BC serial killer Robert Pickton has died after an attack in a Quebec prison

VANCOUVER – Robert Pickton, one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers, died Friday, 12 days after being assaulted in prison.

Pickton, an inmate at Quebec’s Port-Cartier Institution, was 74.

For some, death brings closure. But it also leaves open questions about the flawed police investigation into Pickton, who was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder but was suspected of killing dozens more women at his Port pig farm Coquitlam, BC.

The Correctional Service of Canada said in a statement that Pickton’s relatives have been notified of his death, as well as victims who have registered to be notified.

Among them was Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister, Georgina Papin, was among the six women whose deaths led to Pickton’s life sentence.

Pickton chose his victims from the fringes of society, women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, many of them Indigenous. He once bragged to an undercover officer that he had killed 49 women.

“This will bring healing to, I won’t say all families, I’ll just say most families,” Cardinal said.

“Because they didn’t get their day in court, (that) I’m really sad about. But I also feel very happy right now,” Cardinal said.

“I’m like…wow, finally. I can really move on and heal and put this behind me.”

The Correctional Service of Canada said an investigation into the May 19 prison attack on Pickton, which involved another inmate, is ongoing.

“We are aware 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,” the correctional service said.

Quebec provincial police spokesman Frédéric Deshaies said Friday afternoon that Pickton died “in the last few hours.”

He said police were still investigating the attack and that a 51-year-old suspect was in custody.

Quebec police said last week that doctors planned to try to wake Pickton from a medically induced coma to see if he could survive on his own after what prison authorities called a “major attack.”

Pickton has been serving his life sentence at the Port-Cartier Institution, about 480 kilometers northeast of Quebec City, since he was transferred from the Kent Institution in British Columbia about six years ago.

At the time of his sentencing in December 2007, BC Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a “rare case that properly warrants the maximum period (25 years) of parole ineligibility available to the court.”

In addition to Papin, Pickton was found guilty of the murders of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe and Marnie Frey.

But the remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his farm.

One of them was Stephanie Lane, who was 20 years old when she disappeared.

Her mother, Michelle Pineault, said she was overjoyed at Pickton’s death.

“So for 28 years I lived without my daughter knowing that this animal killed her and there was no justice for her in any way, shape or form. So I’m glad. I’m happy,” Pineault said. , who burst into tears.

She attended a ceremony at CRAB Park near the Downtown Eastside honoring Pickton’s victims.

Pineault said that since losing Lane, “my life hasn’t been about my daughter — my life has been about Pickton.”

She said his death felt something like justice.

Lorelei Williams, whose cousin Tanya Holyk’s DNA was also found at the farm, told CRAB Park she was “overwhelmed with happiness” at Pickton’s death.

Pickton was only arrested in 2002 as RCMP officers were executing a search warrant for illegal firearms at his farm. They came across the remains and belongings of the missing sex workers.

Police then began searching the property in what would be a years-long investigation.

Vancouver police have been criticized for not taking the case seriously, as many of the missing were sex workers or drug users, and in 2014, failures in the investigation led to a $50,000 settlement for the victims’ children who came forward court all three levels of government and the RCMP.

Pickton – who was known as “Willie” – became eligible for parole in February, sparking outrage from lawyers, politicians and victims’ relatives who criticized Canada’s justice system, saying he should not be released never.

BC Premier David Eby said Friday it was a difficult day for everyone affected by Pickton’s “horrific crimes.”

“I’m sure it brings closure. For others, it reopens old wounds,” Eby said Friday in an unrelated news conference.

“I want to take this moment to reflect on the fact that Pickton targeted the most vulnerable people in our society, people who were classified as less equal, not worthy, and was able to kill so many people just because the profile. of the people he chose to victimize.”

He ended his remarks by saying “good riddance.”

Sue Brown, director of advocacy for the non-profit group Justice for Girls, said that while some saw Pickton’s death as a moment of closure, it also closed “another potential door for answers.”

“There may be a sense of relief, but I know for some there are so many unanswered questions,” said Brown, whose group is among those fighting in court to preserve evidence in the Pickton case.

The RCMP has requested to dispose of approximately 14,000 pieces of evidence collected in the investigation, saying it takes up substantial space and continues to drive up costs.

“(Pickton’s death) makes the physical evidence that much more important now that a person who had personal knowledge of what happened at the Pickton farm and (what) many of those women could have become, is now dead,” said Brown.

“All his knowledge went with him. And consequently, I think that makes the effort to preserve the evidence that much more imperative.”

Attorney Jason Gratl, who is representing a number of families of Pickton’s victims in nine lawsuits against Pickton and his brother, David Pickton, declined to comment on behalf of his clients.

Darryl Plecas, a former Kent Institution prison judge who went on to serve as Speaker of the BC Legislature, told The Canadian Press last week that Pickton was a likely target for others in prison because of his notoriety and small size .

Plecas said he knew Pickton from his time at Kent and called him “short, frail … five foot nothing.”

“Did you ever see Willie Pickton? . . . A hundred pounds, like wet. He’s not a big fellow.”

— With files by John Bongiorno in Montreal

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 31, 2024.

Nono Shen and Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press