Pickton now a convicted serial killer
Lori Culbert , CanWest News Service
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. - Two jurors wiped away tears, victims' relatives wept, and Robert (Willie) Pickton stared expressionlessly at the floor as the jury foreman said he was guilty six times of second-degree murder.
Pickton's trial, which began Jan. 22, was an emotional journey for advocates of the victims, lawyers and police officers involved in the case, who all waited for the last 10 and half months for this verdict.
Six counts of second-degree murder was less than what relatives and police had hoped for - Pickton had been charged with first-degree murder - but prosecutor Michael Petrie said it was a "vindication" of the complex case, which began in February 2002 when the accused was arrested.
"We're relieved that after five plus years we've made it to this point. And we're gratified that the jury has essentially vindicated the position that we held all along," said Petrie, the friendly prosecutor who had a smile on his face every day of this long, complicated trial.
"I think it was a very good result. Mr. Pickton was convicted of six counts of murder."
Senior members of the Missing Women Task Force and other officers looked ashen-faced when the jury pronounced Pickton not guilty of first-degree murder.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Bill Fordy, who interviewed Pickton during his 11-hour police interrogation, said it was fair to say officers on this case were disillusioned with a verdict of second-degree - which means Pickton intended to kill the women, but that the murders were not planned or deliberate.
"They think that we as a society... let these girls down in life and at some level likely let them down in death as well," Fordy said.
Elaine Allan, a former employee of a drop-in centre who knew many of the missing women, was among many supporters of the victims who cried Sunday after waiting 10 days for this verdict.
"It was so difficult to hear that six times over and over. The consolation was that there was six second-degree convictions but the first-degree murder convictions that were not forthcoming was very difficult to hear," Allan said. "I've cried so much I don't think I have any tears left in the end."
Second-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence. Pickton will be sentenced on Tuesday, when the judge will hear submissions on his parole eligibility - which can be from 10 to 25 years. Victim impact statements from the relatives will be read then.
When the court clerk asked the foreman the first question - whether the jury found Pickton guilty of the first-degree murder of Count 1, Sereena Abotsway - family members in the courtroom yelled out "No!" when the answer was "not guilty."
There were cries of relief - and one "yeah!" - when the foreman pronounced for each victim a verdict of guilty on second-degree.
Lead defence lawyer Peter Ritchie declined to speak directly about Pickton's reaction to the verdict, but said: "I think you would be guessing accurately if you would say he would be having the normal reaction of someone who has been convicted of six counts of murder."
Ritchie said the jury clearly weighed all the evidence, and that's why they couldn't accept the Crown's theory that Pickton had planned the murders.
"I guess what we can learn is that since they acquitted this man of first-degree murder they weren't satisfied that the evidence showed he planned and deliberately committed these murders," he said.
The jury foreman glanced briefly at Pickton when he delivered one of the verdicts, but for the most part the panel of seven men and five women didn't look at the man they convicted of murder.
Two young female jurors wiped tears from their eyes. The judge thanked them for dedicating the year to this case - the verdict was issued on the one-year anniversary of the jury selection process beginning in New Westminster Supreme Court.
"You have represented the people of Canada in this very important task, and on their behalf I want to offer my most sincere thank you," said B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams.
"You know now what an enormous responsibility it is to judge your fellow man... I'm sure this is an experience you will remember for a long, long time."
Pickton has been convicted of killing Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury and Sereena Abotsway, who all disappeared in 2001; Georgina Papin and Brenda Wolfe, who vanished in 1999; and Marnie Frey who went missing in 1997.
Pickton has been charged with killing 20 other women, and is expected to be tried on those counts at a second trial. Another 39 women are still missing from the Downtown Eastside.
Rick Frey, father of Marnie Frey, said he was relieved that his daughter's killer has been convicted but doesn't understand how the jury came to second-degree.
"I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. You have six murdered women. He was convicted on all six counts. All the women were on different dates over different years. You figure it out. If that's not premeditated, I don't know what is," Frey said.
Vancouver deputy police Chief Doug LePard said second-degree convictions were good enough for him.
"It's six guilty verdicts on murder, six murder convictions, and we should be very pleased with that," LePard said.
While he would not comment yet on the length of time it took for police to begin investigating the growing number of missing women, LePard offered condolences to the families of the victims.
"The loss of a loved one is tragic and difficult under any circumstances," he said. "But coming today under these conditions, where grief is compounded by the ensuing controversy is even more sad."
Next Tuesday the Crown is expected to urge the judge to impose the 25-year maximum sentence, with the defence seeking a lesser period.
Killers convicted of killing two or more people are not eligible to apply for early parole consideration under Sec. 745 of the Criminal Code, the so-called "faint hope clause" that allows a killer to seek early parole after serving 15 years.
This trial, which dealt with only six of those murder charges, heard from 128 witnesses.
Police found the partial remains of the victims on Pickton's Port Coquitlam farm, as well as personal possessions linked to four of the women by DNA.
The key evidence for the Crown was two lengthy videotapes of Pickton speaking with police following his February 2002 arrest, during an 11-hour interrogation and to an undercover officer in his jail cell.
The Crown contends he confessed to those officers that he killed 49 women and had one more planned, but got caught because he was "sloppy." Pickton also said he used a rendering plant to get rid of bodies.
But defence lawyers argued they were not confessions. They portrayed Pickton as a weak-minded man who was overwhelmed by the police, and merely parroting the words officers wanted him to say.
Pickton's Cadillac defence team noted there was very little forensic evidence to link their client to the victims, and that none of the guns on his farm could be conclusively tied to bullets found in the remains of two of the women.
Lori-Ann Ellis, sister to victim Cara Ellis, summed up the families' long wait for justice this way:
"To all the people who helped bring us to this point in time, may God bless you all. And to all the people who looked the other way and still do as these girls continue to go missing over and over again, may God save your soul."
lculbert@png.canwest.com
© Vancouver Sun 2007
Robert Pickton, one of Canada's most profilic serial killers, has been found guilty of all six counts of second-degree murder in connection of the deaths of women from the Downtown Eastide in Vancouver. 

The trial ran from January 22, 2007 to the reading of the verdict on December 9, 2007. Pickton had pled not guilty to all six counts against him, which were all originally first-degree murder charges.

Pickton had been apprehended to police in February 2002. His pig farm in Port Coquitlam was the site of the investigation of the murders of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Georgina Papin, Brenda Wolfe and Marnie Frey.

Second-degree murder holds a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole within 10 to 25 years. 

Twenty counts of first-degree murder held against Pickton will be dealt at a future date.