McArthur, as seen in a courtroom sketch (Sketch by John Mantha)

Accused serial killer Bruce McArthur, charged with eight murders of mostly gay men in the Toronto area, is now an admitted killer — he pleaded guilty to all eight counts of first-degree murder in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday morning.

Via CP24: The disappearances of gay men who had vanished from the Toronto area for months and years were chalked up to a serial killer on the loose by locals, but police did not decide this was the case until January 2018:

McArthur, a 67-year-old former landscaper, was arrested in January of last year after a lengthy investigation into the disappearances of several men with ties to the city’s LGBTQ community.

McArthur was initially charged in connection with the deaths of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen but further investigation led police to lay six additional first-degree murder charges against McArthur in the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam.

Police previously revealed that the remains of the murdered men were found in large planters and in a ravine behind a home on Mallory Crescent where McArthur stored tools for his landscaping business.

Police believe the men were killed between 2010 and 2017.

McArthur was a well-known figure in the SM community, and according to a reporter in court, the murders were all committed during sexual assault and planned in advance.

Between 2010 and 2017 McArthur killed eight men in city of Toronto. During each of murders: there was planning and deliberation, murder during sexual assault, says Crown Michael Cantlon.

— Nicole Brockbank (@nicolebrockbank) January 29, 2019

McArthur will be sentenced February 4.