Robert Pickton Biography

Eventually the siblings started neglecting the farming operations and registered a nonprofit charity named the ‘Piggy Palace Good Times Society.’ They claimed to organize events and functions on behalf of worthy groups like service organizations and sports organizations. In reality, they organized wild rave parties featuring sex workers.

Robert Pickton was first charged with the attempted murder of a sex worker in March 1997. According to the victim, Wendy Lynn Eistetter, she was handcuffed and stabbed several times, after which she managed to escape after stabbing Pickton with his own weapon. Pickton was released on bail and the charges were dismissed a year later.

Some of Pickton’s early victims were Mamie Lee Frey, Georgina Faith Papin, Tiffany Drew, Sarah de Vries and Cynthia Feliks. Pickton’s later victims included a 29-year-old woman named Sereena Abotsway. She had disappeared in August 2001 and her foster mother reported her missing a few days later. Another victim, Mona Lee Wilson, went missing in November the same year, after a visit to her doctor.

Another search was made as a part of the British Columbia Missing Women Investigation. The farm was sealed off as the police found personal items belonging to the victims. However, Pickton was released soon though the police kept him under surveillance.

Robert Pickton was eventually arrested on 22nd February 2002 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder of Serena Abotsway and Mona Wilson. Two months later, three more charges were added, followed by a sixth and a seventh after a few days. Four more charges were added in September and four again in October, bringing the total count to fifteen. This investigation became the largest ever of any serial killer in the history of Canada.

On 30th January 2006, his trial began in New Westminster. He was charged with 27 murders to which he pleaded not guilty. Justice Williams severed the charges and split them into two categories: one group of six counts and another of twenty counts. Due to a lack of evidence, one of the 27 counts was rejected.

On 9 December 2007, the jury announced that Pickton was guilty of six counts of second-degree murder. He was eventually sentenced by Judge James Williams to life, with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the maximum punishment for second-degree murder.

Though he was convicted of six charges in the initial trial, an appeal was made by the British Columbia Crown prosecutors to have Pickton sentenced on the other twenty charges as well. Later, a second trial was canceled as it would not add anything, as Pickton was already serving the maximum sentence under the law.

He passed away on May 31, 2024 at the age of 74.