2010–2017 Toronto serial homicides

On January 29, 2019, McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder in Ontario Superior Court[1] and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for twenty-five years.

[8] In addition to raising McArthur and his sister, his parents fostered troubled children from nearby Toronto, often with six to ten in their care at any given time, and reportedly had a good reputation in the area.

[8][13] The couple faced financial difficulty, in part due to legal issues connected to their then-teenaged son, Todd, who had been prosecuted for making obscene phone calls to women.

[18] During the sentence, he was barred from Church and Wellesley except for work and medical appointments, had to stay at least 10 metres (33 ft) from Henderson's home or workplace, and could not spend time with "male prostitutes".

A colleague who installed water features on three of his projects recalled that McArthur was always accompanied by an older white man, who appeared to be romantically involved with him, and a day labourer, usually of Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern descent.

[35] In 2014, after Todd was sentenced to fourteen months in jail for making multiple obscene phone calls, he was released on bail and ordered to live with his father and assist with his landscaping business.

[58] Fears of a serial killer stalking Church and Wellesley grew on November 29 when the body of Tess Richey was found by her mother in an alleyway four days after she was reported missing.

[65][66] On October 3, plainclothes officers visited at Dom's Auto Parts in Courtice, Ontario, 70 kilometres (43 mi) northeast of Toronto, where owner Dominic Vetere confirmed he had purchased McArthur's Caravan on September 16.

Although the remains had not been identified, police had gathered enough evidence to charge McArthur with three additional counts of first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Majeed Kayhan, a Project Houston subject; Soroush Mahmudi, who disappeared in 2015; and Dean Lisowick, a homeless man who was never reported missing.

[95][106] Michael Pollanen, Ontario's chief forensic pathologist, said his organization had never before been involved in an investigation with such scope, drawing on the skills of each member for many unique challenges, such as scientific issues related to decomposition and post-mortem dismemberment.

[129] Waterloo Regional Police contacted Ontario's serial predator crime investigations coordinator to inquire about McArthur in the November 2002 disappearance of David MacDermott from downtown Kitchener.

[131][132] Five victims were noted by investigators for similarities: middle-aged, bearded, patrons of The Black Eagle bar, and self-identified as "bears" (gay men with overtly masculine traits).

[71][62] During McArthur's sentencing hearing, prosecutors said that the eight victims had ties to Church and Wellesley and a "social life" in that community, physical similarities which usually included facial hair or a beard, and six were from South Asia or the Middle East.

[157] He made another brief courtroom appearance on January 29, and subsequently attended via video link,[51] represented by W. Calvin Rosemond of the legal defence firm of Edward H. Royle & Partners.

[164] Represented by James Miglin, McArthur appeared in court in person on October 22, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing, not contesting whether the evidence was sufficient for the charges to be committed to trial.

[40] Sasha Reid, a University of Toronto PhD candidate specializing in statistical analysis of missing persons and sexually motivated killers, was compiling a missing-persons database when she came across the Project Houston disappearances.

[32] Mike Arntfield, a criminologist and Western University professor, has advocated data-based approaches to augment traditional investigative work, particularly in detecting elusive criminals like serial killers.

[41][64] CBC News examined hundreds of pages of partially redacted court orders unsealed in September 2018, and concluded that there had been "considerable effort" toward investigating all three Project Houston subjects.

[212] Gauthier's lawyer and Toronto Police Association (TPA) President Mike McCormack have stated that the case should be heard by an independent judge instead of a tribunal officer appointed by Saunders.

[217] In July 2017 the TPA claimed that there was a staffing crisis with working conditions at "a breaking point", noting that staff had been reduced by 500 officers since 2010 while a budgetary task force recommended a hiring freeze.

[217] An unexpected number of early retirements were attributed by the TPA to stress and morale, and McCormack noted "when we have a stressed-out officer, when we have people who are burned out, it really does impact public interaction".

Progress was made but criticisms following McArthur's arrest led to an April 2 statement by Pride's executive director and five LGBT organizations asking the TPS to withdraw its application to march in uniform.

[225] Saunders had hoped that participation would demonstrate a "shared commitment to progress and healing", and considered the many TPS members who identify as LGBTQ and wished to march in the event built on inclusiveness.

[141][230] In late February Saunders came to the conclusion that the public could not get clear and credible answers without an independent external review, and suggested as much to Tory and Andy Pringle, chair of the TPSB.

[240] On June 25, on the recommendation of the working group,[242] the TPSB announced that it had retained Justice Gloria Epstein, who would retire as a part-time Ontario Appeal Court judge on September 1 to lead the review.

"[228] The advisory panel was named in January 2019, and included Forrester, ASAAP executive director Haran Vijayanathan, activist Ron Rosenes, Indigenous lawyer Christa Big Canoe, former Ontario Court of Justice chief Brian Lennox, former member of the Gay Officers Action League Michele Lent, workplace human rights lawyer Andrew Pinto, and Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre executive director Angela Robertson.

[248] Civil litigation lawyer Douglas Elliott suggested that rather than conducting separate investigations, that Epstein be named to lead a public inquiry with a provincial mandate and subpoena powers.

[251] Nikki Ward, a director of the Church-Wellesley Neighbourhood Association and graphic artist, obtained a photograph of Lisowick at a vigil which she cleaned up and shared with media outlets so that his mug shot would not have to be used.

The event was chaired by Salah Bachir, president of Cineplex Media, who identified as a "queer Arab man" and was both sad and angry about the crimes, having known some of the victims personally while his sister was a landscaping client of McArthur's.

[252] Sara Malabar, who produced the opening and closing events for 2014 WorldPride, started a Facebook page titled "Stop Love Wins Concert" and threatened to organize a protest if it was not cancelled.