Murderer, or emotionally disturbed victim?
With a hint of pride, pig farmer William Robert Pickton, tells police the only reason he got caught was because he got “sloppy at the end”.
A pig farmer by trade, Robert William Pickton of Port Coquitlam BC, stood before the courts charged with the first degree murders of twenty-six women. Pickton stood trial for six of the murders, yet on the first day of his trial it was alleged that Robert Pickton confessed to an undercover cop that he was one kill short of 50. Pickton stated to the police officer that he didn’t get his goal and was only caught because he had gotten “sloppy”.
His goal? Just what was this self-professed, cold-blooded killer out to accomplish?
This was a man who was well known to police for his outrageous parties and obnoxious behaviour. Pickton threw wild parties on his property under the guise of a registered charity called the “Piggy Palace Good Times Society.” The so-called non-profit society had an official mandate to “organize, co-ordinate, manage and operate special events, functions, dances, shows and exhibitions on behalf of service organizations, sports organizations and other worthy groups.”
According to court evidence these ‘events’ were hardly more than wild rave parties, complete with downtown east-side prostitutes; the favoured targets of Pickton. Pickton was arrested during an investigation into illegal firearms on his property. Police later obtained a second search warrant as part of the larger ‘BC Missing Women Investigation‘. This resulted in the discovery of personal items belonging to a missing woman being found on his property. The investigation then turned more serious.
Police combed every inch of Pickton’s pig farm and other property belonging to Pickton. It was a tedious task to uncover any more evidence, as it was alleged that Pickton fed his victims to his pigs. It was also alleged that Pickton may have compounded human flesh with ground pork from his farm, and later given it out to friends and other visitors to the farm.
Before the courts, Pickton pleaded not guilty to all charges of first-degree murder. Of the forty nine murders he was investigated for, Pickton ended up with eight sticking. Pickton was on trial for six of the murders, with evidence getting some cases dropped. It was on the first day of his trial it was alleged that Robert Pickton confessed to an undercover cop that he was one kill short of 50. Pickton smirked when the verdict was read, and second degree murder was reached in a few counts.
Early on in the trial, witness Andrew Bellwood told the jury that Pickton confessed to him he would strangle his victims while he had sex with them, gut and butcher them in his slaughterhouse and feed some remains to his pigs. Pickton has acknowledged the bodies were found on his property, but denied killing them.
Later, the accused serial killer Robert Pickton described how he killed prostitutes after having sex with them and used his pigs to help dispose of the remains. Prosecution witness Andrew Bellwood, who lived briefly at Pickton’s farm, testified that Pickton showed him handcuffs and play-acted as he described stroking their hair and telling them everything would be okay, “it’s over now”. Bellwood said Pickton told him that after butchering the dead women in the farm’s slaughterhouse, he fed some of the remains to his pigs. Any remains the pigs did not eat were put into a container and taken to an animal rendering plant.
As proceedings continued relentlessly, the star witness in the trial of an accused Canadian serial killer offered graphic testimony at his trial in British Columbia. Lynn Ellingsen told the court that she walked into the barn at Robert Pickton’s pig farm to find him covered in blood and a woman’s body hanging from a chain. Ellingsen, a former sex worker, said she recognized the woman’s body as that of a prostitute they had picked up earlier that night. She did not say when the event occurred.
Pickton told a friend he was not a murderer and that a female acquaintance of his was responsible for at least some killings, the Canadian court heard. In another bizarre twist, Pickton blamed the murders of prostitutes whose bodies were found on his Vancouver-area pig farm on Dinah Taylor, who spent time at his property, his friend Gina Houston told the court under questioning by Pickton’s lawyer. Houston, a friend of Pickton’s for more than a decade, said Pickton made the comments in a February 20, 2002, conversation that happened after police raided his farm but before he was formally charged with any of the murders. “Willie told me that she would take responsibility for what she said she would take responsibility for,” Houston said.
Jurors in the trial of a farmer accused of killing 26 women watched videotaped interviews in which he denies knowing the victims and asks a police officer: “Do I look like a murderer?” He was accused of luring women to his pig farm outside Vancouver, where investigators say he threw drunken raves with prostitutes and drugs. In the videotape shown, Pickton is slumped in his chair, often with his head in his hands as he is interviewed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Bill Fordy.
Fordy is seen telling Pickton a “huge amount” of blood was in his trailer on the farm. “That’s human blood, lots of it,” Fordy says. “That’s Mona Wilson’s blood. This is where she’d been dumped. There’s DNA all over the place; it’s on the floors, it’s on the walls.”
“But that don’t mean I did it,” Pickton says.
Finally, after more than nine days and into the second weekend, the jury reached a verdict: Pickton was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder, but not guilty on six counts of first-degree murder. Many in the courtroom were stunned and disappointed. While Pickton will receive a life sentence, he could be eligible for parole in ten years. The jury left this decision in the hands of the judge. The verdict meant that the jury either did not believe that Pickton had planned the murders or that he had acted on his own, although they clearly did believe that he was involved. The problem for the jurors considering the first degree conviction was the absence of an obvious ‘smoking gun’.
Getting to the point here, we should pose the question; is Pickton really a cold-blooded murderer, or a victim of his upbringing and society? He has been quoted as saying things such as the references to his apparent notoriety repeatedly, saying “I’m a legend already.” Later in transcripts, Pickton says, “You must have heard about me from the … news or the paper. Everybody knows about me, right?” He continues: “The whole f–king world knows me, all the way to Hong Kong everywheres.” And again, things like – “Now they are trying to charge me for 50 murders. Fifty f–king murders.” … But later, Pickton says he was “gonna do one more, make it an even 50.”
He also complains the investigation has ruined his life, saying, “I’m buried now” and “I hear I’m dead.” He laments police taking “everything away from you, everything you worked for.” When asked by the undercover officer what evidence police have against him, he says they found DNA and “old carcasses.” He also refers to a “rendering plant” while discussing ways to dispose of things. Pickton reveals details of his life growing up, talking about working on the pig farm and saying his family lived in a chicken coop when he was two years old. He tells the informant he has no vices, saying, “I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink … I am just a farm boy.”
Apparently, we have a man who is either delusional, or grasping at an insanity plea ..
What is your take on this shambles? Here, we have not only other innocent victims of a debauched society, but is Pickton to be counted among the victims as well? Or is Pickton a manipulative and conniving murderer, who killed his victims in cold blood? Also, how do you feel about the fact that this ‘man’ will soon be eligible to walk our streets again .. free to claim his ‘victim number 50’?
(Update)
THE TRIAL
Pickton’s trial commenced on January 30, 2006 in New Westminster. Pickton pleaded not guilty to 27 charges of first-degree murder in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The “trial within a trial” (determine the admissibility of evidence) phase of the trial took most of the year to decide what evidence may be admitted before the jury. On March 2, one of the 27 counts was rejected by Justice James Williams for lack of evidence.
On August 9, Justice Williams severed the charges, splitting them into one group of six counts and another group of twenty counts. The trial proceeded on the group of six counts. The remaining 20 counts could have been heard in a separate trial, but ultimately were stayed on August 4, 2010. Because of the publication ban, full details of the decision are not publicly available; but the judge has explained that trying all 26 charges at once would put an unreasonable burden on the jury, as the trial could last up to two years, and have an increased chance for a mistrial. The judge also added that the six counts he chose had “materially different” evidence from the other 20.
The date for the jury trial of the first six counts was initially set to start January 8, 2007, but later delayed to January 22. On that date, Pickton faced first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Frey, Abotsway, Papin, Joesbury, Wolfe and Wilson. The media ban was lifted and for the first time Canadians heard the details of what was found during the long investigation: skulls cut in half with hands and feet stuffed inside; the remains of one victim found stuffed in a garbage bag, and her blood-stained clothing found in Pickton’s trailer; part of another victim’s jawbone and teeth found beside Pickton’s slaughterhouse; and a .22 caliber revolver with an attached dildo containing both his and a victim’s DNA. In a videotaped recording played for the jury, Pickton claimed to have attached the dildo to his weapon as a makeshift silencer.
As of February 20, 2007, the following information had been presented to the court:
- During Pickton’s trial, lab staff testified that about 80 unidentified DNA profiles, roughly half male and half female, have shown up on evidence.
- The items police found inside Pickton’s trailer: A loaded .22 revolver with a dildo over the barrel and one round fired, boxes of .357 Magnum handgun ammunition, night-vision goggles, two pairs of faux fur-lined handcuffs, a syringe with three milliliters of blue liquid inside, and “Spanish fly” aphrodisiac.
- A videotape of Pickton’s friend Scott Chubb saying Pickton had told him a good way to kill a female heroin addict was to inject her with windshield washer fluid. A second tape was played for Pickton, in which an associate named Andrew Bellwood said Pickton mentioned killing prostitutes by handcuffing and strangling them, then bleeding and gutting them before feeding them to pigs.
- Photos of the contents of a garbage can found in Pickton’s slaughterhouse, which held some remains of Mona Wilson.
In October 2007, a juror was accused of having made up her mind already that Pickton was innocent. The trial judge questioned the juror, saying “It’s reported to me you said from what you had seen you were certain Mr. Pickton was innocent, there was no way he could have done this. That the court system had arrested the wrong guy.” The juror denied this completely. Justice Williams ruled that she could remain on the jury since it had not been proven she made the statements.
Justice James Williams suspended jury deliberations on December 6, 2007 after he discovered an error in his charge to the jury. Earlier in the day, the jury had submitted a written question to Justice James requesting clarification of his charge, asking “Are we able to say ‘yes’ [i.e., find Pickton guilty] if we infer the accused acted indirectly?”
On December 9, 2007, the jury returned a verdict that Pickton is not guilty on 6 counts of first-degree murder, but is guilty on 6 counts of second-degree murder. A second-degree murder conviction carries a punishment of a life sentence, with no possibility of parole for a period between 10 to 25 years, to be set by the trial judge. On December 11, 2007, after reading 18 victim impact statements, British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Justice James Williams sentenced Pickton to life with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the maximum punishment for second-degree murder, and equal to the sentence which would have been imposed for a first-degree murder conviction. “Mr. Pickton’s conduct was murderous and repeatedly so. I cannot know the details but I know this: What happened to them was senseless and despicable,” said Justice Williams in passing the sentence.
Some of the missing women thought to be Pickton’s victims – This does not depict all of the missing women from Vancouver’s East Side.
Pickton pig farm
Robert William Pickton
A Place for Todays Discussions 
After looking at the Pickton case, undoubtedly there was involvement in the killings. However, the ‘shadow of doubt’ remains, did he act on his own or were there others involved that have remains.
The difficulty with the case is a lack of concrete and binding evidence that places one or more individual at the scene of the crime. For that it is a shame. The law is ‘the law’. We can’t act and convict on our own intuition until it is too late.
With a grade 3 education, his dad died in ’77 (if I’m not mistaken) and mum died of cancer later on, was he just a very lost, lonely and misguided soul? Did Mr. Pickton become misguided along the way or was he just naturally born a psychopathic serial killer?
The deeper and more intriguing question is the ability to kill. Is the characteristic inherent in our nature, our very being or is it a just a product of environmental conditioning?
It is not a secret that the many visitors and friends that visited the farm were ex-cons, prostitutes and substance abusers. These were individuals that society has a tendency to disregard and place on the lower echelons of the societal ladder.
Society as a whole has a tendency to discount value and dependency of truthful accounts of the the world that they convey to others. This is even less so when something is being reported to authorities that might be of a serious nature.
When Mr. Pickton found comfort and company in these friends, he saw the same misery he felt within also in the company of others. In his own warped logic, perhaps. Just perhaps, he saw death as the new beginning that would allow others to find the happiness and innocence that was lost. Was he some sort of ‘dark angel’ for these prostitutes?
It is compelling to ask the question, why did he kill most but not the very few that lived to tell the tale?
First, I want to thank you for your thoughts and input, Ant. Your view is valued and appreciated.
I hear what you are saying about the ‘shadow of a doubt’, but when we take in the entire picture, can we honestly say we have doubts? The law says that we are ‘innocent until proven guilty’, but to what extreme do we need to go to in order to prove guilt?
When we look at the facts, we are inclined to lean toward guilt, yet our laws prevent us from moving swiftly toward conviction because we do have a ‘lack of concrete evidence’. Thus we have our lesser sentences of second-degree murder .. leaving what most believe a serial killer loose on our streets in just a few years’ time.
Where will our justice system be when victim #50 turns up in a pound of sausage? Will there be justice for the soul who has lost her way in this society, then found her way into the clutches of Mr. Robert Pickton?
The question of whether Pickton is a victim of his upbringing or was born a psychopathic murderer is one we will likely never, in our lifetime, discover the answer to. We are inclined to simply blame his parents, or society, because the question of genetics is far too complex for us to answer.
As mammals, we have a banal instinct to defend ourselves and our loved-ones. We are all, at some deep level, capable of killing, but never will – for the majority. We are at a level of ‘civilisation’ that has a sense of morality and a learned ability to settle conflicts in a non-violent manner. This is not to say that all of us do adjudicate in a peaceable manner. Again, do we blame society, upbringing, or genetics?
For those unfortunate souls who have been / are considered to be on the lower tiers of society, it is sad to think that they can be / are disregarded as ‘unreliable’, and their account of anything is dismissed as hearsay. Such is the case too many times when it really and truly matters. No one should be ‘discounted’, regardless of background – not when everyone is entitled to have a voice. (That is a whole new discussion, for another day.) People are people, despite wealth, profession, or education.
Which brings me to your comment, “Was he some sort of ‘dark angel’ for these prostitutes?” Perhaps you are right, and Pickton did believe that in some warped way, he was releasing these women from a life of misery. We cannot say what he honestly believed, only what we know to be morally correct. We then come to the fact that he did allow some of the others live to tell the tale; did he believe that they were somehow beyond redemption? Or did he have his moments of what we can term, ‘sanity’?
I for one do not care if this man killed 6, 20, 30 or more. The fact is he killed these woman and should not get a slap on the wrist for doing so. To let this man possibly go free after ten years is despicable in my book. I get so tired of hearing that it is a person’s upbringing that is the cause. The fact of the matter is we all have free will and freedom of choice. We all have the same opportunity to chose good or to chose evil. Not everyone who has a miserable upbringing becomes a sociopath or a psychopath. He killed, period! Not one, but more. Should he be allowed to enter back into society because they say the murders were not pre-meditated? If this man is mentally unstable, which I have to think he is, for what he did, he should live out his days in an institution for the criminally insane.
Thank you for your input, Eva. As always, I appreciate your opinions.
I personally agree that this man should be locked away for the rest of his natural life. He is obviously not going to fit into mainstream society with the psychopathic way of thinking and behaving. Where we went wrong during jury deliberation is ignoring Pickton’s comment about his 50th victim and the fact he even said such a thing. Here we are with the equivalent of a confession.This alone, in my opinion, was enough to realise that six first-degree murder charges was fitting .. just what the Crown originally wanted.
With disorders such as ‘post traumatic stress disorder’, we can blame some behaviours on our environment, but Pickton admits to having ‘bizarre’ thoughts as a child. Again, even with, PTSD the greater majority do not commit murder, let alone dispose the bodies in such a despicable manner.
Society often blames upbringing or society for the shortcomings of others, yet we do have the option of making the right choice … the criminally insane, however is another question. Do they really have the capability of making the same ‘correct’ choice as we do?
Which raises yet another question .. what about those who have disorders, such as Autism? Most of them cannot make the morally correct choices, therefore we must be more responsible as a society to make those right choices for them – as much for themselves as everyone they connect with.
I haven’t gotten into the details of this, but he needs to be locked away for life. Here in the US, they did a Criminal Minds show with a this kind of theme.
There is a man in my state who has been ruled incompetent by a judge. He’s married and is a serial burglar. He keeps breaking in (this last time, the home owner shot but didn’t kill him) to places and at some point, he’s going to stay down. You’d think they would lock him up if nothing but for his own protection…….
After living a life of crime, how can your conscience allow you to pretend that you can lead a ‘normal’ life like everyone else?
Sounds like that burglar is going to pay the ultimate price sooner or later. Live life on the straight and narrow, and you will never go wrong!
Thank you for your comment, TikkTok. It is appreciated very much!
Amma
I think that’s the point, Amma- he supposedly has the IQ of a 3rd grader (even though he’s married); as far as I know, he’s driving, too, and he’s a repeat offender. He has no conscience, because he’s mentally incapable. I do think at some point, he’s going to get killed in a home invasion. Those judges aren’t doing him any favors, imo….
In response to your other question about Autism- I think we need to make a point to not lump all the autistic disorders into one group- those with Asperger’s, for example, are usually more highly functioning than those with those on the other end of the spectrum. it would be rare, as I understand it, for a severely autistic individual to commit violence out of malice. Often, they are so far into themselves that they don’t make physical contact.
Those with Asperger’s can usually grow up and be independent; however, those on the other end of the spectrum usually cannot.
You know, I have to wonder about the wife also. What would make this woman remain married to this man? What kind of life do they have? Does she not want to lead a peaceful life? I thought that was something most people would strive for, unless they have a hand in the crimes also.
No, the judges are doing him, or any like him, a grave injustice there.
The umbrella for Autism is wide. It took ‘professionals’ almost eight years to make a definitive diagnosis with my son. He is Autistic, that was clear, but also has tendencies toward violence as well. I am going to be doing a Post in the near future about just that .. the difficulties with a proper diagnosis and why the disorder may be difficult to define.
I would love to have your input on this as well, from your own standpoint. There are many misconceptions about Autism. Some people even believe that the parent does not know how to ‘control’ their child, and forget that they do really have a reason for acting the way they do. They are usually the sweetest, kindest children. When there are complications with other things, such as OCD, the child can become very unpredictable.
That’s a tough one, Amma, for sure. Does he act out in frustration? I would want to get to the root of what happens to precipitate the behavior- obviously, there is some kind of trigger.
I have friends with kids who have Asperger’s (along with other stuff in there, too) who have found eliminating gluten and food coloring to be really helpful. Another trigger is MSG. I really do think there is a lot that can be helped with dietary intervention/elimination.
And for the criminal, no kidding about the marriage end of it. I have to wonder if perhaps the wife is mentally compromised as well. Clearly, he at the very least needs constant supervision.
Until there is a judge that will actually prosecute him, he is a chronic catch and release- literally. 🙄
He can actually identify .. after the fact .. that he was frustrated. I spent years trying to remove elements from his diet, including red dyes, to no avail. The original diagnosis was ADHD. The old fall-back. The Ritalin made him more hyper and aggressive – after all, it is a stimulant. We are working diligently with him to help him identify his own triggers, but that is like teaching an infant to drive a car. My only hope for him is to have a happy and productive future – and to know that no matter what, he is loved without condition.
It sounds like you are doing everything you can! 🙂 I hope you have good support there. Some communities have more resources than others………..
Very well written post – so distrubing…
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, it is disturbing to think that something so heinous can transpire right beneath people’s noses, and go unreported for so long. You would think that someone would have reported suspicious behaviour at some point.
Maybe this is a lesson learned: Never ignore the obvious – it may cost lives.
Cheers,
Amma
You sent me off on a google search. I had looked for information soon after he was caught, but there was very little. Getting caught up now, though not sure if that is a good idea – likely the most disturbing one yet…
If you discover anything recent, be sure to let me know! I don’t know if there will be anything.
It is very disturbing indeed ..
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a friend who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast simply because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your website.
Hope you found another freebie!
Hey there exceptional blog! Does running a blog such as this take a great deal of work?
I’ve absolutely no knowledge of coding but I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future. Anyway, should you have any suggestions or tips for new blog owners please share. I know this is off subject nevertheless I just had to ask. Kudos!
Lol! My only advice is this: Patience, patience, patience! Best of luck to you!
I’m from this area, where it all went down. I wasn’t born at the time but my mother and father worked on a dairy farm not farm from here. My father also worked at the auction near by. I have spoke with my dad numerous times about this man. My dad used to deliever pigs/cattle to his farm all the time. My dad always said he was a little bit off/creepy but never goes into much detail. Now being a freshman in college I have to write a paper and this is who i decided to write on. My father mentioned to me that his farm was put together very poorly. there was things hung weird, a lot of machines were broken, and the ones that were fixed werent fixed properly. he mentioned it smelling very differnt then a normal pig farm; he never elaborates on that but my dad grew up around farms so he isnt going to say it smells bad or like pig crap. My grandfather also worked deliever pigs to his farm and he just said you kept your distance. He was a very grimmy man but once you got talking to him he seemed as sweet as can be. My mother never went there and jsut stayed away from him entirely. She saw him around at the auction but did her best to never been near him alone. I remember her telling me a story that once he offered to babysit my older brother if my dad and I ever wanted to go out or needed a break. That doesn’t state anything that he would harm my brother, however, it is kind of creepy. What I think this man did was extremely wrong, but its interesting having some connection to him in a way. I’m very sorry for what he did to others, and destroying their family i just hope the best for them and that he rots in jail.
Thank you for sharing that. I pray too that ‘justice’ will find him.
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