Robert “Willie” Pickton, “The Pig Farm Killer”

During the 1980s and 1990s, a spike in missing women in the Vancouver, Canada, area concerned officials and residents alike. Most of the missing women were sex workers or runaways and some suffered from drug addiction.

The community suspected a serial killer was responsible for their murders. Area sex workers attempted to protect themselves by walking in groups, but the number of disappearances continued to grow.

Lack of Concern for Missing Women

Police did little to stop the serial killer until family and friends of the missing women finally convinced the Canadian RCMP to create a specialized team to handle the investigation. A short time later, the team was disbanded due to a lack of progress into the disappearance.

Without evidence pointing to murder, the disappearances were assumed to be nothing more than relocations. The cases grew cold until a break in the case in 1997.

Robert Pickton Arrested, Charges Dismissed

Robert Pickton was arrested for kidnapping and stabbing a sex worker. The sex worker explained to police that Pickton picked her up while she worked the streets. He then took her back to a farm where he attempted to handcuff her. She resisted and Pickton stabbed her in the abdomen. The woman wrestled the knife away from Pickston, stabbed him, and then escaped the home, running to a nearby by road and flagging down a vehicle for help.

Pickton then called an ambulance a short time later. He was transported to the same hospital as his victim.

Police arrested him after he was treated for his injuries, Pickton was charged with attempted murder, forcible confinement, and assault with a weapon although charges were later dropped because police considered her to be an incompetent witness because she worked as a prostitute and was a drug addict.

Workers Report Suspicions

In 1999, an employee at the farm told authorities that a sex worker he knew, Lynn Ellingsen, had seen a body hanging in Pickton’s slaughterhouse. Ellingsen initially denied the story but later confessed to seeing the body. She denied the initial claims because she said she was afraid of Pickton and he supplied her with drugs.

A second employee, Bill Hiscox, reported multiple pieces of women’s clothing on the property and suspected the women belonged to the missing Vancouver women. Police did not investigate.

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Police Search the Property

When a third employee, Scott Chubb, came forward to say Pickton had guns on his property, police obtained a search warrant for the property. Inside the home, police discovered illegal guns, women’s clothing and personal items belonging to some of the missing women.

On the farm, RCMP found human remains fragments, including small bones, hair, and teeth. Investigators hypothesized that Pickton would murder and dismember his victims, shove their severed limbs through a meat grinder, then discard the remains into the pig pens. Police did not recover any full bodies, although they did identify 27 victims through DNA left on the property.

Pickton Confesses to Murders

Pickton was arrested. While in jail awaiting trial, Pickton confessed his crimes to his cellmate -an undercover police officer.

He is quoted as saying, “I got a murder charge on me, and 48 more, 48 more to come. Whoopee!” He said he wanted to make it an even 50 but got sloppy and was caught.

In December 2007, Pickton was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. He is currently serving his time in a Canadian prison.

More Information:

https://web.archive.org/web/20081017052404/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071130.wpicktonsketch1130/BNStory/specialPickton/home