Canadian Serial Killer Robert Pickton Is Now Eligible To Apply For Day Parole
He's currently serving a life sentence.
Robert "Willie" Pickton. Right: A building on the Pickton farm.
One of Canada's most prolific serial killers, Robert Pickton, is now eligible to apply for day parole.
Pickton, who is now 74 years old, is currently serving a life sentence for six convictions in connection with the deaths and disappearances of several women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside over 20 years ago.
On Wednesday, the families and friends of the victims gathered at the former site of Pickton's farm in Port Coquitlam.
Global News spoke to several people who attended the candlelight vigil. One person said it was "disgusting" and "horrific" that the serial rapist and killer could even apply for day parole.
"Our justice system is horrific. It's racist and puts Indigenous women’s lives in danger," Palexelsiya Lorelei Williams told Global. "It makes me sick to my stomach."
It's unclear if Pickton will apply for day parole, but if he does some of the victims' families would be interested in attending the hearing, Global News reports.
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The Pickton case began on February 6, 2002, when police raided Pickton's farm after reports of illegal firearms.
Aside from illegal and unregistered guns, police also found items that were linked to missing women in B.C. Investigators also found the remains or DNA of 33 women at the pig farm.
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Pickton's farm went on to become the largest crime scene in Canadian history.
The B.C. man became known as "the pig farm killer," due to claims that he had disposed of his victims' bodies by feeding them to his pigs or putting them in his meat grinder, BBC reports.
Robert Pickton was convicted for the murders of Marnie Frey, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Sereena Abotsway, Brenda Wolfe and Georgina Papin. In 2007, he received the maximum life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Police later attempted to charge Pickton with the deaths of 20 more women, but as he was already serving the maximum possible sentence, the charges were stayed by the Crown.
As per a CBC report, he was transferred from B.C. to the Port-Cartier maximum security prison in Quebec in 2018.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.