Bruce McArthur charged with 1st-degree murder

Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur is now facing a sixth charge of first-degree murder, this time in the death of Skandaraj Navaratnam, whose remains were found in a planter seized from a property linked to the landscaper.

Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga announced the latest charge at a news conference Friday. Shortly after the news conference, McArthur appeared in a Toronto court via video link. He will return to court on Feb. 28.

The 40-year-old Navaratnam was known to friends as Skanda. He was last seen leaving a Toronto nightclub on Sept. 6, 2010. A friend reported him missing 10 days later. Navaratnam was later one of three men included in a Toronto police task force called Project Houston, which looked at the disappearances of men from the area around the city’s Gay Village between 2010 and 2012.

Idsinga also said another set of remains found in a planter from the property has been identified: those of Soroush Mahmudi, 50. McArthur is already charged in Mahmudi’s death.

McArthur was previously charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the cases of Andrew Kinsman, 49, Selim Esen, 44, Majeed Kayhan, 58, Dean Lisowick, 47, and Mahmudi.