A suspected serial killer who faces trial in the deaths of eight men with ties to Toronto’s gay community has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

A judge has ordered Bruce McArthur to stand trial on eight counts of first-degree murder.

The 66-year-old landscaper was arrested in January and charged with the murder of eight men who disappeared starting around 2010 from Toronto’s Gay Village area.

McArthur made no eye contact with the alleged victims’ families, who packed the small courtroom on Monday. He will return to court on 5 November, when a date trial will be set.

The remains of seven men were found in planters at a property where he worked. An eighth set of remains were found in a ravine below the property.