New Documentary Reveals Crimes of Canadian Serial Killer Robert Pickton

A new documentary, Voice of a Serial Killer, which is set to air this week, will detail the horrific crimes committed by one of Canada's worst serial killers, who killed 49 women and often dismembered them and fed them to pigs.

Robert Pickton, a pig farmer from British Columbia in Canada, was well known to locals as an eccentric who threw lavish raves. There were suspicions of murder on his property, though he was only arrested in 2002 and charged with several counts of murder in 2007.

Pickton's victims were mostly indigenous prostitutes, who he lured to his property, tortured, killed and in many cases fed into a meat grinder - mixing their remains with pork meat and selling it to locals, including police.

Court TV

In the new documentary, crime author Wensley Clarkson said: "Robert Pickton was a serial killer who made the Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like an attraction at Disneyland. There was nothing about him which made him standout, he didn't have great personal hygiene and he would hold barn dances with bikers and women and alcohol.

"He was known locally for using prostitutes and had a penchant for indigenous women but when large numbers went missing no one made the connection."

After he was eventually arrested in 2002, Pickton refused to cooperate with police.

However, he bragged to a cellmate about his disappointment at not reaching a personal hallmark of 50 murders. Unbeknownst to him, the cellmate was an undercover Canadian Mountie, and Pickton's loose-lipped testimony helped authorities convict him of several murders.

The extent of Pickton's crimes were gradually revealed to the Canadian public

A search at his property had resulted in the discovery of an asthma inhaler belonging to one of his victims, while further investigation later revealed DNA from 26 of the missing women.

In 2007, after a lengthy and complicated trial, a judge charged Pickton with six counts of second-degree murder, with no possibility for parole for a period between 10 and 25 years.

Two days later, British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Justice James Williams sentenced him to life with no parole for 25 years. That's the same sentence he would have been handed had the crimes been considered first-degree murders.

Topics: Television, TV and Film, crime, Canada

Ronan O'Shea

Ronan J O'Shea is a freelance journalist from London who has written for titles including LADbible, Headspace, The Independent, National Geographic Traveller and New York Post. Contact him at [email protected].