A 66-year-old man has been arrested in Toronto after it emerged that he may be responsible for the deaths of five men. Police believe there are more victims and that they are dealing with a serial killer. Bizarrely, the police discovered that the man had been using his job as a landscaper to dispose of his victims’ bodies, which were cut up into small pieces and distributed in planters and under the lawns he tended to.
For one couple, this meant a frightening and bizarre early morning knock from the police who promptly asked them to leave their property. Within hours white vans and tents had been erected and the police were combing their garden. They later discovered the reason for the police investigation. Their gardener had used their property as a means of disposing of his victims’ bodies. Speaking to the press, the elderly couple said,
“It really took the two of us to form a sentence and to try and make a plan. I simply couldn’t think. I was so horrified. Every aspect was more horrifying, and I just — it was really hard to take.
“You have to understand, he has been kind, helpful, helped with our charity work, doing floral gifts for silent auctions. He went above and beyond what our original agreement was to cut the grass. There’s a beautiful Christmas arrangement… [that] just showed up… a week before Christmas made by him.”
The grisly discovery is made all the more bizarre by the fact that the murders in question bear a shocking similarity to a Stephen King short story titled “The Lawnmower Man” wherein a sexually violent gardener attacks and murders his client and distributes small pieces of the corpse across the garden, including planters, pots and the lawn just like this case.
In another chilling detail it is revealed that the suspect regularly played Santa at the local mall, and was a friendly and avid member of his community where he was known for baking cupcakes.
It appears, however, that despite a very good standing amongst his clients and neighbours the man harboured dark and violent impulses. It’s hard to imagine just how frightening this experience must have been for some of his clients who are only just now realising that their own properties might have been used to hide the evidence of these grisly and gruesome crimes.
