Prosecutor: Bruce McArthur Staged Corpses With Cigars

A prosecutor last week revealed that serial killer Bruce McArthur staged photos of some of his victims after they died, but he gave a fuller picture of what that meant Monday as the sentencing hearing began for the former gardener who preyed on men from Toronto's Gay Village district. Prosecutor Michael Cantlon didn't display the images found on McArthur's electronic devices during the session, but said they included post-mortem photos of six of the eight victims and that at least two corpses were posed with cigars in their mouths, reports the AP. "Victims were posed naked, with cigars in their mouth, shaved, and/or made to wear a fur coat and hat," Cantlon said. The CBC reports Cantlon said that bags of hair were among the "souvenirs" McArthur kept.

He also said police found a bound and naked man when they raided McArthur's home and arrested him on Jan. 18, 2018. He said police moved in when they realized he had someone over. The man, who survived, was only identified as "John." Investigators found McArthur had a USB drive that contained a directory with nine subfolders, Cantlon said, eight for the men he killed and the ninth for the man found at the time of McArthur's arrest. McArthur pleaded guilty on Jan. 29 to eight counts of first-degree murder. His sentencing hearing is expected to last through Wednesday. McArthur faces a potential sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years or more. (Read more on the case here.)