Report finds ‘serious flaws’ in how Toronto police investigated missing-persons cases

TORONTO – An independent review has found systemic discrimination contributed to deficiencies in a number of missing-persons investigations conducted by Toronto police.

The review, led by former judge Gloria Epstein, examined policies and procedures related to missing-persons cases, as well as how officers investigated the disappearances of residents who were later found to have been killed.

It focused on the eight men murdered by serial killer Bruce McArthur, as well as Tess Richey, a young woman whose body was found in an outdoor stairwell by her mother, and Alloura Wells, a trans woman found dead in a ravine.

Epstein says she found “serious flaws” in how missing-persons cases, even beyond those at the centre of the review, were investigated.

“I cannot say that McArthur would necessarily have been apprehended earlier if the investigative steps outlined in this report had been taken. He was a true psychopath,” Epstein noted.

“He disarmed others, including his interviewer, with his calm and ostensibly helpful approach to the interview. But the Toronto police did lose important opportunities to identify him as the killer.”

The issues identified in the report include a lack of communication within the police service, between the force and the police board, and with the community, as well as an often unnecessary amount of secrecy that undermined public trust.

Epstein also found investigations were inconsistent, and in many instances, “basic investigative steps were overlooked or delayed,” while searches were at times “disorganized, incomplete or poorly documented.”

McArthur admitted to killing Andrew Kinsman, 49; Selim Esen, 44; Majeed Kayhan, 58; Soroush Mahmudi, 50; Dean Lisowick, 47; Skandaraj (Skanda) Navaratnam, 40, Abdulbasir Faizi, 42, and Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam, 37.

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