|
Canadian serial killer gets life
12/12/2007 08:53 - (SA)
Vancouver - Convicted serial killer Robert "Willy" Pickton was sentenced by a Canadian judge on Tuesday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after victims' families condemned him for his "evil deeds".
The maximum sentence came after a jury found Pickton, 58, guilty on six counts of second-degree murder on Sunday following a trial filled with ghastly evidence of his killing spree.
Prosecutors said Pickton had picked up prostitutes from Vancouver's squalid Downtown Eastside, killed them, butchered them and disposed of their bodies by feeding them to pigs or taking them to a rendering plant.
"This case is unique," said Justice James Williams in sentencing Pickton. "This is that rare case that properly warrants the maximum parole eligibility."
No remorse
Williams said that Pickton, who did not address the court, had shown no remorse in the deaths of Marnie Frey, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe and Georgina Faith Papin.
"No explanation is apparent," Williams said.
The six victims had "troubled lives ... in the ugly grasp of substance addiction, people who were selling their bodies to survive," he said. "What happened to them was senseless and despicable."
Before sentencing, 18 wrenching statements were read by relatives of the six victims, or on their behalf.
Papin's sister Elana Papin looked directly at Pickton, from her seat in the witness box, and said angrily: "I will never forget the damage you caused our family with your evil deeds."
Pickton, in a new Christmas sweater he wore for the verdict, sat motionless throughout the entire procedure in the bullet-resistant prisoner's box, looking straight ahead and showing no visible reaction.
Second trial
The pig farmer faces a second trial next year on another 20 charges of murdering women in this Pacific Coast city.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Pickton to the maximum 25 years in jail before possible parole. "The extent (and) depravity of the circumstances are unique," said prosecutor Geoff Baragar.
- AFP
|
News
