Robert Pickton (conviction)
Pig farmer Robert Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder at his Port Coquitlam farm. He was linked to 49 missing women. He was killed in prison in 2024.
Robert Pickton operated a pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia from which women—mostly sex workers and drug users from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside—began disappearing in the late 1990s.
Police investigated the farm in 2002 and found DNA evidence of numerous women in various locations on the property. The remains or DNA of 33 women were eventually identified.
Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years. Charges for an additional 20 murders were stayed to avoid a costly second trial.
Pickton was killed in prison on May 31, 2024. The case exposed systemic failures by police who had received tips about Pickton for years but failed to act, partly because the victims were marginalized women.
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