WILL FIVE BILLION DOLLARS BE ENOUGH TO HIDE VANCOUVER’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET?
How Canada hid the truth about the Hell's Angels, the RCMP, and the Pig Farm
WILL FIVE BILLION DOLLARS BE ENOUGH TO HIDE VANCOUVER’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET?
THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT THE SERIAL KILLER WHO CHOPPED UP INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND FED THEM TO PIGS
For decades, Vancouver has been famous for tolerance. The city was tolerant towards cannabis use long before legalization. It was home to North America’s first needle exchange program, and later the first supervised injection site for heroin addicts.
Likewise is the city known for its tolerant attitude towards sexual minorities, money laundering, and prostitution. There’s a reason Vancouver is popular with criminals, and it’s not the weather.
Unfortunately, there is a dark side to this tolerance. Vancouver has also long been to known for its laissez-faire attitude towards the murder of vulnerable minorities, especially indigenous women from the Downtown Eastside. Although it is difficult to know how many women have disappeared over the years, some estimate that over 900 people have vanished from the streets of Vancouver over the past thirty years.
Recently, we published an piece investigating a series of recent disappearances of indigenous women in Vancouver. In it, we tell the story of the notorious pig farmer and serial killer named Robert Pickton.
We suspect that many people know the broad outlines of his story, but are not aware of the history of the movement demanding justice for the missing and murdered indigenous women of Turtle Island, or why it is of such vital importance now.
Your average Canadian citizen, who believes what they hear on the CBC, likely believes that the Pickton case, while horrific, ended with the perpetrators being brought to justice. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, the Pickton trial, along with the subsequent commission and the federal inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, was a massive PR campaign designed to sweep the truth under the rug.
The reality is that authorities ignored the problem of missing and murdered women for decades. It was only when rumours about the missing women began attracting international attention that authorities sprang into action.
When “America’s Most Wanted” did an episode about Vancouver’s missing women, which aired in 1999, people of influence realized how bad the situation could be for the Vancouver brand.
The city likes to market itself as an investment destination for foreign millionaires, so the international reputation of the city is of prime importance to developers.
Let’s recap. The police knew about Pickton’s crimes for years. Presumably, federal authorities were also aware of his crimes, and allowed them to continue. It was only after international attention began damaging Vancouver’s reputation that the Pickton farm was raided. This is what leads many people familiar with the case to suspect that the true motives of Canadian authorities had nothing to do with justice, but damage control. That kind of press just isn’t good for property values.
Most people don’t want to live somewhere where the cops let serial killers chop people up and feed them to pigs.
Who would?
ENTER THE PUBLICATION BAN
Most people, upon encountering information about Robert Pickton for the first time, will probably ask a very reasonable question: “Why haven’t I heard all this before?”
There’s a very simple reason. The government covered it up. A publication ban made it illegal for journalists to report on the case for years.
In fact, the whole reason that Pickton was charged may have been so that this publication ban could be put in place. It’s certainly clear that his trial had nothing to do with justice.
In 2002, Robert Pickton was arrested. Soon afterwards, a publication ban was put in place, which made it illegal to report on many aspects of the case.
According to a 2003 CBC article, the ban included "any submissions, representations or rulings respecting evidence or the nature of the evidence taken at the preliminary hearing of Robert William Pickton," and "extends to any publication in any newspaper, on the Internet or broadcast by any means."
In other words, the version of events presented in the media was a carefully-curated spectacle, and it was illegal for anyone to contradict the official narrative.
In 2003, Vancouver won a bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Over the next seven years, over 4 billion dollars was invested in giving the city a major facelift.
In 2010, Team Canada triumphed over Team U.S.A. in the gold-medal hockey game, when Sidney Crosby scored an epic five-hole “Golden Goal” IN OVERTIME. It was as glorious a victory as any sports fan could hope for. It couldn’t have been any more perfect if it was scripted.
Everyone was ecstatic; Canada’s humiliating defeat to Team U.S.A in 1996 had been avenged. The Vancouver Olympics were a smashing success.
No one paid too much attention to the indigenous activists and anarchists who were all mad about the Olympics for some reason. People like that are always mad about something.
And so it was that by 2010, most people had forgotten all about the Pickton farm, despite the fact that not one cop had paid the price for allowing these gruesome crimes to continue for decades.
The publication ban was lifted in August of 2010.
FIVE NOT-SO-FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PICKTON CASE
Robert Pickton is up for eligible for parole in 2024.
Although Pickton was convicted on six charges of second-degree murder, he will be able to apply for day parole and unescorted absences in 2024, and for full parole in 2027.
2. We have no idea how many people Robert Pickton actually killed.
Robert Pickton, initially charged with 26 counts of first-degree murder, was only ever convicted on six counts of second-degree murder.
The CBC and other Canadian mainstream media reported that Pickton confessed to 49 murders, but this claim is based upon the following video.
Many people who watch the above video will conclude that it proves nothing, as the audio quality makes the whole conversation unintelligible.
We are told that DNA linked to 33 different women were linked to the Pickton farm, but the police only ever charged Pickton with 26 murders, and he was only ever convicted of six counts of second-degree murder. Why?
The official story is that while there was DNA evidence from more than 30 people, there was only bone fragments from just six women. Because the type of evidence in those 6 cases was more similar to that of the other cases, it was decided to proceed with those first. The public was led to believe that trials for the remaining murders would be held afterwards, but this never actually happened, and the remainder of the charges were stayed.
The reason that Pickton was not convicted of first-degree murder is because the jury was not convinced that he was solely responsible for all of the deaths. According to the Canadian True Crime podcast, which did a four-part series on the case, “The criteria for first-degree murder is that it must have be proven to planned, deliberate, and premeditated, with the implication that he acted alone. The jury obviously didn’t believe that this was the case.”
As for why 20 out of the 26 cases against him were dropped - that is a question that has never adequately been answered.
3. The other owners of the Pickton farm were never criminally charged.
The infamous Port Coquitlam pig farm was co-owned by three siblings, Robert Pickton, David Pickton, and Linda Wright. Neither of Robert Pickton’s siblings have ever been charged criminally in connection to the case, despite the fact that they co-owned the pig farm where mountains of evidence of gruesome crimes emerged.
They weren’t even called to testify at his trial.
4. Family members of some of Robert Pickton’s victims have brought a civil suit against his brother and sister, as well as the police.
In May 2013, the Tyee reported that “Seven of the women’s children filed civil suit documents in the BC Supreme Court this morning, containing shocking allegations of negligence or gross negligence by authorities -- including the RCMP, Vancouver Police Department, City of Vancouver, Minister of Justice Shirley Bond, and Crown Prosecutors -- and directly accusing Pickton’s siblings Dave and Linda of full knowledge and “abetting” his crimes.”
The court filings alleged that “David Pickton and Linda Wright were at all times aware that Robert Pickton… and others tortured and killed sex workers and other persons at the Pickton property, and were aware that Robert Pickton represented a danger to persons attending the Pickton property. The suit argues that as occupiers of the property, David Pickton and Linda Wright were negligent or grossly negligent.”
The case is being brought forward by lawyers Jason Gratl, Robin Whitehead and Neil Chantler, on behalf of seven family members. The victims also intend to prove “that the Vancouver Police Department, RCMP, New Westminster Police, and prosecution service “caused unnecessary psychological suffering” to the family members of the victims.
The lawsuit specifically named five members of the RCMP - Richard Hall, Earl Moulton, Brad Zalys, Ruth Chapman, and Frank Henley.
A more recent article stated that 13 plaintiffs were awarded $50 000 each, but it seems that the matter is not over, as some plaintiffs intend to continue pursuing the Pickton siblings in court.
5. The Pickton family is suing the government, demanding compensation for damaging their farm.
According to the BBC, the lawsuit alleges that the “siblings say the RCMP promised them compensation for damages but they haven't received any."
“They claim the search excluded them from properties they had lawful rights to use and they accuse the RCMP of demolishing, removing, destroying or rendering uninhabitable various buildings and equipment on the property.”
If what they allege is true, we must ask: Why did the police promise to pay off the family members of a serial killer?