A Canadian landscaper accused of killing gay men and hiding their remains in potted planters had a fraught relationship with his son — who never accepted his dad’s sexuality, according to a new report.
Bruce McArthur, 66, who is accused of killing and dismembering six men, often lamented his relationship with his son Todd, the Toronto Sun reported.
“[He] told me his son didn’t accept the fact that he was gay,” McArthur’s pal Robert James told the paper. “He wasn’t really out and it was a struggle for him.”
Todd McArthur, 37, is facing criminal charges of his own for criminal harassing and making indecent phone calls toward an Oshawa woman. He is out on bail.
In 2014, he was sentenced to 17 months in jail after harassing a different woman for two months, including calling her and making crude sexual remarks about her relationship with her wife, Vice News reported.
He was listed as living in the same Thorncliffe apartment as his dad, who was found there on Jan. 18 with a man tied up on the bed.
Since his arrest, cops have recovered the remains of at least six people in planters on a property McArthur used as storage.
He’s believed to have met his victims cruising around the city in a van he used for work and on gay dating apps for older and larger men, where he used screen names like “SilverDaddies” and “Bear411.”
The grandfather was known in Toronto’s Gay Village for being into violent kinks, and all of his victims had ties to the area.
“Bruce liked to play the master role, he told me so… he said he was into bears. Everything he was into was freaky,” James, McArthur’s former pal, told the Toronto Sun.
“I thought he was a friendly guy, he was a bear, but when people saw me talking to him they later told me he was a little off and they told me to be careful,” he added.
McArthur had been banished from the area for assaulting a male prostitute in 2003 and booted from a bar, James said.
“He had a terrible temper,” he said, recounting an outburst McArthur had after being rebuffed by James.
“He said, ‘I’m so tired of these f—ing fa—ots telling stories about me! Why do you hate me so much?’ then he screamed at me: ‘You’re just like the rest of them, you think I’m crazy.’”
Police conducted interviews with three people who were in sexual relationships with McArthur. All of them reportedly said they called it quits because they were uncomfortable with some of the sex acts.
Investigators are still working on excavating McArthur’s properties for more remains and are looking at missing-persons cases dating back to the 1970s for possible victims.
McArthur is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.