Robert Pickton is shown in this undated image from a television screen. Photo / Getty Images
Robert Pickton is shown in this undated image from a television screen. Photo / Getty Images
Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who brought female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree near Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died after being assaulted in prison, authorities said. He was 74.
Police began searching the Pickton farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam more than 22 years ago in what would be a years-long investigation into the disappearances of dozens of women from Vancouver’s seediest streets, sex workers and drug addicts abandoned on the margins of society.
The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on Pickton’s farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
He once bragged to an undercover police officer that he killed a total of 49 women.
During his trial, prosecution witness Andrew Bellwood said Pickton told him how he strangled his victims and fed their remains to his pigs.
Health officials once issued a tainted meat advisory to neighbors who might have bought pork from Pickton’s farm, concerned the meat might have contained human remains.
This artist's sketch shows accused serial killer Robert Pickton taking notes during the second day of his 2006 trial. Photo / The Canadian Press via AP
Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Pickton, said she was “overwhelmed” with happiness when she received a text message earlier this month with the news that he had been attacked.
She called it “karma”.
Vancouver police were criticised for not taking the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or drug users.
Canada’s correctional service said it was conducting an investigation into the attack on Pickton.
“The investigation will examine all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the assault, including whether policies and protocols were followed,” the service said in the statement.
“We are mindful that this offender’s case has had a devastating impact on communities in British Columbia and across the country, including Indigenous peoples, victims and their families. Our thoughts are with them.”
Pickton’s confirmed victims were six: Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Papin and Marnie Frey.
“Earlier today, I was made aware of the death of an inmate at Port-Cartier Institution,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in statement.
“At this time, my thoughts are with the families of the victims of this individual’s heinous crimes.”
At the time of Pickton’s sentencing, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a “rare case that properly warrants the maximum period of parole ineligibility available to the court”.
