NH NH - Robert Pickton - alleged Vancouver serial killer

[Doyle]

The remains of a possible 23rd victim of alleged serial killer Robert Pickton have been discovered at his farm near Vancouver, investigators have confirmed.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...974353,00.html

[Doyle]

Vancouver — In the late 1990s, as the number of missing women in Vancouver crept higher, Ernie Crey was often approached to speak publicly about the troubling case.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...BNStory/Front/

[Hammerized]

Police find more bodies on pig farm
The Associated Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Canadian police on Tuesday said they found the remains of nine more women for a total of 31 at a pig farm owned by the man alleged to be Canada's worst serial killer.
http://www.registerguard.com/news/20...ing2.0128.html

[Doyle]

The more Canadian police dig underneath a pig farm east of Vancouver, British Columbia (search), the more death they unearth.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110477,00.html

CANADA has been witness to several cases of gender-based violence on a mass scale. But today, the country is facing the facts of its worst-ever example of gender-based violence — against women sex workers. The scale of this gender-based violence is all the more horrific because of the extent of public and systemic denial of it, and the fact that it continued unchecked for many years
http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories....Story_ID=02052

[Doyle]

Saturday was a tearful Valentine's Day for the families of the more than 60 women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/200...348044-cp.html

[blueclouds]

Please don't eat when you read this link.

RCMP asking people to provide them with any pork they bought from the farm. Fearing cross contamination / that bodies may have been added ... (can't finish that sentence)

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...377422-cp.html

another link:http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americ...eut/index.html

[Sprocket]

What I find most disturbing is that this is the FIRST, it appears, that this was brought up!

It was one of the things that first crossed my mind, when this case broke.

[Doyle]

CANADIANS horrified by the discovery of an alleged serial killer in their midst have been confronted with even worse news -- they may have eaten animals that ate the victims
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...55E663,00.html

[mysteriew]

The B.C. government has put a mortgage worth $10 million on accused serial killer Robert Pickton's notorious pig farm to cover his publicly funded defence, The Canadian Press has learned.

But no one at the Attorney General's Ministry will say if that figure represents the estimated cost of Pickton's seven-member legal team in the long and hugely complex case.

And Robert Pickton's share of the property - his brother and sister are co-owners - is currently worth only a fraction of that amount. It's also saddled with several other mortgages and legal judgments that pre-date the province's mortgage.
http://www.canada.com/national/natio...1-0e945be83c55

[mysteriew]

Almost four years after he was arrested and charged with what would eventually become 27 counts of first-degree murder, Robert (Willy) Pickton listened without apparent emotion yesterday as his trial date inched closer.

A voir dire, a legal hearing in which the court makes rulings about the admissibility of evidence, will begin Jan. 30, Mr. Justice James Williams of the British Columbia Supreme Court decided.

The voir dire is expected to be the last major stage before the start of the full trial, which the province's criminal justice branch of the Ministry of Attorney General is describing as a "mega case" of unprecedented proportions.

Judge Williams said he was anxious to proceed, but felt the delay would allow the trial to proceed more efficiently once it begins.

"I don't think that any useful purpose would be served by starting in December," he said.

"I want . . . the next phase of the trial to commence in January . . . and to proceed in a uniform, steady fashion. . . . By taking that later date we will realize later efficiency."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ational/Canada

[PrayersForMaura]

B.C. pig farmer pleads not guilty on 27 counts of first-degree murder

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Robert Pickton pleaded not guilty today to 27 counts of first-degree murder in the disappearances of women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The pleas by the 56-year-old Pickton in British Columbia Supreme Court came at the formal start of his trial, which is to be followed by several months of hearings on the admissibility of evidence.

Pickton, a pig farmer in suburban Port Coquitlam, is charged with killing 27 women, mostly drug-addicted prostitutes from a slum area east of downtown Vancouver. More than 60 women have vanished from the area since the early 1980s.


More: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...yndication=rss

[PrayersForMaura]

Accused serial killer Robert Pickton enters not-guilty pleas in court The 56-year-old man spoke in a strong voice as each count of the indictment against him was read in court, responding "Not guilty" or "Not guilty, your honour," to the charges.

Pickton remained silent, however, when he was asked how he pleaded on a first-degree murder charge involving a woman known only as Jane Doe. On that charge, the court registered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060...ime_pigfarm_10

[Rle7]

The judge preciding over the Robert Pickton voir dire hearing has thrown out one of the murder charges.

Accused serial killer Robert Pickton will face one less murder charge after a judge ruled he cannot be tried for killing an unidentified Jane Doe. Justice James Williams ruled Thursday the count fails to meet the minimum requirements of the Criminal Code.

http://www.citytv.com/vancouver/news_25682.aspx

[Rle7]

Prosecutors will not appeal a judge's decision to throw out one of 27 murder charges against Robert Pickton, whose alleged victims are largely women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...rge060307.html

[Rle7]

The Pickton case is now the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history (Clifford Olson pleaded guilty in 1982 to killing 11 children in B.C.).

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/pickton

[CyberLaw]

There is no such thing as life without parole in Canada. A person either serves the full 25 years and released without parole, or 2/3 of the sentence and released on parole. I put money that when Picton is released if he does the full 25 years, there will be a hearing like in Karla's case that will put limits on him for a specific time.

So 1 murder or 25 he gets the same sentence.

[Rle7]

Accused serial killer Robert Pickton's murder trial could last two years and may not start this fall, says his lawyer.

Peter Ritchie appeared in court in New Westminster, B.C. on Wednesday to give an update on the trial.

He estimated the trial would take 90 weeks plus time for adjournments, although he added that was speculative.

There are concerns about keeping a jury that long, he said.

If the jury drops below 10 members over the length of the trial, the trial must start over again.

Ritchie said if his client chooses trial by judge and jury, the trial likely wouldn't be able to start this fall as expected.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

[wondering22]

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40079

The grandfather of a missing woman whom pig farmer Robert (Willy) Pickton has been accused of murdering hopes a powerful song penned by famed poet Susan Musgrave will raise money to help other troubled women.

"It's a gift from Andrea to the missing women," an emotional Jack Cummer said about the song Missing, which Musgrave wrote in memory of his granddaughter Andrea Joesbury.

The song is a collaboration of Musgrave's poignant lyrics, Galiano Island guitarist Brad Prevedoros' haunting music, and the captivating voice of singer Amber Smith.....

[wondering22]

Linda Grant - missing since 1984 - found alive

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1081979

She came online to research Willy Pickton, whom a friend had told her about, and then found a herself staring at a pic of herself...

[Rle7]

In the long row of seats reserved for relatives of the missing women, only one chair was filled every day since the pre-trial hearings for Robert (Willy) Pickton began in B.C. Supreme Court in January.

Pickton is accused of killing 26 women, and another 41 women are still missing from the Downtown Eastside. But Lance Henry, brother of Janet Henry, one of the missing women, was the only relative to show up daily at the precedent-setting trial.

But from now on, his second-row seat -- where the friendly, soft-spoken man sat directly behind Pickton -- will be empty.

Henry died last week in his East Vancouver apartment. An emotional memorial service was held Tuesday at a native friendship centre on East Hastings, attended by more than 150 people.

Henry's sister, Sandra Gagnon, said an autopsy indicated her fit-looking, 46-year-old brother died June 14 of an enlarged heart, and that further tests are being conducted to determine why.

Although Janet Henry is not among the women Pickton is accused of killing, Lance Henry said he felt the need to go to court to support her and the other women who disappeared.

Pickton's pre-trial hearing --which will determine the evidence that will be heard when the actual trial begins later this year or early next year -- is protected by a publication ban.

The legal arguments have often been dry and technical, but that didn't deter Henry from taking the SkyTrain to court in New Westminster each day. He carried his baseball cap and little else because of the two security screening stations that court visitors have to go through.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...2-afb868349e04

[Rle7]

After a separation of 1,500 kilometres and 16 years, it was an emotional reunion last week for Mary Florence Lands and three of her children who had been told she might be dead.

Until last week, Lands, who used to live in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, was considered missing and presumed dead.

She was on a police task force list of women whom police said might be victims of a serial killer.

However, it turned out she was alive and well and living on a farm in Cochin, just north of North Battleford.

On Friday, there were tears of joy as she met her grown-up sons and daughter in Saskatoon.

"They're so gorgeous," she said as she met Michael Lands, 24, Stuart Panko, 22, and Jeannie Panko, 20, inside the Saskatoon airport.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewa...s-reunion.html

[jilly]

Originally Posted by Rle7

After a separation of 1,500 kilometres and 16 years, it was an emotional reunion last week for Mary Florence Lands and three of her children who had been told she might be dead.

Until last week, Lands, who used to live in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, was considered missing and presumed dead.

She was on a police task force list of women whom police said might be victims of a serial killer.

However, it turned out she was alive and well and living on a farm in Cochin, just north of North Battleford.

On Friday, there were tears of joy as she met her grown-up sons and daughter in Saskatoon.

"They're so gorgeous," she said as she met Michael Lands, 24, Stuart Panko, 22, and Jeannie Panko, 20, inside the Saskatoon airport.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewa...s-reunion.html

This is the second woman now who has turned up alive and well. I wonder what the police actually do to try and find these people before suggesting that they could be a victim of a serial murder.

This last woman was found using her own name and social insurance number for all these past years. I wonder why the police didn't find her sooner.

[jilly]

Judge splits Pickton trial -

The trial will proceed on 6 counts and the balance will be tried separately. "It will be up to the prosecution to decide whether the 6 counts will proceed first or the twenty..."

"....a trial involving an unprecedented 26 counts of lst degree murder would be too much of a burden on the jury...."

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...a52619&k=11295

[Rle7]

Anna Draayers is struggling with her feelings after a judge ruled that accused serial killer Robert Pickton will stand trial for the murder of her foster daughter and five others, while 20 other cases will not proceed right away.

Draayers, the foster mother of Surrey resident Serena Abotsway, learned about the decision from a reporter Wednesday.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams ruled that hearing evidence in all 26 charges would be too much for one jury, and ordered that six murder counts should be heard together while the remaining 20 are referred to another trial.

Draayers said it means her family will have some closure sooner than others. “I know how hard it is to wait,” she said. “For the other people, they want to know just as well as we do.”

http://www.surreyleader.com/portals-...id=705942&more=

[Alta]

FREMONT, Calif. -- A series of letters purportedly penned by Robert (Willie) Pickton, who is accused of killing 26 missing women, maintain his innocence and claim he is just the "fall guy" arrested in the multimillion-dollar investigation.

Pickton has given no media interviews since his 2002 arrest, and his court proceedings have been muzzled by a publication ban, so any letters written by him would provide the first public glimpse into the thoughts of the man accused of being Canada's worst serial killer.

http://snipurl.com/vtoh