Robert Pickton is a serial killer from Canada who would confess to the murders of 49 women
According to court documents Robert Pickton was a pig farmer in British Columbia Canada who was known to throw wild parties and raves. Unfortunately at these parties nearly fifty women would go missing. When police finally searched Pickton property they would find a ton of evidence and were able to place him under arrest
Robert Pickton Victims
On December 9, 2007, Pickton was convicted of second-degree murder in the deaths of six women:
Count One: Sereena Abotsway,[50] 29, was reported missing on August 22, 2001.
Count Two: Mona Lee Wilson,[51] 26, was reported missing on November 30, 2001.
Count Six: Andrea Joesbury, 22, was reported missing June 8, 2001.
Count Seven: Brenda Ann Wolfe,[52] 32, was reported missing on April 25, 2000.
Count Eleven: Georgina Faith Papin, 34, was reported missing in March 2001.
Count Sixteen: Marnie Lee Anne Frey,[53] 24, was reported missing on December 29, 1997.Pickton also stood accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of twenty other women until these charges were stayed on August 4, 2010:
Count Three: Jacquelene Michelle McDonell,[54] 22, was reported missing on January 16, 1999.
Count Four: Dianne Rosemary Rock,[55] 34, was reported missing on December 13, 2001.
Count Five: Heather Kathleen Bottomley,[56] 27, was reported missing on April 17, 2001.
Count Eight: Jennifer Lynn Furminger, 28, was reported missing on December 27, 1999.
Count Nine: Helen Mae Hallmark,[57] 20, was reported missing on June 15, 1997.
Count Ten: Patricia Rose Johnson,[58] 25, was reported missing on January 2, 2001.
Count Twelve: Heather Gabrielle Chinnook, 30, was last seen in April 2001.
Count Thirteen: Tanya Holyk, 23, was reported missing on November 3, 1996.
Count Fourteen: Sherry Leigh Irving,[59] 24, was reported missing on February 22, 1997.
Count Fifteen: Inga Monique Hall,[60] 46, was last seen in February 1998.
Count Seventeen: Tiffany Louise Drew, 27, was reported missing on December 31, 1999.
Count Eighteen: Sarah Jean de Vries, 29,[61] was last seen in April 1998.
Count Nineteen: Cynthia "Cindy" Feliks,[62] 43, was last seen in December 1997.
Count Twenty: Angela Rebecca Jardine, 27, was reported missing on November 20, 1998.[63][64]
Count Twenty-One: Diana Melnick, 23,[65] was last seen in December 1995.
Count Twenty-Two: Mission Jane Doe, discovered on February 25, 1995. Pickton refused to enter a plea on the charge involving this victim, known in the proceedings as Jane Doe, so the court registered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. "The count as drawn fails to meet the minimal requirement set out in Section 581 of the Criminal Code. Accordingly, it must be quashed", wrote Justice James Williams. The detailed reasons for the judge's ruling cannot be reported in Canada because of the publication ban covering this stage of the trial.
Count Twenty-Three: Debra Lynne Jones,[66] 42, was last seen in December 2000.
Count Twenty-Four: Wendy Crawford, 43, was last seen in December 1999.
Count Twenty-Five: Kerry Lynn Koski, 38, was reported missing on January 7, 1998.
Count Twenty-Six: Andrea Fay Borhaven, 25,[67] was last seen in March 1997.
Count Twenty-Seven: Cara Louise Ellis,[68] 25,[69] was reported missing on January 21, 1997.Pickton is implicated in the murders of the following women, but charges have not yet been laid:
Mary Ann Clark,[70] 25, disappeared in August 1991.
Yvonne Marie Boen,[71] 33, was reported missing on March 16, 2001.
Dawn Teresa Crey,[72] was last seen in December 2000.[73][74]Robert Pickton would be eventually convicted of six of the murders and would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years
Robert Pickton Photos
Robert Pickton Case
One of the world’s most notorious serial killers expressed disappointment that he had been unable to murder more victims to an undercover police officer posing as his cellmate.
Robert Pickton said he butchered 49 women at his farm near Vancouver, Canada.
Unaware that he was being filmed, the 69-year-old told his police officer cellmate that he had “wanted an even 50” of victims but fell short of the macabre target after “being sloppy”.
Most of Robert Pickton’s victims were sex workers, who he lured from Vancouver’s red light district to his farm with drugs and alcohol.
There, he would have sex with them before murdering them. He then dismembered them before feeding the remains to his pigs or grinding them up into mince which he is believed to have mixed with animal meat and sold to the public.
He killed some of the women by injecting them with anti-freeze from a syringe which he told them contained drugs. Others he stabbed to death.
Police found the DNA of 26 women at Robert Pickton’s farm, after they raided it in 2002 to search for weapons.
The footage captured by the undercover officer shortly after his arrest will be broadcast in a new documentary, Voice of a Serial Killer. It show Pickton boasting about the murders.
“I can making things disappear,” he said. “Only I was kinda sloppy at the end, too, getting too sloppy.”
He added: “They got me on this one… they’ve got DNA. I was gonna do another one, make it an even 50. That’s why I was sloppy. I wanted to do one more, make the big 5-0.”
In 2007 Robert Pickton was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years. Prosecutors stayed the remaining 20 charges as he was already serving the maximum sentence possible under Canadian law.
As the extent of his crimes emerged, police faced anger from victims’ relatives, who accused detectives of ignoring signs that a serial killer was on the loose, which they claimed had allowed more murders to take place.
It was also alleged that police had not taken the disappearances seriously because the women were sex workers and, mostly, from Canada’s indigenous community.
Robert Pickton Videos
HE FED THEM TO HIS PIGS | Robert Pickton – Video
Robert Pickton and the Piggy Palace – Video
Serial Killer Robert Pickton – The Pig Farm (2011) – Video
Killer Robert Pickton dead: Correctional Services Canada – Video
Robert Pickton Death
B.C. killer Robert Pickton is dead, just days after he was assaulted at a maximum security prison in Quebec, Correctional Service Canada confirmed Friday (May 31).
Pickton, 74, died in hospital May 31 after being injured in an assault by another inmate on May 19 at Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Correctional Service Canada says it is launching a Board of Investigation in the assault. The invesigation will look into the circumstances around the assault, and whether policies and protocols were followed.
Quebec provincial police spokesman Frédéric Deshaies said Friday afternoon that Pickton had died “in the last few hours.”
He said police were also continuing to investigate the assault and that they had a 51-year-old suspect.
Correctional Service Canada said at the time of his death, Pickton had been serving an indeterminate sentence that began on Dec. 11, 2007 for six counts of second-degree murder, with the maximum parole ineligibility period of 25 years.
He was charged with the murders of 26 women, but the remains or DNA of 33 – many who were taken from
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside – were found on Pickton’s
Port Coquitlam pig farm. He once bragged to an undercover officer that he killed a total of 49.
Pickton’s confirmed victims were Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.
His next of kin has been notified, and Correctional Service Canada has also contacted registered victims. A coroner has also been notified.
“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,” Correctional Service Canada said in its news release.
Papin’s sister, Cynthia Cardinal, said Pickton’s death means she can finally move on from her sister’s murder.
“This is gonna bring healing for, I won’t say all families, I’ll just say most of the families,” she said.
“Because they didn’t get their day in court, (that’s) what I’m really sad about. But I’m also feeling really happy right now,” said Cardinal.
“I’m like — wow, finally. I can actually move on and heal and I can put this behind me.”
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, many of them from
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Vancouver police were criticized for not taking the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or drug users.
Pickton became eligible for day parole in February, which sparked outrage from advocates, politicians and victims’ family members who criticized Canada’s justice system, saying he should never be released from prison.
Premier David Eby said Friday that his first thoughts go to the families of Pickton’s victims. While Pickton’s death could bring closure to some of them, it could also re-open old wounds, he said.
“Robert Pickton preyed on the most vulnerable people in society,” Eby said. What happened to them underscores the need to ensure the dignity of all British Columbians, he told reporters shortly after the news broke.
“Good riddance.”
Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who was one of several Lower Mainland mayors to sign a letter calling for Pickton to not be allowed day parole, said “Today, my thoughts are with one group and one group only: the victims and all their families.”
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the province will continue to do everything it can to support the families of the victims in finding answers and justice.
“While we have seen the end of a heinous life, we know that for the families of Pickton’s victims, this news has reopened old wounds and brought back painful feelings and memories,” he said.
“That pain is still being felt today for the families of the victims, and our entire community.
Black Press Media has reached out to
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.
Martin Charest Pleads Guilty To Robert Pickton Murder
An inmate accused of killing notorious serial killer Robert Pickton in a prison attack last year is expected to plead guilty today.
Martin Charest was charged with first-degree murder in July, more than a year after Pickton died following a May 2024 assault at the Port-Cartier federal penitentiary.
Charest’s lawyer confirms her client will plead guilty to the charge at a court appearance in Sept-Îles, northeast of Quebec City.
Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder, but confessed to killing a total of 49 women whom he lured to his pig farm near Vancouver.
An investigation summary released this summer showed Pickton was assaulted by a fellow inmate as medication was being distributed at the prison on May 19, 2024.
The report says Pickton died in hospital 12 days after his assailant broke a broomstick and thrust the broken end into the serial killer’s face.
Robert Pickton: The Pig Farmer Killer
Robert William Pickton (October 24, 1949 – May 31, 2024), also known as the Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher, was a Canadian pig farmer and serial killer. He is believed to have murdered at least 26 women, many of them sex workers from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He confessed to forty-nine murders to an undercover RCMP officer. In 2007, he was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder and 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.
Early Life on the Farm
Robert William Pickton was born on October 24, 1949, to Leonard Francis Pickton and Louise Helene Arnal, pig farmers in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, 27 kilometres east of Vancouver. From an early age, Robert and his younger brother David worked at the family’s farm at 953 Dominion Avenue.
Pickton was strongly attached to his mother but rarely interacted with his abusive father. His mother prioritized the pigs over her sons’ personal hygiene, often sending her sons to school in dirty clothes, reeking of manure and earning both the nickname “Stinky Piggy”. Pickton struggled in school, being put in a special education class after failing grade two.
After dropping out of school in 1963, Pickton worked as a meat cutter for nearly seven years before leaving to work full-time at his family’s farm. After the deaths of their parents in the late 1970s, the Pickton siblings inherited the farm and sold parts of it to developers for C$5.16 million.
The 1997 Warning Sign
On March 23, 1997, Pickton was charged with the attempted murder of prostitute Wendy Lynn Eistetter, whom he had stabbed four times during an altercation at his farm. Eistetter told police Pickton handcuffed her and inflicted lacerations upon her body. She escaped, disarmed Pickton and stabbed him with his own knife.
Pickton was eventually released on C$2,000 bond. The attempted murder charge against Pickton was stayed on January 27, 1998, when prosecutors determined that Eistetter, a drug addict, was too unstable for her testimony to help secure a conviction.
Piggy’s Palace and the Missing Women
Pickton hosted parties at an ad hoc nightclub called Piggy’s Palace in a converted slaughterhouse at the farm. Events attracted up to 2,000 people, including Hells Angels members.
During this period, multiple disappearances of women in the Lower Mainland, mostly from the impoverished Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, led to media speculation that a serial killer was active. An employee of Pickton found several purses belonging to missing women and reported him to police. Police conducted three searches of the farm but found no evidence. In June 1999, police received a tip that Pickton had a freezer full of human flesh in his farmhouse; this information was ignored.
Arrest and Discovery (2002)
On February 6, 2002, police executed a search warrant for illegal firearms at the Pickton property. Both Pickton brothers were arrested and police obtained a second warrant using what they had seen on the property to search the farm. Personal items belonging to missing women were found and the farm was sealed off.
On February 22, 2002, Robert Pickton was arrested again and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sereena Abotsway and Mona Wilson. By May 2005, charges totaled 27.
Excavations continued at the farm through November 2003; the cost of the investigation was estimated at C$70 million by the end of 2003. Forensic analysis proved difficult because the bodies may have decomposed or been eaten by insects and pigs.
On March 10, 2004, the government revealed that Pickton may have ground up human flesh and mixed it with pork that he sold to the public; the province’s health authority later issued a warning. Another claim was made that he fed the bodies directly to his pigs.
The Trial (2006-2007)
Pickton’s trial began on January 30, 2006. The trial proceeded on six counts. On December 9, 2007, the jury found Pickton not guilty on six counts of first-degree murder, but guilty on six counts of second-degree murder.
On December 11, 2007, after reading eighteen victim impact statements, Judge Williams sentenced Pickton to life with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the maximum punishment for second-degree murder, stating: “Mr. Pickton’s conduct was murderous and repeatedly so. What happened to them was senseless and despicable.”
The Six Convictions
- Serena Abotsway, 29
- Mona Lee Wilson, 26
- Andrea Joesbury, 22
- Brenda Ann Wolfe, 32
- Georgina Faith Papin, 34
- Marnie Lee Anne Frey, 24
In 2010, the Crown attorney officially stayed the remaining 20 murder charges, allowing previously unrevealed information to be made available to the public.
Confession to 49
Pickton confessed to forty-nine murders to an undercover RCMP officer in his cell, stating he wanted to make it an even 50. He described his method: handcuffing and strangling sex workers, then bleeding and gutting them before feeding them to pigs.
Death in Prison (2024)
Pickton died in 2024 after being attacked in prison by another inmate. He died May 31, 2024 in Quebec City, Quebec, at age 74. The Correctional Service of Canada released findings linking his death to an inmate assault and recommended improved security protocols.
Legacy: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
The discovery of Pickton’s crimes sparked widespread outrage and forced the Canadian government to acknowledge the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, with the British Columbia provincial government forming the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry to examine the role of the police in the matter.
Many of Pickton’s victims were Indigenous women from the Downtown Eastside, highlighting systemic failures in law enforcement and the disproportionate violence faced by Indigenous women.
How many people did Robert Pickton kill?
Convicted of 6, charged with 27, confessed to 49. Police believe at least 26.
How did Robert Pickton die?
Attacked by another inmate in Quebec prison on May 19, 2024, died May 31, 2024 from injuries.
Did Pickton feed victims to pigs?
He told undercover officers he did, and forensic evidence supported that remains were fed to pigs and possibly mixed with pork sold to public.
Where is the Pickton farm now?
953 Dominion Avenue, Port Coquitlam – demolished and fenced off under Crown lien, remains as of 2023.
