Canada’s most notorious and prolific killer, Robert Pickton, has died. He was convicted in 2007 of second-degree murder for killing six women, though the remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his property and he told an undercover police officer posing as a cellmate that he had killed 49 women. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. His crimes highlighted how his victims – most of them Indigenous and involved in the sex trade – were treated with indifference by police.
Here’s a look at the events leading up to his conviction and death.
Feb. 14, 1991: First annual women’s day memorial march is organized to press for police investigation into the disappearances of women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
1995: Sudden increase in number of missing women.
1998: Another sudden increase. Vancouver police review files of missing women going back to 1971, say they do not believe a serial killer is behind the disappearances.
April, 1999: Vancouver Police Board posts $100,000 reward for information on missing women.
2000: Vancouver police scale back investigation into disappearances.
2001: Another spike in the number of missing women.
Feb. 5, 2002: RCMP in Port Coquitlam search Pickton property for firearms. Media report that police had found personal items belonging to some missing women.
Feb. 6, 2002: Joint task force of Vancouver police and RCMP seal off property and begin searching for clues.
Feb. 7, 2002: Robert (Willy) Pickton charged with weapons offence.
Feb. 22, 2002: Mr. Pickton is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. In the years following, more charges are laid.
June 6, 2002: Police bring in heavy equipment and archaeologists to assist in excavation of Pickton properties.
Jan. 13, 2003: Preliminary hearing begins to determine whether evidence is sufficient to warrant a trial.
July 23, 2003: Preliminary hearing ends with case being sent to trial.
November, 2003: The 21-month excavation at Pickton farm ends.
March 10, 2004: B.C.'s health officer says he cannot rule out possibility that human remains were in hamburger meat processed at the Pickton farm.
Oct. 6, 2004: Revised list of women missing from Downtown Eastside includes 69 names.
May 25, 2005: More charges are announced against Mr. Pickton; he is now charged with the first-degree murder of 27 women.
Jan. 30, 2006: Trial set to begin in New Westminster. Fifteen years after organizing their first rally, organizers plan a women's memorial march outside the courthouse.
Jan. 22, 2007: Mr. Pickton’s trial begins. Crown and defence lawyers present 129 witnesses, and 1.3 million pages of documents are generated.
Dec. 9, 2007: The jury finds Mr. Pickton guilty of six counts of second-degree murder.
Dec. 11, 2007: The judge sentences Mr. Pickton to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years. He appeals his conviction.
June 25, 2009: The B.C. Court of Appeal rejects the appeal.
July 30, 2010: The Supreme Court of Canada upholds his conviction.
August 4, 2010: The B.C. Supreme Court stayed the remaining 20 first-degree-murder charges against Pickton, with the crown prosecutor Melissa Gillepsie telling the court that no additional convictions would increase Pickton’s maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
2010 to 2018: Mr. Pickton is held in the maximum-security Kent Institution, 120 kilometres east of Vancouver.
Dec. 17, 2012: A public inquiry into Mr. Pickton’s case found that “blatant” police failures triggered by systemic bias against the poor, vulnerable women of Vancouver’s drug-ridden Downtown Eastside allowed Pickton to evade arrest for years.
March 17, 2014: The children of Mr. Pickton’s victims settle their lawsuit with three levels of government and the RCMP over the botched investigation into their mothers’ murders.
Feb. 2016: A book written by Mr. Pickton while in prison is pulled from production after public outcry.
June 2018: Pickton is transferred to a maximum-security prison in Quebec.
May 21, 2024: Pickton is attacked by another inmate in prison.
May 31, 2024: Mr. Pickton dies from his injuries.
An older version of this timeline was first published in 2012