Victims' families hold vigil at Robert Pickton's farm

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

The families of Robert Pickton's victims held a vigil at his Port Coquitlam, B.C., farm on Wednesday evening, a day before the serial killer is eligible to apply for day parole.

In 2007, Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of full parole for 25 years. The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, around 25 kilometres east of downtown Vancouver.

The serial killer becomes eligible to apply for day parole — meaning he would have to return to prison or a halfway home at night — on Feb. 22, according to the Parole Board of Canada.

In a statement, a parole board spokesperson said there is no hearing automatically scheduled for Pickton on Thursday.

"The offender day parole eligibility date is on Feb. 22, 2024, but that does not mean a hearing is automatically scheduled for this date," the spokesperson wrote. "Offenders need to apply to obtain a day parole review."

Victims' families held a vigil at Pickton's farm, which is now held by the B.C. government.

Michele Pineault, the mother of Pickton victim Stephanie Lane, said the serial killer does not deserve to take one step out of prison as long as he lives. (Jim Mulleder/CBC)

"It's important to honour the women that lost their lives here, and for my daughter," said Michele Pineault, the mother of Stephanie Lane, whose partial skeletal remains were found at Pickton's farm.

Lane was among a number of Indigenous women suspected to have been taken by Pickton from the Downtown Eastside. She was reported missing in 1997 by her mother, but her remains were not found until 2003 on the pig farm.

Pickton was never charged with her killing, despite Lane's remains being returned to her family in 2014. She is believed to be Pickton's youngest victim, aged 20 when she went missing.

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Stephanie Lane is believed to be the youngest of Robert Pickton's victims. She was 20 when she was reported missing in 1997. (Jim Mulleder/CBC)

Pineault, who called the police response to Pickton's killings a "shit show," said she was aghast at the idea that the serial killer could apply for day parole.

"Pickton should not walk on this Earth. He doesn't deserve to take one step out of where he is," she said. "He needs to stay where he is until he dies."

Concerns over evidence disposition

The vigil at Pickton's farm also came amid ongoing concerns that RCMP are applying to dispose of evidence from the Pickton case.

Lily Louis-Irving, who attended the vigil to honour her aunt Sherry Irving, said the ongoing applications have been stressful on the family.

Pickton was found guilty in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of women who disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (Rafferty Baker/CBC)

"My dad sent an email out to them trying to get them to look further into it as my aunt's evidence has not been yet looked into yet," she said.

In 2020, the RCMP began filing applications to the court to obtain judicial authorizations to dispose of exhibits that were brought forward in the 2007 trial, with applications continuing to make their way through the courts this year.

In a previous statement to CBC News, RCMP said they are not authorized to hold on to evidence indefinitely, and are required by law to return property to their rightful owners or dispose of it if it is unclaimed.

B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said authorities would do everything in their power to ensure families are involved in any ongoing applications.

"We know that this is an incredibly sensitive issue for the families," he said. "We want to make sure that everything is done properly and that their concerns need to be taken into account on any decision that's made on this."

Support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Immediate emotional assistance and crisis support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national hotline at 1-844-413-6649.

You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.