Cadaver dogs searching properties linked to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur

Toronto police are sending out teams of cadaver dogs this week to some 100 properties linked to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

The dogs are sniffing for human remains, according to Homicide Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga, the lead investigator in thecase. Police will excavate parts of the properties if the dogs find anything relevant to the ongoing investigation, he said.

Police aren't disclosing the addresses of the homes where the dogs will be searching. However, the force says the properties being checked are sites where McArthurworked as a landscaper.

The dogs are trained to smell the gasses that are emitted from decomposing remains, said Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray in an email.

McArthur, 66,has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murderin connection with the disappearancesof several men. The remains of a number of the men turned up in garden planters at a home where McArthur worked.

McArthur was most recently charged with the first-degree murder ofKirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, who moved to Canada from Sri Lanka in 2010 and lived in Scarborough.

The other murder chargesare in connection with the deaths of: SelimEsen, 44,AbdulbasirFaizi, 44,MajeedKayhan,58, Andrew Kinsman, 49,DeanLisowick, 47,SoroushMahmudi, 50,andSkandarajNavaratnam, 40.

Many of the men had ties to Toronto's Gay Village.

McArthur is due back in court on May 23.