A Toronto police forensics unit and OPP cruiser parked outside of a home on Cooper Road. (Photo: Submitted / Christina Lee)
The search for evidence in the Toronto-centered murder case against Bruce McArthur will continue today at a large residential property on Cooper Road, 13 km north of Madoc in Madoc Township.
McArthur has been charged with the murders of two Toronto gay men, and Toronto police believe there are other victims. McArthur owned the Madoc Township property.
Police will also search four other properties in Toronto.
Yesterday, on Cooper Road, the search intensified with the arrival of a Toronto Police Forensics Unit and an OPP Mobile Command Centre.
An OPP Mobile Support Unit is parked in front of a home on Cooper Road, in Madoc Township, on January 19, 2018. (Photo: Submitted / Christina Lee)
People living nearby on Cooper Road didn’t know much about McArthur except to say he had been busy working on gardens around the house and loved birds as he kept parakeets on the property. Neighbours nicknamed him “the birdman”.
McArthur purchased the property last April, a time when locals say a few properties nearby were sold to people not from the area.
Meanwhile, members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community are expressing both relief and frustration following the arrest of 66-year-old Bruce McArthur.
Since 2010 five gay men – including the two McArthur is charged with killing — have vanished from Toronto’s Gay Village.
Some in the village are saying that while they’re relieved a suspect is in custody, they’re also angry police didn’t heed their concerns about a possible serial killer earlier.
Sina Shahlaee, who lives and works in neighbourhood says it felt like police didn’t take the case seriously until it became too high-profile to ignore.
But Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders is defending the force’s handling of the case, saying officers worked with the evidence they had at the time.
A Central Hastings OPP car at 2598 Cooper Road in Madoc Township (Photo: John Spitters/ Quinte News)
