Robert Pickton, Canadian serial killer who fed his victims to pigs, dies after prison attack

A Canadian serial killer, convicted in 2007 of murdering six women after taking them to a pig farm during a crime spree near the city of Vancouver back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was killed after being attacked by another inmate in a maximum-security prison, authorities said on Friday (May 31).

About his death

In a statement on Friday, the Correctional Service of Canada said that Pickton, who was an inmate of Port-Cartier Institution in the Canadian province of Quebec, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital after being assaulted by another prisoner on May 19.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Pickton, 74, a former pig farmer from western Canada, was one of the country’s most notorious killers. Although he was convicted and sentenced for six murders, he was suspected of killing dozens of women.

“We are mindful that this offender’s case has had a devastating impact on communities in British Columbia and across the country,” said the Correctional Service of Canada.

Also Read |British ambassador to Mexico fired after pointing assault rifle at embassy employee: Reports

Earlier this month, police spokesperson Hugues Beaulieu said that a 51-year-old inmate was in custody for the assault on Pickton.

Pickton’s case

In 2007, Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for killing drug addicts and sex workers and butchering their remains at his pig farm.

He was convicted of killing six women – Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Papin and Marnie Frey – whose partial remains were found on his ramshackle property near Vancouver’s suburb of Port Coquitlam.

While Pickton was charged with the murders of 26 women, the government prosecutors later dropped charges for an additional 20 murders after he was sentenced to life in prison.

The victims were among the 60 women who disappeared from Vancouver’s seediest, drug-infested Downtown Eastside neighbourhood over more than a decade until Pickton’s arrest in 2002.

The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on Pickton’s pig farm. He once also bragged about killing a total of 49 women to an undercover police officer.

Also Read |Houthis claim to launch missile attack on US aircraft carrier in Red Sea

During his trial, prosecution witness Andrew Bellwood said Pickton told him how he strangled his victims and fed their remains to his pigs, as per the Associated Press.

The testimony prompted health officials to issue a tainted meat advisory to neighbours who might have bought pork from Pickton’s farm amid concerns that the meat might have contained human remains.

“This is gonna bring healing for, I won’t say all families, I’ll just say most of the families,” saidCynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Pickton.

She added,“I’m like -wow, finally. I can actually move on and heal and I can put this behind me.”

(With inputs from agencies)