Murder Most Foul – July 2018

by insects, or fed to pigs on the farm.

Thousands of tons of soil were sifted

for tiny shards of evidence – bone

fragments, hair, teeth slivers, anything

that might contain enough cells for a

DNA sample.

Three thousand pieces of evidence

were found in the top levels of dirt on

the farm, then police brought in heavy

excavation equipment, dump trucks,

and two 50ft conveyor belts to examine

the lower levels.

There were 91 people working

on the site, including 52 forensic

anthropologists, entomologists and

archaeologists, and it was reckoned that

the work could go on indefinitely. It

is estimated to have cost the province

Can$70 million (£43 million).

On March 10th, 2004, officials issued

a health warning that Pickton’s pork

products may have contained human

remains, and outraged people in the

area had to face the terrible truth of

what they might have eaten. Sweeney

Todd had become a reality.

R

obert Pickton’s trial opened

eventually in December 2006.

British Columbia Supreme Court

Justice James Williams ruled that he

would only be tried for murdering six

women to avoid over-burdening the

jury with a marathon trial that could

last years. The 20 other charges would

be heard at a later trial.

Evidence presented in preliminary

hearings had proved so gruesome that

some reporters sought psychological

counselling, and the judge feared that

the sheer complexity of the case could

lead to a mis-trial.

At the outset, he warned the seven

male and five female jurors: “What you

will hear will be like a horror movie.

But this time you will not be able to

switch it off. It may arouse feelings

of revulsion and hostility that can

overwhelm the objective and impartial

approach jurors are expected to bring

to their task. You should be aware of

that possibility, and ensure it does not

happen to you.”

Pickton, who denied the killings,

sat behind bulletproof glass in court,

wearing one of four revolving shirts

and carrying a binder for his notes and

“What you will hear will

be like a horror movie.

But you will not be

able to switch it off. It

may arouse feelings of

revulsion and hostility

that can overwhelm

the objective”

PICKTON’S OTHER

ALLEGED VICTIMS

JACQUELINE McDONNELL

DISAPPEARED

JANUARY 1999

DIANNE ROCK

DISAPPEARED

OCTOBER 2001

HEATHER BOTTOMLEY

DISAPPEARED

APRIL 2001

JENNIFER FURMINGER

DISAPPEARED

1999

HELEN MAE HALLMARK

DISAPPEARED

AUGUST 1997

PATRICIA JOHNSON

DISAPPEARED

MARCH 2001

Left, a blood-soaked mattress inside a motorhome. Right, a bucket like

the one found to contain the partial remains of Andrea Joesbury