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Bruce McArthur entered the interrogation room.
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He wore his ubiquitous maroon T-shirt and dark shorts the entire time he donned a cheating clinic.
The serial killer, who preyed on immigrant men in the city’s Gay Village, played his role as a summertime Laurence Olivier.
“Who me?” It seemed to be channeling the Toronto police detective. Paul Gauthier, who questioned him about an assault on June 20, 2016 in the parking lot of a Tim Horton in Bathurst and Finch.
A controversial 13-minute video, which the police wanted to keep secret, finally appeared on Monday. For many, it was the first opportunity to hear McArthur’s voice.
It is the voice, and demeanor, of a sympathetic elderly gay gentleman who bakes cupcakes for street parties or plays Santa Claus at the mall. A murderer? Heavens, no, as McArthur himself would say, sprinkled with something or other.
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But each statement is designed to fool Gauthier away from any evil in the village, or the demons in McArthur’s own dark heart.
Gauthier would eventually be charged, and acquitted, of the Police Act charges for allowing McArthur to walk away. Two more men would be killed by the round monster before he was finally arrested, ending his long wave of killings.
Watching the video of the interrogation, it’s pretty clear from the start that McArthur is going to walk. Gauthier is throwing balls at him. There are no curves or sliders to trip the unlikely killer.
McArthur tells the police officer that he and the assault victim made dinner plans and then would have sex. They jumped the gun and got into McArthur’s Dodge Caravan, where they began kissing and fondling.
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But, my God, the other man wanted our hero to pinch his penis as hard as he could.
Okay, I thought. He likes hard, so I put my hand on his throat for just a few seconds, then he turned around and grabbed me by the throat and said ‘I’m going to show you what I’m going to do.’ McArthur told Gauthier.
And, my God, he was struggling to breathe and put his hands up. I give up!
The connection was, McArthur tells Gauthier, “very strong.” And imagine his surprise when the victim called 911!
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s calling the police,'” McArthur said, adding that he fled the scene.
Then Gauthier asked, “Has something like this happened before? Things never got violent?
My God! No!
Gauthier then asks if there was a reason McArthur went for the victim’s neck.
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McArthur: “I thought he was into rough stuff. He was freaking out about it. “
Gauthier then concludes it: “Before we finish, is there something more important?”
McArthur responds: “We had sex numerous times and NEVER had a problem. OKAY?”
Like many other people, Paul Gauthier was duped by a man who was a big enough fraud that he was married to for decades while harboring the darkest desires. I should have known better.
McArthur left the police station that June night and returned to kill at least two more times. There were eight victims in total, and there would have been more had the city’s homicide unit not been called in.
After that, everything but the crying ended.
McArthur was arrested and charged with first degree murder on January 18, 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years in February 2019 after pleading guilty to eight counts of first degree murder.
He took off his mask. My God, my God, don’t fly into the prison field.
@HunterTOSun
Reference-torontosun.com