First known survivor of Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur speaks out

Bruce McArthur was a familiar face in the gay Toronto enclave, always waved or nodded to Mark Henderson who, although wary, did the same back. 

But on October 31, 2001, Halloween, McArthur jogged to catch up with Henderson as he unlocked the building's security door and before he knew it he felt a whack on the back of his head.

Confused, Henderson turned. His assailant's face was a mask of fury. He was holding a metal bar above his head, ready to bring it down once more.

Mark Henderson knew that he was looking into the eyes of a killer.

Henderson is the first known survivor of Toronto's most prolific serial killer, Bruce McArthur, 70.

Now, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com he has shared the details of his attack and the years of pain that followed as he – like many of McArthur's later victims - was mischaracterized, marginalized and dismissed by Toronto Police Service (TPS) with devastating consequences.

'I turned, and he was there like a wild man, Hendereson recalled. 'I can't emphasize enough how horrified I was. And then I realized, he's trying to kill me.'

Henderson is alive today because he fought and because, he says, of a 'sliver of luck.' Many others were not so lucky.

McArthur's reign of terror lasted between 2010 and 2017 when he slaughtered eight men, all of whom disappeared from the Canadian city's so-called 'gay village.'

The dismembered remains of several of his victims were found buried in planters at a suburban property at which he worked as a landscaper.

He was arrested in January 2018. On January 29, 2019, he pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

Now, his crimes and the investigation that led to his arrest are the focus of two episodes in the latest season of Netflix's hit show, 'Catching Killers.'

But Henderson's story is not featured. Instead, he says, he has been conveniently carved out of the official narrative which starts with McArthur's first known killing in 2010.

Because, the truth is, Toronto's cops had a chance to catch their killer much sooner.

But, as Henderson puts it, 'they blew it' after his attack in 2001 and when men started disappearing from the gay village nine years later, they blew it all over again.

He said, 'I would defend the police if they did it right, but they just keep doing everything wrong…and the fact that they're even ignoring me now drives me up the wall.'

Henderson isn't alone in this opinion. Retired Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Gloria Epstein presided over an independent review into TPS handling of the McArthur and missing persons cases.

Her report, published in April 2021, was blunt. 'The police could have done better.'

She made 151 recommendations of how and cited the mishandling of Henderson's case both at the time of his attack and after, when it 'played no part,' in later investigations as, 'particularly troubling.'

Today Henderson, 56, presents an extravagantly stylized face to the world. But his Neptune-like beard, designer clothes and penchant for costumes belie a darker truth.

Because nothing has ever been the same for Henderson since the day of his attack.

Back then he was studying to become a registered nurse as well as acting and modeling in the bars and clubs of the gay village.

He was known in the close LGBTQ community in which he lives as the guy who would take to the stage without a second thought, dance, do some comedy then end by pulling down his pants and showing the crowd his thong.

These days, he says, he is afraid of the dark, does his laundry at 4am to avoid other people and has more in common with Howard Hughes than the man he used to be.

He said, 'If you asked me when was the last time I personally saw the killer, I would tell you it was one year ago in March.

'He was standing on Yonge Street and I had a complete panic attack and came home.

'You and I know he could not possibly have been standing on Yonge Street a year ago but that's a snapshot of the pain that's left over.'

The balcony of the apartment in which Henderson lives today overlooks the back of the building in which he was attacked. He can still map it out, step by step.

He was locking up his bicycle when he saw McArthur paying for street parking.

McArthur was a familiar face from around the area. He always waved or nodded to Henderson who did the same back but felt an uncomfortable urge to cross the street whenever he did so.

On that day McArthur jogged to catch up with him as he unlocked the building's security door and Henderson held it open, unwittingly letting in his attacker.

He said, 'It was Halloween – I founded the Halloween party on Church Street which is the largest party in North America so Halloween is a busy day for me and I had my costume inside.'

Henderson vaguely recalls McArthur asking him what he was doing for Halloween and answering him as he unlocked his front door. He lived on the ground floor just 15 feet from the security door and along from the building's office where Henderson assumed McArthur was going.

He said, 'I was unlocking the door when I felt a whack. It happened so fast. I kind of fell in and I thought maybe part of the ceiling had fallen. I turned and I remember he was like this wild man.

'I can't emphasize how horrified I was. I felt betrayal. I realized he's trying to kill me.'

The sequence of events is blurred by shock and time, but Henderson remembers shielding his head as the bar came down again breaking two of his fingers.

He was on the floor now and pushed McArthur away with both feet with all his might buying himself some time to scrabble further into his apartment.

He said, 'He sort of flew back. The phone was there, and I had two tall candlesticks made of silver. I picked up one of those. He stood up and I couldn't hear anything. I could hardly see anything, there was blood and cerebral fluid coming down. So, I picked up the candle stick and I looked at him and he looked at me and I made a decision.

'I thought I cannot hit him. I can't do it. If I'm going to die that's not going to be the last thing I do. I'll go for the phone instead. I had 911 in before I could even imagine it.

'As I was calling 911, he came right up to me and said, ''Please don't tell them this happened. Please don't tell them it was me.'' And he started pulling on the chord and looking for the end of it but…it was like 30 or 40ft long so I could be on the phone talking all night going round my apartment.

'He couldn't find the end of it and then the 911 operator said, 'Can you describe what he's wearing' and I was just reading his outfit from him being there.'

The whole thing took less than 5 minutes – McArthur's parking ticket was timestamped at 12.34pm. Henderson dialed 911 at 12.39pm.

Henderson remembers feeling the compression in his skull and worrying that it was only a matter of time before he lost consciousness.

The next thing he remembers is a police officer looking round the door and asking if his attacker was still there, before he was strapped to a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance.

He remembers the EMT 'cracking jokes' over him as he lay there. Later, in the hospital he remembers a police officer asking him repeatedly, 'Were you having sex with him [McArthur]?' And him answering, 'No.'

It would be a few days before Henderson learned that McArthur had immediately handed himself in – a move that Epstein's review described as 'strategic.'

Henderson said, 'I realized that the whole sex thing had to have been part of his narrative. He was way ahead of this, but that's one of his moves as we see later.'

The police didn't even take a victim statement.

In 2003 McArthur was sentenced to one year house arrest and banned from the gay village for two years – a ban that was unenforceable.

Henderson recalls being branded a 'hooker.' In news reports he was described as a 'hustler.'

In truth, Henderson, now 31 years sober, was a trainee nurse who championed a safe sex message in the community and had his contribution towards establishing Casey House - Canada's first hospital specializing in the treatment of HIV - recognized by Princess Diana.

But, he said, 'I was immediately sexualized [by McArthur] and discredited [by the police] and once he pleads guilty, we don't need Mark Henderson and his fractured skull or broken fingers and arm. They charge him and it's over.'

For Henderson and for members of the LGBTQ community it was only just beginning.