The owners of the Mallory Cres. home where police officers recovered the remains of the victims of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur are holding a private “ceremony of renewal” on Saturday after months of searches.

Karen Fraser and Ron Smith said they’re hosting the event, which is not open to the public, as a way to thank the community for their support during the police investigation of their property.

“We did a list of how many people were kind and how many people it took to get Ron and I through that rather odd experience in one piece and it came out to over 100,” Fraser said. “It shows that if you think you’re independent, your survival actually depends on rather a large community of people and it’s important.”

Police found the remains of seven men in January and February inside planters at the Leaside property during the investigation. In July, investigators returned and found the remains of an eighth victim, Majeed Kayhan, in the ravine close to the home.

McArthur, a landscaper who did work on the property, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Kayhan, Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam. The men all had links to Toronto’s Gay Village, and police believe their deaths occurred between 2010 and 2017.

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Saturday’s event will include opening remarks from Councillor Jon Burnside (Ward 26 Don Valley West). He told the Star he helped the couple by acting as an intermediary with the police services whenever needed, and to assist with communication, adding “My role is to support them in any way I can.”

Following Burnside’s talk, an imam and a reverend will address the event. According to Fraser, the imam will acknowledge that the community has not forgotten about the Muslim victims of the alleged serial killer, and will speak to what the Qur’an says about kindness.

After speeches, the event will move toward private conversations among friends and people who have helped the couple.

Fraser said her neighbourhood has moved on from the investigation, and that they are back to normal.

“We’re trying to take all the little silver linings that you can take from such a monstrous act,” she said, noting the neighbourhood has become closer since the incident.

“(The investigation) set up sort of a negative mood, and we still have what we call politely ‘tourists’ driving around and staring and pointing and taking pictures,” Fraser said.

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She said she and Smith started to try to change the mood by painting the garage door with song lyrics from Nothing More by the Alternate Routes: “We are One. We are how we treat each other when the day is done.”

“Now we’re just having an event for all the people who were kind to us and all the neighbours who had to put up with a month of snow not being shovelled, no garbage pickup, just to sort of balance things out,” Fraser said.