The brother of a man allegedly murdered by Bruce McArthur faced the accused serial killer in court for the first time today.
Omer Esen travelled from London, England today to be in Toronto for McArthur’s morning court appearance and to talk to Toronto police.
Esen did not want to speak to media but provided a page-long statement about his brother, providing the first real glimpse into his life since police confirmed his death.
Esen said his brother moved to Canada in 2013 to get married to his boyfriend and start a new life. He said he “wasn’t happy” living in Turkey as a gay man and that the eventual move to Canada spoke to his brother’s “free bird” attitude.
“He was very friendly, kind hearted, open, independent minded and curious, passionate about new things, gardening, exploring new places and meeting new people,” he wrote.
“He thought, believed, felt and lived free as a bird, beyond any borders and any boundaries.”
Esen disappeared from Toronto’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, known as the Gay Village, on April 14, 2017.
His disappearance became part of a larger police investigation dubbed Project Prism, which looked into his case and that of Andrew Kinsman, who disappeared from the same area in June.
On Jan. 18, 2018, McArthur was charged in connection with Esen and Kinsman’s disappearances. He is now facing a total of eight first-degree murder charges also related to the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and, most recently, Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam.
Many of the men had ties to the city’s LGBTQ community.
Police allege the 66-year-old self-employed landscaper buried the remains of at least seven men in large planters at a Leaside home of a client.
Esen said his brother’s body has not been released to the family and that being so far away from the criminal proceedings has been hard on the family.
“As Selim’s brothers, we find it hard to come to terms with our youngest brother’s death. He was too young to leave us. He had things to do, friends to make, flowers to grow in hearts, life to share,” the statement reads.
“As yet, we have more questions than answers. It is deeply worrying to see that it took years for the authorities to act upon the cases of missing persons reports.”
The Toronto Police Services Board voted Thursday to approve a $3 million review of the service’s handling of missing persons cases, sparked by criticism from the city’s LGBTQ community over the handling of several recent high-profile missing persons cases.
The move comes on the heels of Toronto’s annual Pride festivities, which Esen says he will attend in memory of his brother.
A moment of silence will also be held during the Toronto Pride Parade on Sunday afternoon to honour all of McArthur’s alleged victims.
During today’s brief court appearance, the prosecution told the judge that it had turned over all its evidence to the defense so McArthur’s lawyers can begin compiling their list of witnesses.
The case was ultimately put over to July 23.
