Documents reveal details about four men who say they survived attacks by Bruce McArthur

WARNING: This story contains graphic details. Discretion is advised.

New details have emerged about four men who say they survived attacks by serial killer Bruce McArthur.

The accounts of the alleged assaults were detailed in court documents that were previously released but have now been un-redacted.

The documents, referred to as Information To Obtain (ITO), were filed with the court as part of the Toronto Police Service’s Project Prism and Project Houston investigations, which delved into the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of men with ties to the city’s gay village.

The unsealed ITOs were made public after lawyers for CTV News and other media outlets argued for their release.

According to the documents, four men escaped violent encounters with McArthur in 2016 and 2017.

Encounter with McArthur would have been fatal, man says

One man told police that he believed he escaped what would have been a fatal encounter with McArthur in 2017.

In his statement outlined in the court documents, Pietro Sgromo said he had known McArthur for 15 to 20 years when he began chatting with him in January or February of 2017.

He was living in Thunder Bay at the time but agreed to meet up with McArthur when he was in Toronto in the spring.

Sgromo said he met with McArthur at a restaurant called Wild Oscar’s and during the meal, McArthur discussed his trip to Italy. The documents state that McArthur told Sgromo about a man he met that “preferred more aggressive sex.”

After walking McArthur to his car, Sgromo said the two began to kiss and he accepted McArthur’s offer for a ride to his hotel.

He alleged that McArthur “sniffed some poppers” and the two continued kissing in the back seat of the vehicle.

The man said the serial killer grabbed him by the back of the neck in a “forceful” manner. The man said he then grabbed McArthur’s elbow and asked him what he was doing.

According to Sgromo’s statement, McArthur wanted him to go back to his place but he said he had to go back to his hotel to look after his sick dog.

Sgromo said he never heard from McArthur again.

“Sgromo feels that if he hadn’t escaped, the encounter with McArthur would have been fatal,” police wrote in the ITO.

Potential victim thought McArthur was a ‘perfect gentleman’ before assault

A man who said McArthur tried to strangle him in the back seat of his van told police that he thought about reaching out to McArthur after the attack. He said he sometimes thought the incident might have been a “misunderstanding.”

The man said he had known McArthur, who he referred to as “Mr. Mysterio,” for years and sometimes went long periods of time without communicating with him.

He noted that they could go a year without speaking and McArthur would just “show up” in the man’s driveway randomly. He added that they did not have a romantic connection but only wanted causal sex. He said that he and McArthur met up maybe 15 or 16 times and had sex about 75 per cent of the time.

“The sex between the two men did not involve any sadomasochism or bondage,” the ITO read.

The man described McArthur as someone who seemed “kind” and “always nice” and said up until the night of the attack, he thought of McArthur as a “perfect gentleman.”

According to the court documents, the man said McArthur left a note on his truck indicating that he wanted to meet up. The man didn’t feel up to it but when he got home, he said McArthur was at his building. He told McArthur that he would shower and meet him at a Tim Hortons parking lot. The two met in the parking lot and went into McArthur’s van. The man noted a fur coat on top of plastic that was lining the floor of the vehicle. The two began kissing and the man told McArthur to “hurt him.”

“McArthur got a look of anger on his face as he tried to pin the victim’s arms down and began to strangle him. The victim begged McArthur to let him go although it was hard to breathe because McArthur was crushing his larynx,” the documents read.

The man said he managed to get his arms free, threw McArthur off of him, and exited the van. He called 911 and McArthur drove off.

McArthur was subsequently questioned in relation to the incident but was released without charge after his account was deemed to be credible by the investigator.

Sgt. Paul Gauthier is facing disciplinary charges in relation to his handling of the case.

Man said he may have lost consciousness during sex with McArthur

Another possible victim of McArthur was identified after police found a photo of an unknown man who appeared to be handcuffed to McArthur’s bed while being choked with a metal bar.

The male’s eyes, police said, were “glassed over” but he did not appear to be deceased.

The man was later identified as Sean Cribbin, who slept with McArthur in the summer of 2017.

Cribbin told investigators that on the day of the incident, he “did a little GHB” and “smoked a little crystal meth.”

He said McArthur showed him restraint gear and leather.

Cribbin told investigators that he may have “lost consciousness” when he was having sex with McArthur. He said he did not see the metal pipe and was not aware that he was being photographed. He told police that he cut his encounter with McArthur short because he “felt uncomfortable.”

He later told Global News that McArthur’s roommate came home and interrupted the encounter. He said he believes McArthur’s roommate saved his life.

Potential ‘ninth victim’ found tied to McArthur’s bed during arrest

The man who police believe could have become McArthur’s ninth and final victim was found handcuffed to the serial killer’s bed on the day of McArthur’s arrest.

On Jan. 17, 2018, Toronto police finally were able to access photos copied from McArthur’s digital devices, which police obtained while covertly searching his apartment one month earlier.

The photos showed men, including Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, who appeared to be deceased.

“Plans were made to arrest McArthur on January 20, 2018 however officers conducting surveillance on McArthur observed him enter his apartment with an unknown male on January 18, 2018 and, as a result, (Det. David Dickinson) made the decision to arrest McArthur forthwith,” the ITO reads.

Dickinson and another officer arrived at McArthur’s apartment at around 10:18 a.m. and McArthur answered after the officers knocked.

Police quickly discovered a man with a bag over his head handcuffed to McArthur’s bed.

McArthur was immediately arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Esen and Kinsman, who went missing in 2017.

On Jan. 29, 2019, McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Esen, Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam.

The men, who all had ties to the city’s Church-Wellesley Village, went missing between 2010 and 2017.

McArthur, who is now 67, is serving a life sentence and will not be eligible for parole until he is 91 years old.