Toronto cop in Bruce McArthur's 2016 arrest wants judge to hear case
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The lawyer for a Toronto cop facing disciplinary charges in conjunction with the Bruce McArthur probe said he wants an independent adjudicator for his client.
Lawrence Gridin said Det. Sgt. Paul Gauthier will not get a fair shake with the Toronto Police tribunal where he had been scheduled to appear on Tuesday.
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Gauthier has been charged by the Professional Standards Unit for “insubordination and dereliction of duty” regarding the McArthur investigation.
The 67-year-old McArthur pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of eight men who vanished from or around the city’s gay village.
But the LGBTQ community and others have wondered why the serial killer wasn’t nabbed sooner — even after its members and the media raised the red flag.
A civilian complained in 2016 that McArthur had strangled and choked him in a restaurant parking lot during a date that went off the rails. McArthur claimed the violence was consensual rough sex.
TPS claims Gauthier didn’t follow protocols in his investigation of the alleged incident. His lawyer said the decision to drop the matter was made with the officer’s supervisor.
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At the tribunal at police headquarters, Gridin’s attempts to show his client was a scapegoat were scuppered by the adjudicator and TPS prosecutor Alexandra Ciobotaru.
Gridin pointed to Chief Mark Saunders’s now infamous statements from December 2017 denying a serial killer was operating in the city. McArthur was arrested just weeks later.
The lawyer wants his client’s case heard by a judge instead of a police superintendent assigned by Saunders.
He was told Tuesday it was too early in the process.
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Gauthier was not present at the tribunal, which has been adjourned to Feb. 26.
Gridin said that his client’s efforts contributed to the identification of McArthur as the serial killer preying on gay men.
The force’s professional standards unit launched an internal investigation related to the McArthur case in March 2018, two months after the self-employed landscaper was first charged with murder.
The review was sparked when acting Det. Insp. Hank Idsinga — who spearheaded the McArthur probe — said he came across some “concerning” information while reviewing two previous investigations into five missing men from the Gay Village.
“I’m confident the evidence will show in this case that the information gathered by Det. Gauthier contributed to the identification of Bruce McArthur as a serial killer. This is not to detract from the work done by Project Prism,” Gridin told reporters.
“I’m also very mindful that today about a kilometre away from where we’re standing people are giving their victim impact statements and those voices should be heard today, not mine.”
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