Serial killer is near death, say reports

Robert Pickton, a former pig farmer and one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, is near death after being attacked in prison on May 19 with a “broken broom-like handle,” according to Canadian news reports.

On May 20, Correctional Service Canada issued a press release confirming that on May 19, “an inmate was the victim of an attack at the Port-Cartier Institution, a federal maximum security facility.” However, the agency did not name Pickton.

The Vancouver Sun reported that Pickton was the inmate attacked in the Canadian prison by another inmate who had been released to Pickton’s unit, even though he had “previously attacked other inmates in the prison.”

According to CBC, the attack took place in a maximum security prison in Quebec, Canada. Pickton was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the murders of six missing Vancouver women, but “the remains or DNA of 34 women, many of whom were Indigenous,” were also located at Pickton’s pig farm near that city, CBC reported.

“Pickton claimed to have murdered 49 women. His case was the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history,” according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Serial killer Robert Pickton is ‘clinging to life,’ reports say

GettyRobert William Pickton is shown from a television screen in this undated image. Pickton and his brother operated a drinking club frequented by bikers and prostitutes near their pig farm outside Vancouver, Canada. Pickton was arrested on February 22, 2002 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with two of the fifty women who have disappeared from the Vancouver area over the past twenty years.

Pickton was “flown to hospital” after the 2 p.m. attack, The Vancouver Sun reported.

Pickton was “impaled in the head with a broken broom-like handle,” a source told The Vancouver Sun.

Correctional Service Canada confirmed he suffered a “major seizure.”

Pickton’s lawyer declined to comment to the Sun. The Vancouver Sun reported that Pickton was “clinging to life.”

CBC quoted Radio-Canada also confirming that Pickton was attacked in prison and saying he is in critical condition. Sources told CBC that “Pickton is between life and death.”

GettyCards, candles, photos and flowers are left at a memorial for the more than fifty missing women near a pig farm on April 4, 2002 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm for 50 missing women from downtown Vancouver is under investigation. The farm’s owner, Robert Pickton, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

The Correctional Service Canada press release notes: “The injured inmate was assessed and transported to an outside hospital for treatment. The Sûreté du Québec is currently investigating the incident. The attacker has been identified and appropriate action has been taken.”

The release does not name Pickton or the suspect. “The safety and security of institutions, their staff, and the public remains the highest priority in the operations of the federal correctional system,” the report says. “To improve practices aimed at preventing these types of incidents, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take appropriate action.”

Women’s missing belongings have been found at Robert Pickton’s pig farm near Vancouver, reports say

GettyRoyal Canadian Mounted Police investigators move debris at a pig farm on February 19, 2002 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm for 50 missing women from downtown Vancouver is currently under investigation. The owner, Robert Pickton, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Pickton ran a family pig farm and organized charity events called Piggy’s Palace Good Times Society.

Pickton would travel to downtown Vancouver because he was “disposing of animal parts at a rendering plant there,” the Canadian Encyclopedia reported, which added that Pickton would take women “back to his farm” after offering them “money and drugs” .

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, at least 65 women disappeared from the area between 1978 and 2001, but many of the deaths went undetected. Police were accused of failing to properly follow up on reports that a body may have been seen at Pickton’s farm, along with women’s purses. They searched his property in 2002 and found some of the missing women’s belongings, as well as blood, the Canadian Encyclopedia reports.

The National Post reported that Pickton was accused of feeding bodies to pigs.

GettyMissing woman Mona Wilson is remembered at a memorial at a pig farm on April 4, 2002 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm for 50 missing women from downtown Vancouver is under investigation. The farm’s owner, Robert Pickton, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, wrote on X in February 2024 that Pickton was eligible for parole. “Today, one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers, Robert Pickton, is eligible for parole,” he wrote. “Monsters like these should never be released from prison. Common sense Conservatives believe that mass murderers should receive consecutive sentences so that they only get out of prison in a box.”

The National Post reported that Pickton was eligible for day parole and full parole in 2027.

Other notorious inmates have been attacked and even murdered in prisons over the years

mugshotJeffrey Dahmer

Other infamous prisoners have been attacked and even murdered by other inmates over the years, some in US prisons.

For example, Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death by another inmate in a Wisconsin prison, alongside Jesse Anderson, a convicted woman killer.

Whitey Bulger, a notorious gangster, was attacked in a US federal prison and died.

Derek Chauvin, the former Minnesota police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd, was attacked in prison but survived.