Brian McDonald
Canadian serial killer convicted Robert Picktonwho killed more than 20 women and was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following an attack in a Quebec prison, authorities said Tuesday.
The 74-year-old was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007, with a maximum period of parole ineligibility of 25 years, after being accused of murdering 26 women.
The remains or DNA of 33 women, many of them collected from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, were found at Pickton’s pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Prosecutors previously said Pickton told an undercover officer stationed in his cell that he killed 49 women and intended to increase the number to “50.”
Vancouver police have been criticized for not taking the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or drug users.
The Correctional Service Canada first announced on Monday that an inmate was sent to hospital following a serious attack at the Port-Cartier maximum security institution, about 300 miles northeast of Quebec City.
SHOVEL
On Tuesday, the correctional service confirmed that Pickton was the inmate injured in a major attack on Sunday and that none of its staff were involved in the attack.
Quebec provincial police said the convicted killer’s injuries were considered life-threatening.
Police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu said a 51-year-old suspect was in custody for the assault.
Pickton’s confirmed victims were six: Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.
At the time of Pickton’s sentencing, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a “rare case that adequately justifies the maximum period of parole ineligibility available to the court.”
Last month, 12 Vancouver-area mayors sent a letter to the federal justice minister demanding that Pickton never receive parole, the Vancouver Sun reported. reported. Pickton is eligible for day parole and will be eligible for full parole in 2027, the newspaper reported.
Police began searching 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.
During his trial, video interviews were played in which Pickton denied knowing the victims and asked a police officer, “Do I look like a murderer?”
In 2016, a book supposedly written by Pickton it was removed from the Amazon website the day after it went on sale online following protests from Canadian authorities.
