Robert Pickton Victims

Robert William Pickton was a pig farmer from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, who lured vulnerable women—many of them sex workers and drug users—from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his farm where he murdered them. The victims' remains were disposed of on the farm property, some allegedly mixed with pork that was processed.

The women began disappearing in the late 1990s, but their cases received little attention from police or media. Advocates and families of missing women argued that the victims' marginalized status led to inadequate investigation. A public inquiry later confirmed systemic failures in policing.

In February 2002, police raided Pickton's farm on weapons charges and soon discovered DNA and remains of multiple missing women. The investigation became one of the largest in Canadian history, with forensic teams spending years processing the massive crime scene.

Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years. Charges related to 20 additional murders were stayed. Pickton claimed to have killed 49 women. He was killed in prison in 2024.