30 Jan 2019; AFP: A Canadian landscaper on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the murders of eight men with links to Toronto's gay community and the mutilation of their bodies, most of them chopped up and hidden inside planters.
The plea entered by Bruce McArthur, 67, was a surprise -- he had been scheduled to stand trial next year.
He now faces the likelihood of life in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled to start on February 4, when family and friends of the victims will have an opportunity to describe how the killings affected their lives.
The case shocked all of Canada, and especially the gay community. It sparked a massive investigation in Toronto, the country's largest city, at dozens of properties where McArthur had worked.
"Bruce McArthur has pled guilty," Homicide Detective David Dickinson told reporters outside the courtroom. "It's the right outcome."
"Unfortunately, we can never bring these men back. But I'm hoping we can start bringing closure to the families and the communities," he said, describing the "long and traumatic process" to bring McArthur to justice.
McArthur was arrested in January 2018.
Body parts of seven of the victims were found hidden inside large planters that McArthur stored at a client's home in midtown Toronto.
The remains of an eighth victim were later discovered in a ravine behind the property.
The victims in the case were McArthur's former lover, two Afghan immigrants, two refugees from Sri Lanka and another from Iran, a Turkish national, and a homeless sex worker.
All went missing from 2010 to 2017.
Karen Fraser -- the owner of the home where McArthur stored his planters, and who had casually met two of the victims -- said she is "haunted" by the case.
"Terrible things were done," she said. "To me, he's evil."
- 'A monster' -
Prosecutor Michael Cantlon described to the court how McArthur had "staged" the corpses of his victims and photographed them, according to local reports. He also kept mementos such as jewelry and a notebook.
The murders were "sexual in nature," according to an agreed statement of facts.
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