Quick Facts
Nicknames or Aliases: The Butcher, The Pig Farmer Killer
Offender Status: Alive, in Prison
MO: murder by severe brutalization, murder by gun shot
Timespan of Crimes: 1983-2002
Date Apprehended: February 22, 2002
Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility for parole
Case Status: Closed
Number of Victims: 6 (convicted), 49 (confessed)
Victims: Wendy Lynn Eistetter, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Jacqueline McDonell, Diane Rock, Heather Bottomley, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin, Patricia Johnson, Helen Hallmark, Jennifer Furminger, Heather Chinnock, Tanya Holyk, Sherry Irving, Inga Hall, Cara Ellis, Andrea Borhaven, Debra Lynne Jones, Marnie Frey, Tiffany Drew, Kerry Koski, Sarah de Vries, Cynthia Feliks, Angela Jardine, Wendy Crawford, Diana Melnick, and Jane Doe
Location of Crimes: Canada
Timeline of Willy Pickton’s Crimes
March 23, 1997 – Willy Pickton was charged with the attempted murder of sex worker Wendy Lynn Eistetter
January 1998 – Willy Pickton’s attempted murder charge was dropped
February 6, 2002 – Police executed a search warrant for illegal firearms at the Pickton farm, both Willy and his brother David were arrested.
Police obtained a second warrant using what they had seen on the property to search the farm as part of the BC Missing Women Investigation. Personal items belonging to missing women were found at the farm, which was sealed off by members of the joint RCMP–Vancouver Police Department task force.
The following day, Pickton was charged with weapons offenses. Both of the Picktons were later released; however Robert Pickton was kept under police surveillance.
February 22, 2002 – Willy Pickton was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Sereena Abotsway and Mona Wilson.
April 2, 2002 – Three more charges were added for the murders of Jacqueline McDonell, Diane Rock, and Heather Bottomley.
April 9, 2002 – A sixth charge for the murder of Andrea Joesbury was laid, followed shortly by a seventh for Brenda Wolfe.
September 20, 2002 – Four more charges were added for the slayings of Georgina Papin, Patricia Johnson, Helen Hallmark, and Jennifer Furminger.
October 3, 2002 – Four more charges for the murders of Heather Chinnock, Tanya Holyk, Sherry Irving, and Inga Hall were laid, bringing the total number to 15.
2003 – Excavations continued at the farm through November.
A preliminary inquiry was held in 2003, the testimony from which was covered by a publication ban until 2010. At the inquiry, the fact was revealed that Pickton had been charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of sex worker Wendy Lynn Eistetter in 1997.
March 10, 2004 – The government revealed that Pickton may have ground up human flesh and mixed it with pork that he sold to the public; the province’s health authority later issued a warning. Another claim was made that he fed the bodies directly to his pigs.
May 26, 2005 – Twelve more charges were laid against Pickton for the killings of Cara Ellis, Andrea Borhaven, Debra Lynne Jones, Marnie Frey, Tiffany Drew, Kerry Koski, Sarah de Vries, Cynthia Feliks, Angela Jardine, Wendy Crawford, Diana Melnick, and Jane Doe, bringing the total number of first-degree murder charges to 27.
January 30, 2006 – Pickton’s trial began. Pickton pleaded not guilty to 27 charges of first-degree murder in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
March 2, 2006 – One of the 27 counts was rejected by Justice James Williams for lack of evidence.
August 9, 2006 – Justice Williams severed the charges, splitting them into one group of six counts and another group of 20 counts. The trial proceeded on the group of six counts.
January 22, 2007 – The date for the jury trial of the first six counts was initially set to start January 8, 2007, but was later postponed to January 22. On that date, Pickton faced first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Frey, Abotsway, Papin, Joesbury, Wolfe and Wilson.
The media ban was lifted, and for the first time Canadians heard the details of what was found during the long investigation: skulls cut in half with hands and feet stuffed inside; the remains of one victim found stuffed in a garbage bag, and her blood-stained clothing found in Pickton’s trailer; part of another victim’s jawbone and teeth found beside Pickton’s slaughterhouse; and a .22 calibre revolver with an attached dildo containing both his and a victim’s DNA. In a videotaped recording played for the jury, Pickton claimed to have attached the dildo to his weapon as a makeshift silencer.
October 2007– A juror was accused of having made up her mind already that Pickton was innocent. The trial judge questioned the juror, saying, “It’s reported to me you said from what you had seen you were certain Mr. Pickton was innocent, there was no way he could have done this. That the court system had arrested the wrong guy.” The juror denied this completely. Justice Williams ruled that she could remain on the jury since it had not been proven she made the statements.
December 9, 2007 – The jury returned a verdict that Pickton is not guilty on six counts of first-degree murder, but is guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. A second-degree murder conviction carries a punishment of a life sentence, with no possibility of parole for a period between 10 and 25 years, to be set by the trial judge.
December 11, 2007 – After reading 18 victim impact statements, British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Justice James Williams sentenced Pickton to life with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the maximum punishment for second-degree murder—and equal to the sentence which would have been imposed for a first-degree murder conviction.
January 7, 2008 – The Attorney General filed an appeal in the British Columbia Court of Appeal, against Pickton’s acquittals on the first-degree murder charges.
January 9, 2008 – Lawyers for Pickton filed a notice of appeal in the British Columbia Court of Appeal, seeking a new trial on six counts of second-degree murder.
June 25, 2009 – The Court of Appeal dismissed the defense appeal by a 2:1 majority.
The Court of Appeal allowed the Crown appeal, finding that the trial judge erred in excluding some evidence and in severing the 26 counts into one group of 20 counts and one group of six. The order resulting from this finding was stayed, so that the conviction on the six counts of second degree murder would not be set aside.
June 26, 2009 – Pickton’s lawyers confirmed that they would exercise his right to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
August 24, 2009 – Pickton’s notice of appeal was filed in the Supreme Court of Canada.
November 26, 2009 – The Supreme Court of Canada granted this application for leave to appeal. The effect of this was to broaden the scope of Pickton’s appeal, allowing him to raise arguments that had been rejected unanimously in the B.C. Court of Appeal (not just arguments that had been rejected by the 2–1 majority).
July 30, 2010 – The Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision dismissing Pickton’s appeal and affirming his convictions.
August 4, 2010 – The remaining 20 counts could have been heard in a separate trial, but ultimately were stayed.
2015 – The Pickton property is fenced off, under lien by the Crown in Right of British Columbia. In the meantime, all the buildings on the property, except a small barn, had been demolished.
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