Police in Toronto say they have found more human remains at a location connected to suspected gay serial killer Bruce McArthur.

The latest remains were located in a forest ravine behind a property at which McArthur, a landscape gardener, stored equipment. It’s the same property at which the remains of seven of his suspected victims were previously discovered in planters.

This is the first time police have found remains not buried in planters. They cannot yet say if the remains belong to victims already identified.

McArthur arrested last winter

McArthur, 66, was arrested in January and initially charged with the murders of two men. Police revealed that they had been watching him for several months as part of their ongoing investigations into the disappearances of several gay/bi men from Toronto’s gay village.

They swooped upon McArthur when they saw a man entering his property. Fearing for his safety, they entered the property and found him tied up but unharmed.

Subsequent investigations discovered human blood belonging to some of the missing men in McArthur’s home, as well as photographs of some of the missing on McArthur’s computer. It’s thought some of the photos were taken post-mortem.

Since his arrest, investigators have searched around 100 sites associated with the gardener. Human remains belonging to seven men have been identified. He now faces eight separate first-degree murder charges, although remains of the eighth man have yet to have been found.

The dead men have been identified as: Selim Esen; Skandaraj Navaratnam; Andrew Kinsman; Majeed Kayhan; Dean Lisowick; Soroush Mahmudi; Abdulbasir Faizi; and Kirushna Kanagaratnam.

Toronto experiences sub-zero weather conditions in the winter, which hampered the search for remains. Police are returning to sites now that it is summer and the ground fully thawed.

They are continuing to investigate McArthur in connection with other cases of missing men. Some of these cold cases date back to the mid 1970s.

Detective Sargent Hank Idsinga, lead investigator, told reporters yesterday: ‘Yesterday afternoon, human remains were located at one of the first digging sites … We haven’t identified what the remains are or who they belonged to.’

McArthur’s next court appearance is due 23 July.