Scope of inquiry must go beyond Pickton and B.C.

Star Phoenix

AUGUST 7, 2010
Considering how vile and horrific were Robert Pickton's crimes, and the difference it would have made had the Vancouver police kept him locked up after charging him with attempted murder in 1997, it is understandable that victims' groups, editorialists and activists are calling for a public inquiry.

Although he was convicted only of six murders, evidence was found on his pig farm that could have tied him into 20 more. Mr. Pickton bragged to an undercover officer that he was responsible for 49 brutal slayings and only barely was stopped shy of his short-term goal of an even 50. Since many of the victims' family members feel they have been denied justice because the Crown opted not to proceed with the next 20 charges to avoid the cost and pain for little benefit, one could argue that an inquiry would bring a sense of justice.

But if an inquiry is to be held, it should be about more than Mr. Pickton, the Vancouver police or even the flaws in British Columbia's justice system.

The inquiry should be national in scope and examine how, in a modern society such as Canada, so many women seem to be considered disposable -- not only by perpetrators such as Mr. Pickton (and there is ample evidence he wasn't the only serial killer hunting the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside), police investigators and justice officials, but nearly everyone.

Vancouver's experience with serial killers, sexual predators and vulnerable sex-trade workers is hardly unique. Fields outside cities such as Edmonton, Winnipeg and even Saskatoon have all too often become dumping grounds for the bodies of the discounted and discarded.

This week an investigative story in the Los Angeles Times identified more than 100 marginalized women who were killed by several serial killers in a 10-year period beginning in 1987, without police suspecting that even a single killer was on the loose. Police across Canada know of more than 500 women who have gone missing under suspicious circumstances, but have no idea where, when, how or even if they met their end.

To its credit, no sooner had the Supreme Court of Canada denied a new trial for Mr. Pickton than the Vancouver police service went public with an emotional and abject apology. This even though it's clear much has improved in the Lower Mainland since Mr. Pickton's killing spree.

A lot has been made of the Crown's decision to stay attempted murder charges against the pig farmer after it deemed that a prostitute whom he had lured to his farm, handcuffed and assaulted before she managed to escape, would be considered an unreliable witness. Those close to the case suggest that, although the woman clearly articulated what happened during the attack, she was terrified of Mr. Pickton and a private investigator hired to trail her.

While it's tempting to speculate about the lives that could have been saved had the monstrous Mr. Pickton been taken off the streets, it is pointless to direct our anger against individual Crown prosecutors or police when legal and social systems have all been designed to discard drug addicts and sex workers.

In fact, the Vancouver police and social services should be commended for the steps they've taken since this highly publicized series of murders made international headlines. Outreach and mitigation programs such as the Insite supervised injection centre are in place, plus specially trained police officers such as Const. Linda Malcolm who patrol the Downtown Eastside not looking to bust but to connect and protect the street workers.

And across the country, inter-jurisdictional and interprovincial police task forces have been established to more quickly track the disappeared and murdered, and to share evidence. But, as Osgoode law professor Alan Young told the Toronto Star last year, Canada's prostitution laws seem specifically designed to force sex workers onto the streets and into the most vulnerable conditions.

Similarly, Canada's drug laws are designed to exacerbate the problem. Rather than treat addicts and control distribution, Canada builds ever more prisons and passes ever more rigid laws that serve to marginalize them.
When Washington's Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, confessed to murdering 48 women, his written statement claimed: "I picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed.
... I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught."

That says as much about the rest of us as it does about the murderer.

Given the inestimable scope of this problem, an inquiry certainly seems to be in order. But it is pointless to examine 13-year-old fumbles while ignoring the root causes.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

LINK:
Scope of inquiry must go beyond Pickton and B.C.

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The Muzzling of a Cop

Norm Stamper

Retired Seattle police chief, member of Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition

March 3, 2010

David Bratzer is a young, soft-spoken police officer with the Victoria (British Columbia) Police Department. He comes from a law enforcement family; two of his brothers are VicPD officers. Thoughtful, well spoken, Bratzer loves being a cop and serving his community. But now he's been ordered not to air his views on the most compelling of all public safety issues.

Bratzer was deeply affected by the serial killings of prostitutes in and around Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The infamous pig farmer Robert "Willie" Pickton was convicted in 2007 of the murders of six women, though he's confessed to a total of 49 killings (he'd hoped to make it an even 50 but he "got sloppy" and got caught). Following the progress of the trial, Bratzer drew a connection between the murder victims and their circumstances: Pickton's victims were drug addicts, most of them working the streets in order to finance their habit. Bratzer concluded that Canada's drug laws had contributed to, and in a very real sense, caused the deaths of these women.

He decided to speak out against the War on Drugs, and has done so persistently and eloquently as a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He has understood and followed the rules of his organization. He speaks off duty, never in uniform, always informing his audiences that he's expressing personal views, not those of the Victoria Police Department.

Officer Bratzer was scheduled to address, on his own time, an important "harm reduction" conference in the city this week. His chief stepped in, said no. Why? He didn't like the message Bratzer was set to deliver. Of course, this decision by the brass has had the effect of shining an even brighter light on the horrific effects of the U.S.-led drug war. That's good.

But it's both puzzling and disturbing that an honorable police officer, in a free and democratic society, has been muzzled.

Especially when what he has to say would save lives.

Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/the-muzzling-of-a-cop_b_484231.html

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Totem Pole Memorial iPhone

A totem pole is carved in memory of Vancouver's missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

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‘I love you’ – a missing mother’s last words to her son

By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun

October 21, 2009

It has now been more than three years since anyone — her husband of 30 years, her three siblings, her five children — has seen Shirley Cletheroe, who vanished June 9, 2006.

Photograph by: Vancouver Sun, Canwest News Service

VANCOUVER — Back in June 2006, Shirley Cletheroe was raising her five children, working at a mill in Fort St. John, and leading a middle-class life.

One night she didn't come home after attending a house party. At first, family members thought she was staying at her sister's place, which she did from time to time. Then she didn't show up for work.

It has now been more than three years since anyone — her husband of 30 years, her three siblings, her five children — has seen the aboriginal woman, who vanished June 9, 2006.

Cletheroe's file is classified as a missing person's case, although police say foul play has not been ruled out.

Cletheroe, 45 years old when she vanished, is one of more than 1,500 women across Canada — many of them aboriginal — who the RCMP has classified as missing.

Perhaps because there are so many of these women, or perhaps because British Columbia just lived through the Robert (Willie) Pickton murder trial, there has been little media attention to Cletheroe's case.

But she, like every other woman who has disappeared, leaves behind a trail of tears and questions.

"My dad's had a hard time since my mom went missing. For him to work and try to keep the family together is challenging," said Brent Cletheroe, Shirley's oldest child.

"My little sister just had her 14th birthday."

Brent Cletheroe, 29, said his faith in God has given him comfort over the last three years as he has grappled with dread and doubt.

"My brothers and sisters have wept on my shoulder and said, 'I know God is looking out for us,'" said Cletheroe, who is a youth pastor at the Fort St. John Pentecostal church and the Zamboni driver at the local ice rink.

The last time Brent spoke to his mother was just a few days before she vanished.

"She phoned and said, 'I love you.' It was really random. I said, 'I know you love me, Mom,'" he recalled. "She said, 'That girl that you're dating . . . That's the one that you need to marry.' My mom had never said that about any of my girlfriends. She said, 'I love you.' And that's the last time I heard her voice."

Brent, who did marry his girlfriend and is now the father of a one-year-old daughter, said his mother was a loving but no-nonsense parent who raised her children while their father worked on oil rigs. She would be proud today, he said, to see his four siblings navigating through life's difficult obstacles.

"In every single one of their lives, I can say I see her in them. And I know they have what I have, what has steered me through the hard times on my path in life. And I owe it all to my mother," he said.

His mother, he said, does not fit the stereotypical profile that many people think of when they hear about an aboriginal woman going missing: she was not a drug user or a sex-trade worker.

She was, however, going through a depression and drinking a bit too much in the weeks before she vanished, he said. The family does not believe Cletheroe disappeared intentionally, but that something bad happened to her at the house party she attended across the street from her sister's house — the last place any one saw her alive.

Brent Cletheroe said he understands his mother had an argument with the owner of the home where the party was held, who the family claims meticulously cleaned up his house and car after the party. However, Brent said police will only tell the family that the case is under investigation, a response he finds frustrating.

"It's three years now and (the police) have given up, really. That's how we feel."

The RCMP appealed to the public for more tips in the case in June, saying they had followed all the leads they had received from the family and the public.

"Nobody just disappears. I think there's somebody out there that has information that can help us. I think somebody could have heard something," said Fort St. John RCMP Const. Jackelynn Passarell.

"There is hope that this can be solved, but it will require that piece of information to come forward."

She said Cletheroe is still considered a missing person, unless "hard fact evidence" is uncovered to suggest otherwise.

"Because foul play hasn't been ruled out, that means it is something that might have occurred here, so we have to keep all avenues of investigation open," Passarell said.

She would not say whether police believe Cletheroe is still alive.

Officers have conducted numerous searches, some in the rural areas surrounding Fort St. John.

"Shirley's family has been holding on for three years, just having that looming question: Where is Shirley? We'd like to solve that for them," Passarell added.

Brent Cletheroe maintains some hope that his mother may still be alive but he cannot, he said, be consumed by "the anxiety of always wondering if she is going to call." Through his faith in God, he has also found the ability to face the fact she may never come home.

He does not, however, have the strength to join other members of his family, who have conducted their own searches of forests and rivers looking for clues.

"I would never want to find my mom like that . . . I apologized (to my auntie) that I was not a part of it, but I was not strong enough," he said. "I have peace. I know that we've done all that we can do."

lculbert@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Police search dry well as B.C. missing women's case expands

By Sam Cooper, Vancouver Province
August 30, 2009 8:03 AM

Police in British Columbia began to examine a well in a central part of the province Saturday, as they searched for evidence in the disappearance of an Alberta woman who vanished seven years ago on the so-called Highway of Tears.

RCMP have confirmed they are looking for the remains of Nicole Hoar, 25, of Red Deer, Alta., on a two-hectare rural lot in the small lumber town of Isle Pierre, about 50 kilometres northwest of Prince George.

"The police are digging at Chug's old place because of what I told them," says Cindy Mortimer. "I said, ‘You better look down the well. He poured diesel fuel down there and lit it on fire.' "

Mortimer, 46, was referring to a well on the Pinewood Road property previously owned by Leland Switzer, known to most in the tiny sawmill town of Isle Pierre simply as "Chug."

Switzer is currently in prison for shooting his brother Irwin dead in 2002, just two days after Hoar, who was hitchhiking, went missing from a gas station on the outskirts of Prince George.

Hoar is one of 18 women to have vanished on the route from Prince George to Prince Rupert, a bleak ribbon of pavement bordered by shrivelled black, red and grey pine trees, standing like matchsticks.

Late in the day, RCMP announced they are looking for a man who may have information in connection with Hoar. The unknown male may have information that may assist in the investigation, they said.

In a release, police said the description of the man 2002 was as follows: Caucasian male, described to be in his mid-fifties, black shoulder length hair, very skinny face, sunken eyes, scruffy appearance, thin glasses, was a smoker and had a pronounced jagged scar on the left side of his neck.

Area residents said they aren't surprised the RCMP is digging up Switzer's former property — only surprised it's taken this long to happen. Some say they sense a number of families in the bundle of unsolved cases are about to get closure. "And I'll be able to sleep better at night," Mortimer said.

Mortimer and another Switzer neighbour, Wally Anderson, 68, claimed they've been giving tips to Prince George RCMP Sgt. Judy Thomas since Switzer went to jail.

Anderson says he sniffed the diesel in Switzer's well years ago.

On Saturday, Anderson went back to the place where he believes he discovered a woman's remains in November 2008.

He alleged Switzer had bragged to Mortimer about killing his brother on the day it was done, and at the same time, suggested that Mortimer look in a side-road junk heap near Isle Pierre, under an appliance.

Anderson stood on the spot, where locals throw trash and butcher moose, and pointed to the spot where he walked through a light snow and turned over a fridge, finding a bag of bones. He says when he took the bones to police, they didn't take him seriously.

"I never drive by a deep freezer without checking," he said.

Cynthia and James Andal, who live on the property which backs onto the former Switzer property, say Switzer terrorized and threatened everyone in Isle Pierre, even scaring off a young couple on the next door lot with a shotgun.

"Chug was a nasty piece of work," Cynthia said. "He wasn't physically imposing; he just had a weird look. He was crazy."

James Andal says eight years ago, Switzer walked up to the family's laneway and started a conversation that almost ended in a fight. "He said, ‘Why did you phone the police on me?' I had to just walk away."

"We worried about our children," Cynthia added. "It's disturbing to think you could have been there when something was happening."

The Andals say stories about Switzer were common. Mortimer said he was married to a tough, pretty woman named Karen, and children were removed from their home by authorities.

Saturday, a 15-member search-and-rescue team and a geoscientist using ground-penetrating radar identified additional areas for excavation.

In the morning, police searched the four-metre dry well mentioned by Mortimer, and around noon they seized a crumpled yellow pickup truck for forensic examination, located up a steep 500-metre rock road at a dump on Crown land matching the description given by Mortimer.

At 2:30 p.m. local time, a team of dogs trained in locating human remains arrived on site from Alberta.

All of the missing or deceased women, except Hoar were First Nations women; 13 are confirmed homicides and five are still considered missing.

A man who works at the Isle Pierre sawmill said Switzer had done some welding there, and liked to "spout off stories."

"I heard a lot of crazy s—," the man, who did not want to be named, said. "After he went to jail, women stopped disappearing."

scooper@theprovince.com

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Memorial March

Downtown Eastside Vancouver, British Columbia

Missing persons website adds new hope

Posted By Bobby Roy
Posted 1 hour ago

Every family’s worst nightmare is to hear that a loved one has gone missing, and going through every waking moment worrying about where they could be isn’t easy.

In the every missing persons case, closure is what the family and friends connected to them want and with a help of a new tool, giving the stricken family members and friends closure will be easier to do.

A new website designed to work with the public’s help is hoping to bring some much needed closure to the families of missing persons.

“We have started a website called albertamissingpersons.ca as a new tool for both the public and police to help close missing persons cases,” said Camille Fedoruk, research analyst for Project KARE.

According to kare.ca Project KARE is an investigational unit, created with the highest priority to examine the deaths of several “High Risk Missing Persons” who have been found in the surrounding rural areas of the City of Edmonton. One of the objectives of Project KARE is to investigate all leads, capture and prosecute the person(s) responsible for these crimes.

The new website has been launched with the help of Law Enforcement Agencies and Alberta Medical Examiners to profile the 300 plus missing persons that have been reported in Alberta so that either they will be found alive or their remains can be identified.

“So far I’ve put about 180 of the missing person cases on the website along with seven or eight unidentified human remains cases,” said Fedoruk.

The website contains brief but important verification information about each missing person in hopes that someone out there looking at the site can identify a missing person or unidentified human remains. Each case can contain a photo of the missing person, how long they have been missing for, physical descriptions, where they were last seen, a recent photo, and who to call. Fedoruk along with Cst. Kay Vera and Cst. Roland Mislk were out at the Leduc Scale on June 3 for the Driver Appreciation barbeque to help spread information about the website.

The scale is located on the QEII highway, south of Leduc.

“It takes just one phone call and the trucking industry has such an exposure on the highways.

“A lot of these individuals who go missing lead a high risk lifestyle and that’s why we’re here. Hopefully it might jog someone’s memory,” said Fedoruk.

The website has already had success in British Columbia where a man who had been missing since 2000 was identified through some human remains that someone had seen on the website.

“Just by using one word, like a tattoo, a certain piercing, birthmark or a fracture it makes it easier to identify a person,” said Fedoruk.

“These missing people all have a dad, a mom, a brother and all they want is some sort of closure even if it the worst possible scenario and by launching this website it definitely gives the public and police another tool to help solve these cases,” said Fedoruk.

Anyone who has any information in regards to a missing person is asked to

call the investigating agency for each

missing person that can be found on the newly launched website albertamissingpersons.ca or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

© 2009 , Sun Media

Crown says new trial for Pickton wouldn't be in 'interests of justice'

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 | 6:57 PM PT
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ordering a new trial for convicted serial killer Robert Pickton would not be "in the interests of justice" and British Columbia's top court must guard against inadvertently triggering one, prosecutors argued Wednesday in the B.C. Court of Appeal.

There are currently two appeals before the court: the defence is challenging Pickton's six second-degree murder convictions, while the Crown is appealing his six acquittals on first-degree murder.

If a new trial is ordered, the Crown wants Pickton tried on all 26 first-degree murder charges that were laid against him.

But prosecutor Gregory Fitch made it clear the Crown would ultimately prefer the second-degree convictions stand and Pickton simply stay in prison, his legal saga over.

"It would not be in the interests of justice to simply order a new trial for first-degree murder … if a new trial is not otherwise required," Fitch told the three judges hearing the appeal.

Fitch is concerned that the Appeal Court could deny Pickton's appeal while granting the Crown's, which could have the unintended effect of ordering a new trial that the Crown doesn't want.

In that event, Fitch wants the court to stay the order for a new trial on first-degree murder, allowing the Crown to simply leave Pickton in prison and not pursue the remaining charges.

"It merely suspends, for a limited time or permanently, the underlying order" for a new trial on first-degree murder, Fitch said.

One of the judges questioned whether such an order was even in the Appeal Court's jurisdiction.

"The problem I see is that Mr. Pickton could lose his appeal and the Crown could ultimately win its appeal," said Justice Richard Low. "Logically, in these events, there would have to be a new trial."

Fitch cited case law that he said gave the court such power.

He also said that if the Appeal Court concludes it has no other option than to order the trial, even if the original convictions stand, he wants another hearing to further argue his point.
Pickton convicted in 2007

Pickton was arrested in February 2002, setting off a massive search of his farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C., where investigators found evidence including blood samples, bone fragments and the belongings of women who had disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The pig farmer was convicted in December 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years — the automatic sentence for first-degree murder and the maximum sentence available.

The Crown's appeal focuses on the trial judge's decision to split 26 first-degree murder charges into two separate trials, dealing with six counts first and leaving the 20 remaining charges for a later trial.

Prosecutors have argued that severing the charges limited their ability to use similar-fact evidence — similarities between the different murders — to show Pickton had a scheme to kill prostitutes from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Fitch earlier argued that such evidence would have helped demonstrate the killings were planned and deliberate, essential elements needed to prove first-degree murder.

But Pickton's lawyers said the Crown is attempting to make new arguments that weren't brought up in trial.

"The Crown paid little attention to planning and deliberation, since their theory was that Pickton acted alone," said defence lawyer Gil McKinnon.

Arguments at the appeal are expected to wrap up on Thursday.

© The Canadian Press, 2009

Story comments (22)

wolf320 wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 8:57 AM ET"Not in the interest of justice" ??????? Canada doesn't have a justice system, we have a legal system since there is never any justice for the victims.
If Pickton was arrested in Feb. of 2002 and convicted in Dec. of 2007, does that mean he was serving remand time that counts double? Deduct 118 months from the 25 years "Life" sentence plus the time served since Dec. of 2007 he has already served 133 months in total, he will be out on parole in under 14 years from now.
Who can call that justice?

1 Agree
1 Disagree

julaflamme wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 8:02 AM ETPicton has had enough publicity - at the expense of the public.
I would rather see any money that would be spent on a trial & associated costs directed towards doing something constructive for the people in similar situations to the victims - even if there were just places for them to get a good hot meal & a shower every so often - not on lawyers posturing for attention, judges with their overinflated salaries, or investigators who have probably seen enough of the gore to last them a lifetime & could be focusing their energy better on other cases. He is where he should be, & as long as he is there for life - what is the point of any further court action? The victims' families need to grieve & move on - not have more details & stupid defense arguements to lessen or justify the horror of this animal's actions

4 agree
0 disagree

WC. Kelowna wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 7:09 AM ETSometimes, people in authority use words that have a different meaning
than what was intended.. " Justice would not be served.."
Justice to me means that he should be tried for every woman that he
killed, dismembered, and disposed of ! The families of the victims deserve
at least that !
Justice means society electing governments to make laws and enforce
them so that society may live a crime - free and peaceful life !
Not the Law Society which includes; Judges, lawyers (including prosecution) making unilateral decisions... The real Society or Public want to ensure that Pickton never ever sees the outside of a maiximum security jail for the rest of his natural life ! So that no glitch, or proceedural hiccup, ever lets this man out of jail...
By cancelling further proceedings lends a message to those involved in Crime, the courts will never finish the total job that the public (who pays their wages) wishes. So, want to control British Columbia or Canada ? Become a lawyer as no matter what the people want, you'll have the final say !

2 agree
6 disagree

Tax Me...I'm Canadian wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 6:47 AM ETHow many trials do you need when he's already incarcerated for life? This would be a huge waste of time and money.

9 agree
0 disagree

Rock1971 wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 6:08 AM ETI heard he made one helluva bacon sandwich though?

1 agree
17 disagree

carlbailey wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 3:21 AM ETyeah, it wouldn't be at all in the interests of justice to question a verdict against an imbecile, not if it means asking why the cops did so little over that decade of disappearances, or why would cocaine dealers call 9/11 if a hooker OD's on the same premises they're storing their product on.

1 agree
4 disagree

covecay wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 1:20 AM ETthese notorious killers get all the lime light. we've heard from this guy for too long. put him away, lock up the key and lets never hear from him again.

34 agree
0 disagree

Mel Content wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 1:11 AM ETI,m sure there is a big line up of low brow lawyers who will be pissed at the loss of this potential "appeal" revenue , if the crown doesnt try again!

22 agree
2 disagree

Kim Jung ill the Lesser Evil wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 12:37 AM ETLots of possiblities hard to say what the lesser evil is.

He tortured this women and chopped them up, a sick man obessed by Blood and torture.

15 agree
1 disagree

BooHooHoo wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 12:23 AM ETWilly for Mayor!

4 agree
21 disagree

Don at Calgary wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:55 PM ETLeonWalskey says,

" SECOND trial so his victims can at least have their day in court. "

I wouldn't be surprised if no one wanted their day in court at this point. There has been too much hurt. Time to move on. He can't be punished anymore anyway, no matter what happens. I think this would be what the dead would say, if they could. They wouldnt want their families to suffer any more trials.

37 agree
0 disagree

Meggsy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:52 PM ETLet him rot, and open a case on the rest of the family.

26 agree
3 disagree

roberticus wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:46 PM ET"...But prosecutor Gregory Fitch made it clear the Crown would ultimately prefer the second-degree convictions stand and Pickton simply stay in prison, his legal saga over..."

Amen to that. He was convicted 16 months ago. Most people have had enough and it's cost plenty too. Just make sure he's incarcerated until death so no one has to ever encounter him again. I could live with that judgement.

46 agree
0 disagree

noiseworthy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:23 PM ETThere were suspicions that others were involved or at least knew but prefered to ignore the signs. I can say with some personal knowlage that the Picton family was a tad unusual. Brother Dave has limited abilities. The sister got out and avoided the brothers. Robert Willy does not operate in the fashion of a normal human being. He is more like a Nazi who functions in his own world. His ideas of right and wrong are not like most people.

He does however, like the attention and enjoys the fuss that is made over him and his crimes. Leave him alone and accept that he is a killer and a nasty creation. You should have known his dad, ech!

24 agree
1 disagree

LeonWalsky wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:08 PM ETAnother example of how those running the province are incompetent and greedy. You want to get him on some first degree charges? Well then, start the SECOND trial so his victims can at least have their day in court. AND continue the chase for the others involved.

I swear law enforcement and the legal system in this province is only good for using tazers and bilking the public legal funds.

3 agree
28 disagree

Sarah77 wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:05 PM ETA very interesting play of Law... And I am glad that the Crown is saying they don't want another trial for 1st degree, he is serving the same sentance...

27 agree
1 disagree

Golanbiais wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:46 PM ETWhat if getting a new trial is in the interest of Pickton ?

4 agree
22 disagree

patrickscallen wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:37 PM ETThank you , you answered my question

1 agree
7 disagree

patrickscallen wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:29 PM ET" why torment ,why , let's go on ?

18 agree
2 disagree

Release the hounds wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:23 PM ETI'm not a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon but I have enough common sense to figure out that the greedy lawyers and judges must be feeling the effects of the recession and have to seek more trials to fill their pig troughs with taxpayer money. I would say what I reall think about these low-lifes but it wouldn't get printed. They all belong in jail with Pickton in my opinion!

29 agree
42 disagree

Meggsy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:15 PM ETwhy don't they go after his accomplice? There were indications that he did not work alone, no?

24 agree
9 disagree

Catchnpitch wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:11 PM ETLeave him to rot, slowly.

58 agree
2 disagree

Crown says new trial for Pickton wouldn't be in 'interests of justice'

Inquiry urged for B.C.'s missing women

BY LORI CULBERT | VANCOUVER SUN
March 11, 2009

VANCOUVER - A group of native leaders, community activists and victims’ families gathered in Oppenheimer Park this morning to collectively call for a public inquiry into missing and murdered women in British Columbia.

The inquiry should look into the case of the 65 women missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, six of whom serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton has been convicted of killing.

It should also examine the case of 18 murdered or missing women in the so-called Highway of Tears case in rural B.C., Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said in an interview.

Phillip and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association sent letters outlining their request Wednesday to Premier Gordon Campbell, Attorney-General Wally Oppal, and Solicitor General John van Dongan. Victims’ families attended the rally today, and have long believed that society paid little attention to their loved ones vanishing from the Downtown Eastside because they were poor, marginalized women, many of them Aboriginal.

“This situation was allowed to continue a very, very long time. It spanned a couple of decades. Had there been an immediate response on behalf of the Vancouver police, the RCMP and the criminal justice branch, we suggest lives could have been saved,” Phillip said.

Phillip argued the same systemic issues exist in the Highway of Tears case, which has not resulted in any suspects being arrested yet.

Oppal repeated Wednesday what he has said in the past: It is unlikely any inquiry would be held until the Pickton case is no longer before the courts. "I'm really sympathetic to [the victims’ families]. We all want to find out what happened. But the missing women's case is really a part of the Pickton case, and that matter is still before the court of appeal,” Oppal said in Victoria. "We can't order any inquiry, it would be totally improper for us until the courts have finally and completely disposed of the charges."

Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder.

An appeal of the verdict is scheduled for two weeks, starting March 30.

However, Phillip and others fear the case could drag through the courts for years while Pickton exhausts the appeal process.

Pickton has also been charged with killing 20 other missing women, but it is also not clear whether that trial will ever be held.

Waiting several more years for an inquiry would be wrong, “given the frailty of human memories, the loss or destruction of relevant evidence with time, and the retirement or death of key witnesses,” says the letter sent to the politicians.

If the government does not grant an inquiry soon, Phillip said, those in attendance at today’s rally threatened to stage demonstrations during the 2010 Olympics to “draw this to the attention of the international community.”

“The families are sick and tired of being stonewalled,” he added.

David Eby, of the civil liberties association, also called on the government to cover expenses for victims’ families to attend Pickton’s appeal, as it did for the families during his 2007 trial.

And Eby said the group would like assurances that Pickton’s second trial on 20 counts of first-degree murder will proceed.

The government has indicated it may not, should the defence fail in its appeal bid, as Pickton is already serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

lculbert@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Families must pay own way for Pickton appeal hearing

JOSH WINGROVE
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
February 23, 2009 at 10:54 PM EST

The families of six women murdered by Robert Pickton will have to pay their own way if they want to attend a nine-day legal-appeals process scheduled for next month, B.C.'s attorney-general says.

The appeals, scheduled to begin March 30, are a largely technical exercise, as lawyers for the Crown and Mr. Pickton will present arguments in favour of a new trial, submitting “potential legal errors the Judge is alleged to have made …,” a letter to victims' families explains.

Mr. Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder, at a trial attended by many victims' families. Subsidies were provided to them to attend that trial.

But in a letter to families this month, British Columbia's Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor-General indicated that while the hearing will be open for the general public, “travel funding for family members to attend the hearing is not available.”
The province will still provide counselling for victims' families that attend the hearing, scheduled to be held at the B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver.

But yesterday, one family criticized the “callous and picayune” decision to cut travel funding, and said some of the families of the six women won't be able to afford to attend.

“I'm concerned that families who may want to be there will not be there,” said Ernie Crey, who believes his sister Dawn was killed at Mr. Pickton's farm, though she is not one of the six women whom Mr. Pickton was convicted of killing. Mr. Crey attended much of the trial.

“It's a goofy and wrong-headed decision and [the government] should reverse it,” he said.

The ministry letter, dated Feb. 16, lays out the procedural minutiae anticipated to make up the hearings. It also tells families they won't receive daily updates on the hearing through a government website for families of the victims of crime. A general summary of the arguments will be posted after the hearings are complete.

A decision on a new trial won't come out for another “many months,” the letter to families says.

It also says that Mr. Pickton, currently serving life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, will not be attending next month's hearings. He still faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 20 others.

Some of the graphic and disturbing evidence that was not heard by the jury will be reviewed at the appeal court, though it will largely be covered by a publication ban, the letter says.

The Crown and defence both filed for appeals of the conviction.

The Crown is appealing the jury's acquittal of Mr. Pickton on first-degree murder charges, and the trial judge's decision to divide the original 26 murder charges against Mr. Pickton into two trials, one of six counts and another of 20.

The Crown wants to proceed with the outstanding 20 murder charges only if Mr. Pickton's first six convictions are overturned, and argued a second trial shouldn't go ahead until the appeal is finished. Mr. Pickton's lawyers have pushed for a speedy trial on the other 20 charges.

Under its Victim Travel Fund, the B.C. government allocates up to $3,000 per family of any eligible crime victim for “attendance and participation in justice-related proceedings,” including anything “expected to impact the outcome, disposition or results of the proceeding or hearing.” It's available to immediate family - parents, siblings, a spouse and children - who live more than 100 kilometres away from the court. It's not clear which, if any, families of Mr. Pickton's victims used up their $3,000 allocation during 2007's lengthy trial, or if additional funding would be available for those who hadn't.

With reports from Robert Matas

© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Hundreds march to honour Vancouver's missing women

By Graeme Wood, Vancouver Sun
February 14, 2009

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Saturday afternoon for the 18th annual Women's Memorial March to honour missing and murdered women in the community.

"It's an opportunity for the people in the community to come together and grieve in an open and supportive way," said event co-organizer Marlene George.

"Every year it's always been bigger and bigger," she said.

The march began at the Carnegie Centre after speeches from native leaders and family members and friends of the victims, many of whom worked in the sex trade.

David Dennis, the president of the United Native Nations, a native advocacy group, was one of the speakers. On behalf of the UNN and other prominent native groups such as the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, Dennis called on the provincial government for a public inquiry and drew loud cheers from the audience.

"We demand a full public inquiry into the ongoing issue of the murdered and missing women from aboriginal communities, in particular surrounding the murdered and missing women of the Downtown Eastside [and] the Highway of Tears in northern British Columbia," he said as he read a letter addressed to Premier Gordon Campbell.

Jason Fleury, a native himself and brother of murder victim Mona Wilson, expressed his anger regarding the trial of former Port Coquitlam pig farmer William Pickton. Pickton was convicted of six second degree murders of women from the Downtown Eastside and charged with another 20 for which he has not gone to trial for.

"There is a war against our people and it's going on every day," said Fleury.

George said the Pickton case still resonates in the minds of the community.

"I think that people are taking responsibility or feeling they need to do something because there's no closure and it's pretty distressing to know families haven't got their daughters' remains back to bury yet even seven years after they were discovered on the farm."

At his first march was Malcolm Dolan, 20, of Surrey, who spoke at the centre about his murdered mother.

"I thought I should say something out of respect for my mom. I never got the chance to know her and I wish I did," said Dolan.

Dolan was only three months old when his mother died.

The march stalled traffic downtown as the crowd, estimated at about 800, visited 21 spots where some of the women were last seen. Red and yellow roses were laid and prayers were given as the scent of smudge filled the air.

Native elders led the procession through streets and alleys as drums beat loudly as a symbol of the heart beat of all native nations. Along the way people sang the Women's Warrior March song.

At one point the march stopped in front of the Vancouver Police Department on Main Street where east Vancouver resident CeeJai Julian, 40, spoke emotionally about the murder of her sister in 1992.

"It took me a long time to start to like the police. There are still struggles today because of the amount of disrespect they show each and every one us down here. We're human beings and these tears are real," said Julian stoking the crowd into cheers.

Julian broke down in tears after a police officer guarding the doors made eye contact with her to listen to her story.

March co-leader Kat Norris, a community activist, said there is a long history of wrong doing by some police officers in the Downtown Eastside when it comes to dealing with aboriginal women and sex trade workers.

Members of the Downtown Eastside PACE Society, a women's advocacy group, called for legal reforms surrounding the sex trade.

Norris said eight other communities, including Victoria, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary, held events of their own for murdered and missing women.

"its our way of showing support and love for these women," said Norris.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Hundreds march to honour Vancouver's missing women

Where have my sisters gone?

Hundreds march through Vancouver to rally for missing women.

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Her mother and two sisters died in Vancouver's troubled Downtown Eastside - their bodies beaten and left to die, likely by the dealers that were fuelling their habits.

But Skundaal, a Haida woman who uses only one name, says their cases received little attention, their deaths little justice, and to her, the explanation is tragically simple.

"It's just another Indian," Skundaal said Saturday before an annual march to remember missing women in Vancouver and across B.C.

"These are hate crimes against women, women of colour, aboriginal women."

Hundreds of people snaked through the Downtown Eastside to the beat of aboriginal drumming to highlight the dozens of women, many aboriginal, who have died or gone missing from Vancouver or B.C.'s so-called Highway of Tears.

They include the six women Robert Pickton has been convicted of killing and the 20 others whose deaths he is still charged with.

There are the 18 women who've gone missing along the western stretch of Highway 16 across northern British Columbia.

And there are others, including more than 30 still on the Vancouver Police's list of women missing from the Downtown Eastside.

Many of those who attended the Valentine's Day march, some family members of the missing or dead women, focused on the poverty and racism that is the root of many of the problems the women faced - and, they said, the reason they are still waiting for justice.

"If there were women missing or had been murdered who had European ancestry, who came from middle-class backgrounds, there would be outrage, this would be on the front pages every day," local activist Angela MacDougall said before the event began.

"This is about racism, this is about hate. It's just enough."

Police have long been criticized for ignoring cases of missing women in the Downtown Eastside or failing to realize that many of disappearances may have been the work of a serial killer.

Calls for a special police unit to handle such cases began in the early 1990s, but the missing women task force wasn't set up until 1998.

And as recently as 1999, less than three years before the raid at Pickton's notorious farm in Port Coquitlam, Vancouver police said they didn't believe some of the women had been murdered, much less by the same person.

Police have defended their work on the missing women files, and have insisted they have tried to build a better relationship with residents in the Downtown Eastside.

They say the missing women task force continues to investigate outstanding cases.

But that's cold comfort for families who have already lost their sisters, daughters and mothers.

Jason Fluery, whose sister Mona Wilson is among the women Pickton was convicted of murdering, told a packed room at a community centre before the march that police and politicians have turned a "blind eye" to the missing women.

"My sister was a person with a heart and skin and blood like everybody else in this room," said Fluery.

"It goes on everywhere down here, because nobody cares. Our people are dying every day because of it."

Fluery and others repeated calls for a public inquiry into the Pickton case and the other missing women in the province.

B.C.'s attorney general has said any decision about a possible inquiry would have to wait until Pickton's legal saga is finished.

Pickton is appealing his convictions and the Crown has said it doesn't plan on prosecuting the outstanding 20 charges if Pickton's earlier convictions are upheld.

Ernie Crey's younger sister, Dawn Crey, disappeared in December 2000 at age 43. Her DNA was found on Pickton's farm in 2004, although he was never charged in her death.

Crey said if the legal process stops, the families of the women who were connected to the Pickton farm but for whom no one was convicted or even charged may never know what happened.

"It causes me anxiety and anguish," said Crey.

"My concern is that that is where it will all end. This leaves a question mark for a family like mine."

Rallies and marches were also planned in Victoria, Calgary and Winnipeg.
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