Robert Pickton
Robert William Pickton (October 24, 1949 – May 31, 2024), also known as the Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher, was a Canadian serial killer, serial rapist, pig farmer and possible cannibal. He is thought to be the serial killer with the most murders in Canadian history.
| Robert Pickton | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert William Pickton |
| Born | October 24, 1949 Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | May 31, 2024 (aged 74) Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Conviction | Second-degree murder (×6) |
| Sentence | Life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 25 years |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims | 6 convicted 26 charged 49 confessed |
| Span of killings | 1983–2002 |
| Country | Canada |
| Date apprehended | February 22, 2002 |
Killings and conviction
changePickton is believed to have begun his murders in the early 1990s after taking ownership of his family's pig farm. He was arrested in 2002 and was later convicted in 2007 of the second-degree murders of six women.
Pickton was charged with the deaths of an additional twenty women,[1] many of them from Vancouver, but these charges were dropped in 2010.
Pickton was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the longest possible sentence for second-degree murder under Canadian law at the time he was sentenced.[2] During the trial's first day of jury evidence, Pickton had confessed to forty-nine murders to an undercover officer,[3] who was pretending to be a cellmate.[4] It was reported that Pickton told the officer that he wanted to kill another woman to make it an even fifty, and that he was caught because he was "sloppy".[5]
Death
changeOn May 19, 2024, Pickton was attacked by another prisoner at the Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec. The prisoner, stabbed Pickton in the head with a "broken broom-like handle." He was hospitalized and put on life support after being airlifted to a hospital.[6][7]
Pickton died at a hospital in Quebec City, Quebec from problems caused by his injuries on May 31, 2024.[8] He was 74 years old.[9]
References
change- ↑ "Indictment document". Archived from the original on October 7, 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "AU Serial-killing pig farmer gets life". "ABC. December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ↑ Butts, Edward (October 8, 2020). "Robert Pickton Case". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
While Pickton was being held in jail in Surrey, British Columbia, he shared a cell with an undercover RCMP officer he believed to be another detainee.
- ↑ "Crown says Pickton confessed to killing 49". CTVNews. 22 January 2007. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ↑ "Pickton butchered 6 women, Crown tells jury". CBC. January 22, 2007. Archived from the original on September 17, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
- ↑ Bolan. "B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton savagely attacked in prison, clinging to life". The Province. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ↑ "Serial killer Robert Pickton in critical condition after prison assault". CBC. 2024-05-21. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
- ↑ Judd, Amy (May 31, 2024). "Serial killer Robert Pickton dead following beating in Quebec prison". Global News. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ↑ Brockman, Charles (2024-05-31). "B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead after prison attack". CityNews Vancouver. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
Other websites
change
- Women Commission of Inquiry ("Oppal") Report (November 19, 2012)
- R. v. Pickton, decision of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (June 25, 2009) (defence appeal)
- R. v. Pickton, decision of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (June 25, 2009) (Crown appeal)
- R. v. Pickton, decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (December 13, 2007) (ruling re: re-instructing the jury)
- R. v. Pickton, decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (January 16, 2007) (ruling re: media application to access and publish exhibits #1)
- Robert William Pickton Trial Information Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine (Court Services, Ministry of Attorney General)
- Covering The Trial: Former Sex Trade Workers Work As Citizen Correspondents For Orato
- Backgrounder
- TruTV article on Robert Pickton
- BBC Article on Pickton (2007-01-21)
- Pat Casanova testimony, June 4–6, 2007
- History of Sex Work in Vancouver Archived 2013-12-06 at the Wayback Machine (downloadable PDF book written by sex workers)
- PDFs of the Pickton letters obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
- Interviews and oral histories with victims' families and community workers, part of research stored at Simon Fraser University Library.
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