serious. The officer was clearly upset, so something big was happening. That was the first of many decisions to have faith in the system. So we cooperated and left.”

In 2018, McArthur was accused of sexually assaulting, killing, and dismembering men he met in Toronto’s Gay Village district.

At the time of the arrest, the 69-year-old was storing his landscaping equipment at Fraser’s home in exchange for mowing her lawn and taking care of the yard. Fraser was horrified to learn that the quiet, mild-mannered family man, landscaper, and mall Santa was responsible for such heinous crimes.

“Someone is innocent until proven guilty,” she explained. “Just because the police believed he was guilty didn’t make him guilty. I defended him for a while. That’s when the detective just said to me one night, ‘Karen, don’t waste your sympathy on that man. We’ve never had as much evidence against someone as we have against him. Don’t waste your good feelings on that man.’ And that was it.”

At one point, Fraser said there were rumors of gay men disappearing from the Village. She even saw flyers posted up of missing men. However, she never suspected McArthur could possibly be involved.

“I never once saw him lose his temper with anyone,” she said. “He was considerate, generous, and cheerful.”

Deadly Disappearances

She recalled meeting Skandaraj Navaratnam, a 40-year-old who moved to Canada from Sri Lanka in the ‘90s as a refugee. 

“Bruce always had people helping him,” she said. “So I didn’t think much of it. But I remember Skandaraj being very charming. He attracted your attention right away. Fabulous smile. He was well dressed and always laughing. I never saw him again.”

Navaratnam disappeared in September 2010, accruing to the documentary.

Fraser also remembered encountering Majeed Kayhan. The 58-year-old was an Afghan immigrant who had a wife and children but also frequented the Village and kept an apartment in the area.

“I felt really sorry for him,” she said. “He was trying to work, but he was poorly dressed. My impression was that he never touched a shovel before in his life. He clearly didn’t want to do it. I remember Bruce was just annoyed with him. About three weeks later, I emailed Bruce and asked if he kept his job. I never got a response.”

Kayhan’s son reported him missing in the fall of 2012.

Fraser would later learn that the men were two of eight victims McArthur killed. The remains of seven men were found in large planters at her home. The remains of the eighth man were found in a ravine behind the same property.

To her horror, Fraser told filmmakers, “On a hot day, if we saw the flowers drooping a bit, my partner and I would water them,” she said. “So we were watering the planters where the victims were buried. I can’t give you words to describe how incredibly horrible that was. And cruel. It’s just every negative word you can come up with. Sometimes your mind just gets overwhelmed by it all.”

In 2019, McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutor Michael Cantlon said the cases ranging from 2010 to 2017 involved sexual assault or forcible confinement. Several of the victims were apparently strangled.

Most of the victims were of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent and lived on the margins of Canadian society. Their disappearances originally attracted little attention, and that is no doubt why McArthur chose them as his victims. Serial killers often select victims that they feel will not be missed.