Just over a month ago police tried to dispel fears of a serial killer targeting Toronto’s Gay Village saying they had no indication that disappearances from the area were connected. On Thursday, they arrested and charged 66-year-old Bruce McArthur with murder in the cases of two men missing from the Church and Wellesley area.

And they believe there are more victims.

McArthur, a self-employed landscaper who was known in the Church and Wellesley community, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the disappearances of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen, after evidence was found Wednesday that pushed an ongoing investigation “over the edge.”

“We believe he is responsible for the deaths of other men who have yet to be identified,” said Homicide Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga. “In other words, we believe there are more victims.”

“I think many of us in the LGBT community are experiencing an ongoing disappointment with the Toronto Police Services,” Michael Erickson, the lead owner of the Glad Day Bookshop, said after news of the arrests broke Thursday.

“It didn’t feel like a lot these cases were being taken as seriously or that the response wasn’t as swift or as quick as it could have been has been disappointing.”

City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam said the community “wanted clear information from the police that we’ve always been asking for.”

She added that “the community should feel validated” after coming together to search for the victims and raising concerns about a serial murderer on social media.

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Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders faced questions Thursday about statements he made last December, when he dismissed rumours that the disappearances were the work of a serial killer in the Village.

“In policing — what we do is we follow the evidence, and what I said at the time was accurate at that time,” Saunders told reporters at a news conference.

And in a statement Thursday evening, Kinsman’s sister, Patricia Kinsman, said “The police, in my opinion did their job, they had information that they could not share to us or the media.

“It took them less than 7 months to make an arrest and they had next to nothing to work with them.”

In a statement, the LGBTQ community organization The 519 said “the concerns and profound impact of systemic homophobia, transphobia and racism are unfortunately not new.

“We will be working with our partners not only to support our communities but also to collectively advocate for our rights to safety, dignity and justice, especially for the most marginalized and vulnerable.”

Police have initiated search warrants at four properties in Toronto and another in Madoc, Ont., connected to McArthur, where they are searching for the bodies of Kinsman, Esen and other victims.

They are also asking the public to contact police at 416-808-2021 with any information they may have, “no matter how small.”

McArthur’s arrest came as a result of Project Prism, an investigation launched into the disappearances of Kinsman and Esen in July.

Esen, 44, disappeared last April from near Bloor and Yonge Sts., and Kinsman, 49, went missing from Parliament and Winchester Sts. in June.

While Idsinga said McArthur had a sexual relationship with Kinsman, he said “we don’t know what his exact relationship with Mr. Esen was, leading up to the murder.”

In the months after Kinsman went missing his friends and family joined together to comb the Church-Wellesley Village, Cabbagetown, and the Don Valley for any sign that may explain his uncharacteristic disappearance.

Within the Church and Wellesley community concern had been growing that a series of disappearances dating back a number of years were related.

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While police previously said there were no indications that the cases were related, the Project Prism investigation involved searching through information from Project Houston, an unconnected investigation looking into the disappearances of three other men from the same area.

Skandaraj “Skanda” Navaratnam, Abdulbasir “Basir” Faizi, and Majeed “Hamid” Kayhan — all middle-aged, of similar ethnicity and “active” in the Church and Wellesley area — went missing between mid-2010 and late 2012.

None have been found, though police are looking for links between their disappearances and those of Kinsman and Esen.

As news of the arrests spread through the Church and Wellesley area Thursday afternoon it was met with a mix of emotions: surprise, relief, and frustration.

Ted Healey, a friend of Kinsman, did not expect the announcement from police to come so quickly.

“I really did think that the police were stalled out on it, and it comes as a big surprise,” he said in a phone interview after watching the news conference on TV.

“I had to stop watching,” he said, his voice cracking. “At the end of it, I’m happy. I’m angry. And I’m hopeful this is the start of the end of it, because I just wanted closure. I just want closure.”

At Woody’s, a Church St. Bar, longtime bartender and manager Cameron Rennie poured an older gentleman a glass of wine, before expressing some surprise that the man who stands accused of these crimes was a member of the community.

“I was taken aback because I didn’t think it would be someone that we all knew,” he said, adding that he remembers serving McArthur in the past and has seen him around the neighbourhood, though not for at least a year.

Joseph Khaiata, a bartender at the Black Eagle bar on Church St., said McArthur used to spend time at the Black Eagle, though he didn’t know him by name.

“He was just a typical Joe person, that’s what shocked me when I saw the picture, just like, oh my god, this person just blended in,” he said.

“When you picture somebody doing something like that, that’s not what I would have pictured. I thought it was going to be a homophobe redneck from somewhere.”

At the southern tip of the neighbourhood, Jason King, the manager of the Hair of the Dog pub, said there could be some relief in the community now that an arrest has been made.

“It’s been an ongoing source of fear and confusion probably for a lot of people in the neighbourhood,” he said.

North east of the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood Thursday evening news vans occupied most of the parking spots outside the apartment where McArthur lives in Thorncliffe Park.

Journalists stood out in the brisk cold, steps away from a police forensics van.

The revolving doors were taped off, and residents of the building whispered amongst themselves, seemingly confused about what had occurred.

McArthur is due to appear in court Friday morning at College Park.

Correction — Jan. 18, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly referred to ‘properties belonging’ to Bruce McArthur

With files from Vjosa Isai, Jenna Moon and Victoria Gibson, Tamar Harris, Jaren Kerr

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