Robert Pickton, also known as The Pig Farmer Killer, is a Canadian serial killer convicted of the murders of 6 women. He was charged with an additional 20 murders but these charges were stayed by the Crown in 2010. Pickton and his brother David owned and operated a farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He was described as a “pretty quiet guy” who worked in a “creepy-looking place”, whose behaviour was often attention-seeking. The brothers began to let the farm fall into disrepair and registered a charity called the Piggy Palace Good Times Society. The charity claimed to “organise, coordinate, manage and operate special events, functions, dances, shows and exhibitions on behalf of service organisations, sports organisations and other worthy groups”. The events included parties/raves featuring Vancouver sex workers in a converted slaughterhouse on the farm; these events attracted up to 2,000 people. In March 1997, Pickton was charged with the attempted murder of sex worker Wendy Lynn Eistetter. He stabbed her several times during a struggle at the farm – she told police that Pickton handcuffed her, but she escaped after being stabbed; she then disarmed him and stabbed him with his own weapon. Pickton was treated, arrested and released on bail. The charge was later dismissed.
Over a 3-year period, farm worker William Hiscox noticed that women who visited the farm often went missing. On February 6, 2002, police executed a search warrant for illegal firearms at the property. The Picktons were arrested and, based on what they had seen, police obtained a second warrant to search the farm as part of the BC Missing Women Investigation. Personal items that were later found to belong to the missing women were discovered at the farm. The following day, Robert Pickton was charged with weapons offences. He was released, and kept under surveillance. On February 22, Robert Pickton was arrested and charged with 2 counts of first-degree murder – those of Sereena Abotsway and Mona Wilson. 2 weeks later, 3 more charges were added, for the murders of Jacqueline McDonell, Diane Rock, and Heather Bottomley. A 6th charge for the murder of Andrea Joesbury was handed out, followed by a 7th for Brenda Wolfe. On September 20, 4 more charges were added for the killings of Georgina Papin, Helen Hallmark, Jennifer Furminger and Patricia Johnson. A further 4 charges for the murders of Heather Chinnock, Tanya Holyk, Sherry Irving, and Inga Hall were handed down on October 3, bringing the total to 15. This was the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history. On May 26, 2005, Pickton received 12 more charges for the murders of Cara Ellis, Andrea Borhaven, Debra Lynne Jones, Marnie Frey, Tiffany Drew, Kerry Koski, Sarah de Vries, Cynthia Feliks, Angela Jardine, Wendy Crawford, Diana Melnick, and a Jane Doe, bringing the total number of first-degree murder charges to 27. More excavations at the farm continued through November of 2003. Forensic analysis was difficult because the bodies were left to decompose, or were eaten by the pigs on the farm. During the early stages of excavation, forensic anthropologists brought in equipment which included two 50 foot conveyer belts and sifters to find traces of human remains. In 2004 the government revealed that Pickton may have ground up human flesh and mixed it with pork that was sold to the public; another claim was made that he fed bodies directly to his pigs.
The trial of Robert Pickton began on January 30, 2006. He pled not guilty to 27 counts of first-degree murder in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. One count was rejected for lack of evidence. On August 9, Justice Williams split the charges into one group of 6 counts and another group of 20 counts. The trial proceeded with the 6 counts, with the other 20 ultimately being stayed in 2010. It is believed that the 6 charges the Crown proceeded with had the best chance for prosecution and the least burden on the jury. On January 22, 2007, Pickton faced first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Frey, Abotsway, Papin, Joesbury, Wolfe and Wilson. At this point, the media ban on the case was lifted and some of the case’s shocking details were heard – skulls cut in half with hands and feet stuffed inside; the remains of a victim discovered in a trash bag; part of a jawbone and teeth found near the slaughterhouse; and a .22 calibre revolver with a dildo attached, covered with his victim’s DNA. During the trial, lab staff testified that around 80 unidentified DNA profiles (roughly half male and half female) were found on pieces of evidence. An associate of Pickton’s told how Pickton mentioned killing sex workers by handcuffing and strangling them, then bleeding and gutting them before feeding them to pigs. On December 9, 2007, Pickton was found not guilty on 6 counts of first-degree murder, but of second-degree murder. After reading 18 victim impact statement, Justice James Williams sentenced Robert Pickton to life with no possibility of parole for 25 years (the maximum punishment for second-degree murder). In passing the sentence, Williams said: “Mr. Pickton’s conduct was murderous and repeatedly so. I cannot know the details but I know this: What happened to them was senseless and despicable.”
