Canadian True Crime - Robert Pickton: The Final Chapter [2]

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

[Part 2 of 4] The Pickton brothers become officially wealthy, and open the infamous party venue known as Piggy’s Palace. There’s an alarming spike in vulnerable women vanishing from the Downtown Eastside - but two would live to tell their stories. Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast.CONTENT WARNING: this series includes graphic details that will be distressing for many listeners to hear, including mention of sexual assault, residential schools, Indigenous issues, child abuse and suicide. Crisis referral services:Free National Indian Residential School Crisis Line: call 1-866-925-4419 toll freeHope for Wellness free chatline - 1-800-721-0066 or using the chat box on the websiteGovernment of Canada Crisis and Mental Health support  Resources for Sexual assault survivorsCanadian True Crime donates monthly to those facing injustice. Proceeds from this series are being donated to the WISH Drop-in Centre Society, supporting street-based sex workers on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside since 1984.Full list of resources, information sources, and more:www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening. This is part two of a four-part series, piece together primarily from the public record, including court documents, newspaper archives, the final report of the missing women commission of inquiry and on the farm by the late investigative journalist Stevie Cameron.

We left off in the early to mid-1990s as women kept disappearing from Vancouver's downtown east side and police continued to resist the idea of a serial predator. Meanwhile, Robert Picton regularly disposed of his barrels of waste and remains at a rendering plant right next to the downtown east side. An employee of that rendering plant would later remember seeing large chunks of meat floating in the waste, but there was no scrutiny or oversight. A woman named Nancy Clark disappeared from Vancouver Island at the exact same time that both David and Robert Picton were working there on a demonstration. militian job. Her DNA would later be located on the farm, revealing that by at least 1991, the killings had begun, and they would continue for another 12 years. During this time, Robert Picton formed a friendship with a woman who would later become central to his story. Lisa Yelts was a former sex worker from the downtown east side, still connected to the biker scene,

and raising two teenage sons after a failed marriage. Her older son was friends with David Pickton's son, and she lived near the farm. One evening, she was grateful when Robert brought her boys home after they missed curfew, and a friendship grew from there. Lisa and her sons eventually moved on to the farm and would describe her friendship with Robert as straightforward and non-romantic. They spent time together doing ordinary things. and Robert was generous and small practical ways, sharing meat from the farm with Lisa,

spotting deals and even setting her up with a Costco membership. She teased him about his hygiene, and he took it in stride. On the other hand, Lisa Yelts couldn't stand David Picton. She thought he was domineering and cruel, and he didn't like her either. When he yelled insults at her, Robert would jump to her defense. That made Lisa feel quite loyal to him. But she had a private unease that she never voiced at the time and later told author Stevie Cameron.

Lisa was an avid reader of true crime books and remembered reading about the American serial killer Ed Gain, who was known for fashioning keepsakes from human bones and skin. But it was actually Ed Gaines' family dynamic that struck her. It seemed similar to what Robert Pickett, had told her about his own childhood, a mean-spirited, controlling mother and a cold, abusive father. Something about the similarities unsettled Lisa, but she couldn't figure out why. She insisted she wasn't afraid of Robert and believed he would never hurt her.

She kept her thoughts to herself. Lisa Yelds would later maintain she had no idea about Robert's trips to the downtown east side. He kept that side of his life a secret from her. The next year, 1995, saw a spike in the number of women who went missing. Catherine Gonzalez grew up in Ontario and moved to British Columbia. She was described as slim with blonde hair and blue eyes and scars on her cheek, her back and right forearm. Catherine got married and had a daughter, but her life started to unravel because of her hazardous use of drugs and alcohol. She separated from her husband, lost custody of their daughter,

and ended up on the downtown east side, where she was soon arrested for shoplifting, stealing, and some other offenses. Her family would tell the missing women inquiry that she kept in regular contact with them despite all of this. Just a few months after she served some time in prison, Catherine Gonzalez disappeared. She was 27 years. She was 27 years. years old. The following month, Kathy Knight went missing. Her older sister would describe her as lovable with chubby cheeks and always searching for someone to love her.

Kathy had grown up in poverty with a father who had alcohol use disorder. She suffered childhood abuse and began using drugs and alcohol as a teenager to cope. By the time she was 15, Kathy was homeless and relying on sex work to survive. But her sister said she kept in regular contact with phone calls and sometimes came to stay with her. Shortly before Kathy's 29th birthday, the phone call stopped abruptly. She was never seen again. Shortly after that, Dorothy Spence was reported missing. Dorothy was from Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba.

She moved to Alberta, then Vancouver, sharing an apartment with her sister for some years. They were close, and her sister would describe her as a very good cook with a heart of gold. But Dorothy struggled with substance use disorder and ended up on the downtown east side, where she was last seen age 33. The last woman to go missing in 1995 was Diana Melnick, who was last seen at the end of December. Diana came from a middle-class family and went to a private school. She loved horses and did not like mornings but was otherwise happy. Diana began using drugs and her life began to unravel.

She ended up facing charges for petty crime and sex work on the downtown East side and failed to make a couple of court appearances. Then she disappeared. Diana Malnick was only 20 years old. Her DNA would later be found on the walls of a freezer on the Picton farm. Back at the farm, major changes had been unfolding. The eldest Picton sibling, Sister Linda, was now a successful realtor and saw an opportunity to sell some parcels of the family's land holdings.

Port Coquitlam was no longer rural. It was rapidly transforming into a growing suburban hub, and they didn't need that much land. She negotiated the sale of three major parcels of land for a total of $5.1 million. That's in the mid-90s. Today, it's worth more than $9 million. Linda took her share and continued to distance herself from her brothers.

Robert and David were no longer land rich and cash poor. They were officially wealthy. Flushed with cash, David Pickton bought a nearby property with a large corrugated metal shed and converted it into a dance hall and bar for his biker friends and local hangers-on, where he would be in charge. He called it Piggy's Palace. With room for about 150 people, Piggy's Palace featured live bands,

heavy drinking and food, including that famous barbecued pork prepared by Robert and his associate Pat Casanova. It quickly gained a reputation as a lively local hotspot, drawing bikers, drug dealers, sex workers, off-duty police, business owners and even city officials. The mayor of Port Coquitlam visited once. Neighbors complained about the noise from the loud music to the Harley Davidson's lined up outside. The city tried to shut the events down, but David pushed back, claiming their events were to benefit local charities.

He made it clear that they would continue. And they did. Robert Picton was pleased with Piggy's Palace. He'd spent decades in social isolation, known as a rat-faced man with a toothy grin and a greying beard, frequently seen around town wearing muddied rubber boots and clothes stained with blood. But now he had cash, and people noticed he showed up at Piggy's Palace wearing new jeans

and seemed to be taking more showers. He bought an expensive hair-beye's house. piece to cover his balding head. It was also time for him to upgrade from the old motor home. He purchased a large mobile trailer home and placed it on the farm, using the living room as a spare bedroom for his various friends and acquaintances, including the women who came to clean, help him with work and just keep him company. But it's hard to undo decades of bad hygiene habits. Like everything else on the farm, it wasn't long before his new mobile trailer home and his new hairpiece were a filthy mess. By this point, Robert's close friend Lisa Yelds, had moved off the farm with her sons.

She would tell author Stevie Cameron that the place had changed after all that new cash, and she didn't like many of the new people coming around, but she stayed in contact with Robert. Soon after she moved out, he phoned asking her for a favour. He was worried the police were going to raid Piggy's Palace and he knew she had a police scanner and listened to police calls often. He wanted her to tell him if she ever heard anything on the scanner that he needed to know. Robert Picton certainly seemed paranoid about something. By the mid-1990s, whispers of a serial predator

in the Vancouver area intensified, after the battered, naked bodies of three women were found in a remote area of the Fraser Valley, about 50 kilometres east of Vancouver. Tracy Olajide was 13, Tammy Pipe was 24, and Victoria Yonker was 35, and the last time each of them had been seen

was on the downtown east side. DNA evidence found at the scene confirmed that at least two of these women were killed by the same man. Police compiled a list of suspects and began DNA comparisons. They ruled out a local violent offender on parole and turned their attention south of the border to a house painter named Gary Ridgeway. They strongly suspected he was the serial killer known as the Green River Killer,

who'd been targeting sex workers in the Seattle and Tacoma areas and leaving their bodies in remote woodland locations. And Ridgeway knew that the police in the United States were tracking him and had his DNA, so he would often drive three hours north to vacation in Vancouver with his wife during this period. Gary Ridgeway was ultimately ruled out of the Fraser Valley murders, but he was the Green River killer and would be convicted of murdering nearly 50 women in Washington state. There's never been definitive evidence linking him to victims in Vancouver, but many

remain convinced he was active in the region at the time. Police then turned their attention to another familiar name. The Picton brothers were already well known to law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions. David had that sexual assault conviction and Rob, and Rob, was on that bad trick list put together by sex workers. The police focused more on Robert. DNA would later clear him of the Fraser Valley murders, which remain unsolved to this day. But during this time, Robert Picton was placed under increased police scrutiny.

And the women continue to go missing. Francis Young was a trained pastry chef, known to have a great sense of humour, a big happy smile and a love of makeup and cosmetics. She was close with her family and loved animals. Francis or Fran also struggled with depression and substance use and was relying on sex work on the downtown East side to pay her bills. The 36-year-old was last seen there in April of 96. Fran's mother was of course frantic and reported her missing to the Vancouver.

She was told there wasn't much they could do. Her mother never gave up, but Fran Young was never seen again. The family of Tanya Marlow Hollick never gave up either. She was just 23 years old when she disappeared. Tanya's mother's family is from the Shkateen First Nation and her family history was marked by significant loss and instability. Tanya's mother and siblings had been placed in foster care after her own mother died of cancer. Two of Tanya's uncles died by suicide as teenagers. Tanya's aunt, Belinda Williams, disappeared from the downtown east side in 1978

and had never been found. Tanya went to high school in Vancouver and her loved ones described her as playful, young and caring. As a young adult, Tanya lived with her mother in Vancouver for a time and would then bounce back to her sister-case. Kathy's home in Clemtu First Nation, but she struggled with substance use disorder and engaged in sex work on the downtown east side. At 20 years old, Tanya was living with a common law partner

and gave birth to a son who motivated her to enter rehabilitation. The couple split up and shared custody, but Tanya struggled after that. She started using again and doing sex work on the downtown town-easide, but still checked in with her home. In October of 96, 23-year-old Tanya was supposed to celebrate her auntie's birthday, but she never showed up. Three days later, her mother tried to file a missing person report with the Vancouver PD and was told that Tanya was probably just out having fun. Their response was essentially, don't waste out time. Tanya Marlow-Holic was never seen again.

Her DNA would later be found on the walls of the freezer at the Picton farm. That same year, a sex worker named Tracy was living in the downtown Eastside with her husband, stuck in a cycle of hazardous substance use. But Tracy had one firm rule. She never used while working to make sure she kept her wits about her. She was determined to make it back. back to her children, but she couldn't do that if she didn't survive. Tracy had seen the lanky, balding man known as Willie Picton many times in the low-rent hotel she lived in,

but he'd never been her client, so she was surprised one night when he approached her to go with him for oral sex. She got into his filthy truck, and he drove her out to his mobile trailer home on the farm. It was almost as gross as the truck. When it was time to pay, Tracy was caught off guard when Willie suddenly pulled out a knife and accused her of stealing his wallet. She pushed him. He swiped at her, cutting two buttons off her shirt. She ran outside and tried to figure out what to do. After a period of time, Willie emerged with Tracy's handbag and wallet and got in his pickup truck. It was time to drive her back.

He chatted to her the entire way as though nothing happened, telling her he liked to help sex workers kick their drug addictions. But chillingly, he told her that if they went back to the drugs, then they didn't deserve to live, at least in his mind. Quote, they're useless, they're better off dead. Tracy went to the wish drop in centre and reported what had happened and what Willie Picton told her. She learned it was a familiar story. He'd said the same things to others. The sex workers realized he seemed to be targeting women who he thought were dependent on drugs,

promising to help them but never actually doing anything. And when they inadvertently relapsed, he would suddenly turn nasty, telling them they were useless fucking bitches. Tracy's encounter with Willie Picton was noted in the bad trick list. and he never approached her again. She didn't report the knife attack to the police.

In fact, the first time she spoke publicly about this encounter was to author Stevie Cameron. By that point, Tracy developed a theory about why she lived to tell the tale of her trip to the farm. She believes that he realized she wasn't using drugs. She didn't ask him for drugs either. Tracy did not make for a good target, so he moved on.

The last woman to disappear from the downtown east side in 1996 was 22-year-old Olivia William, a member of Babine Lake First Nation in Central British Columbia. Olivia's mother passed away when she was just a few months old, and after that her siblings were split up. Olivia was raised on a remote reserve, but kept in touch with her siblings with regular phone calls and visits. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and was described as having a sweet child's face.

According to her brother, Olivia had trauma as a result of suffering childhood sexual abuse and began using drugs and alcohol to cope. She ran away from the reserve back to Burns Lake where she was born. She gave birth to her first child who was removed from her care. She ended up on Vancouver's downtown east side, living in the rainbow. hotel. She got pregnant a second time. According to the missing women's inquiry, quote, She had the baby on November 16, 1996, walked out of the hospital and was not seen again. Her case remains unsolved. By early January of 1997, a woman had already disappeared from the downtown

east side. Marie La La La Laplace was originally from Saskatchewan and had lived in a Alberta before ending up in Vancouver's downtown east side. Almost nothing is known about her, other than the fact that she was First Nations. She had brown, short, curly hair and a flower tattoo on her left shoulder. Marie was last seen on New Year's Day in 97, but she wasn't reported missing for another few years because she reportedly lived a socially isolated lifestyle and didn't keep in contact with her family. Marie Lelaverte was 47 years old. That same month, Stephanie Lane disappeared, age 20.

Her mother was Métis and her father was mixed race. She grew up in East Vancouver. Stephanie reportedly had an amazing singing voice and loved to perform. She also excelled academically at school and had many friends. But according to her mother, mother, Stephanie fell in with a bad crowd, started using heroin, and ended up drifting to the downtown east side, where she worked at a strip club. She gave birth to a baby boy and had been desperately trying to overcome substance use disorder. She went missing shortly after she

began detox, age 20. Her son was only nine months old. Stephanie's mother, Michelle, would recall her daughter's contagious laughter. Quote, She was very gifted at art and dancing and making everyone laugh. She was a funny, funny girl. Stephanie Lane's DNA would later be found

inside a deep freezer on the Picton farm. A sex worker named Renada was approached by David Picton who offered her $100 for oral sex, more than double the going rate. He told her, I'm not a cop.

and pulled out his penis as a show of good faith. She refused. He was dirty and smelly. He offered her drugs as well, but she had a strict rule that she only accepted cash. David then asked her if she knew anyone else, saying the request wasn't actually for him. It was for his brother back at the farm, describing Robert as an invalid who probably couldn't get it up,

but liked to have a girl try anyway. Renata suggested a friend of hers, 24-year-old Sherry Irving, who'd been staying with her and owed her a small amount of rent. The offer from David Picton would settle that debt, and Sherry would be able to purchase a ferry ticket to Vancouver Island to stay with a friend straight afterwards. Renata offered to go with Sherry out to the farm so she wouldn't be by herself. Sherry Irving was outgoing and striking, described as having long blonde hair and a wide smile. She was part indigenous. Her mother was a member of Lil Watt First Nation,

and her father was in the military. Their family moved around a lot. Sherry loved rock music and camping and excelled in track and field as a child. But her parents later split up, and her mother passed away. Sherry started engaging in hazardous substance use, and eventually found herself on the downtown east side doing sex work to survive.

That fall, Sherry packed her bag and David Picton picked her up with Renata and drove them out to the farm. Renata saw Willie Picton appear on the porch and rubber boots and jeans. Sherry said goodbye to her friend and walked off with Willie. Renata would later say she had an immediate sinking feeling that she might never see her friend again, but she dismissed it. She ended up forming a business relationship with David Pickton, helping him to find women to take back to the farm supposedly for his brother. They were both weird men, and she didn't much like either of them, but business was business. Months later, Renata heard that Sherry had never made it to Vancouver Island. In fact,

there was no evidence she even left the area. The life. Last time anyone saw her was at the Picton farm. Renata reported her friend missing to police, but there's no evidence that any action was taken. Sherry Irving's DNA would later be found on the walls of one of the freezers on the farm. That February of 1997, 29-year-old Sharon Evelyn Ward went missing from Vancouver. She was a petite white woman who'd lived a tough life with her.

many problems, and she coped with drug and alcohol use according to a web page set up by her sister. A phone call was the last time her family heard from her, and they weren't even home. She left a voice message with a return number. Sharon's sister said their mother tried to call the number she left many times, but there was no answer. Sharon Ward just disappeared without a trace, age 29. Then there was Wendy. You'll recall she was the sex worker who escaped from the farm with handcuffs on her wrist

after a vicious knife fight. Shortly after she was rushed into emergency surgery, the police would receive word that a second stabbing victim was on the way to the same hospital. That's coming up in a moment. Proceeds from this series are being donated to the Wish Dropin Center Society, supporting street-based sex workers on Vancouver's downtown east side since 1984. That cold night in 1997, Wendy didn't recognize the man who pulled up in the

red pickup truck. The 30-year-old sex worker had probably heard of Willie Picton, but she didn't connect the dots. She needed the money, so she agreed to his offer of more than double the going rate to go back to the farm with him. But then, he suddenly slipped handcuffs on one of her hands, followed by a struggle involving a butcher's knife from his kitchen table. They were both injured, but Wendy managed to escape the farm and flagged down a passing car for help. She was rushed into emergency surgery in critical condition,

with deep stab wounds and a punctured lung. A short time later, police received, word that a second stabbing victim was on his way to the same hospital, a male. It was Robert Willie Picton. Wendy had slashed across his jugular vein and he lost a lot of blood. The only reason she was able to escape him was because he was losing consciousness. Somehow he managed to drive himself to the hospital where he was also rushed into emergency surgery. The police were already at that hospital investigating what had happened with Wendy. An officer went through Robert Pickton's dirty clothes looking for evidence and found a small key in one of his pants pockets. He immediately

thought of those handcuffs and took the key straight over to his colleague with Wendy. The lock turned with a soft click and the cuffs fell off Wendy's wrist. She would later tell journalist Stevie Cameron that looking back, it wasn't the violence that disturbed her the most. It was those handcuffs. She realized that what happened to her was no accident or misunderstanding. It was deliberate and planned. It seemed like an open and shut case. Wendy had the handcuffs around her wrist

and Robert Picton had the key to those handcuffs in his pocket. The local newspaper covered the story but didn't name Robert or Wendy. They referred to him only as a 49-year-old man saying he would be charged. If this were any other case, that might have been where this entire story ends. But it's really only just the beginning. Wendy had been seriously injured and needed intensive care over the next few weeks as she recovered. Robert Picton was sent home after three days to continue his recovery there. Police had released him on a peace bond that required him to stay at the farm and not contact Wendy, as they were still investigating.

Robert told his brother and friends that he'd been snoozing innocently in his pickup truck that night when this sex worker Wendy woke him up. He drove her out to the farm, but she saw a wad of cash on the table and grabbed a knife threatening him. The bitch stabbed him, he said, as he tried to defend him. stabbing her back. There was no explanation for the handcuffs. A few days later, Robert was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and unlawful confinement. His good friend Lisa Yelds was caring for him post-surgery, and she noticed he was filled with rage, directed all towards Wendy. He asked her to find out where Wendy lived so he could deal with her himself.

Lisa told him to just drop it. Robert hired a private investigator to look into Wendy and also retained one of Vancouver's most expensive criminal lawyers to defend him. A trial date was set. But the case never made it to trial. The details Wendy gave in her police statement was a credible early warning of what was happening to other women. It could have been a watershed moment,

a turning point that might have changed the course of history and saved many lives. Instead, it was found to be a critical failure that resulted in catastrophic consequences. The later commission of inquiry would conclude that the RCMP did not investigate beyond the immediate assault on Wendy. They could have searched Robert Pickton's trailer fully in the farm. They could have spoken with his neighbors, relatives and known associates. which would likely have led to evidence he was engaged in other illegal and troubling activities. These steps were not taken. But the biggest failure was on the part of the Crown prosecution,

who knew Wendy had nearly died, that her statement matched the evidence and that the RCMP believed her. Yet over the following 10 months in the lead-up to the trial, the Crown didn't contact Wendy, claiming she was hard to get hold of, which the inquiry found was not true. The problem was indifference. Finally, just two weeks before that trial was due to begin,

the Crown prosecutor met with Wendy for the first and only time and noticed she was under the influence of drugs. By this point, Wendy had been warned that Robert Pickton was threatening to harm her and she was utterly terrified. The Crown should have asked Wendy about her drug use and offered her support and referrals to services that could help her as a vulnerable witness with valuable evidence, and perhaps readjusted their approach for a successful trial.

Instead, the Crown Prosecutor decided Wendy was an unreliable drug user and stayed or dropped all the charges against Robert Pickton. The trial was cancelled and he slipped through the cracks. Wendy's name was protected by a publication document, band for a long time, and she's been referred to by many different names. It wasn't until years later that her case was connected to the women vanishing from the downtown east side. At least 11 more women were killed after that, and likely more disappeared and left no trace. In fact, there was DNA from two women on the clothes Robert Picton was wearing when he arrived at the hospital. Those

clothes were seized by police and later tested. Kara Alice was originally from Calgary, Alberta. Her parents divorced when she was five, and she lived with her mother in Ontario, then went to foster care, then with an uncle, followed by a move with her father in Alberta. Kara's family would describe her as a tomboy who loved playing horsey with her brothers. By the time she was a teenager, she was living in a group home. and began using drugs. Then she was homeless, engaging in survival sex work on Vancouver's downtown East Side.

Kara's boyfriend was a Hells Angels member, and when she checked in with her family, she told them she loved riding on his motorbike. According to testimony at the later Missing Women's Inquiry, Kara had been convicted of attempted manslaughter, although there's no further details about this. During her stint in prison, she took classes and planned to return to school when she was released. She never got the chance. She disappeared soon after.

Kara Alice had lived a life for someone just 25 years old. It was several months after this that Wendy survived her own trip to the farm. Police seized Robert Pickton's jacket and later testing found DNA belonging to Kara Alice. on that jacket. Her DNA would also be found on items in the slaughterhouse at the Picton farm as well as on the lining of one of the deep freezers. Police had also seized Robert's rubber boots. Later testing found DNA from another missing woman on one of those boots, who also went missing a few months before he attacked Wendy. Her name was Andrea Borehaven. She was 25 when she disappeared. She had a very unstable childhood, in and out of the foster system and shuffled between relatives.

Andrea was left with abandonment issues and a feeling she didn't belong anywhere. She was described as smart, spunky, loving and intelligent, but had trouble controlling her impulses that resulted in outbursts she later regretted. She ended up on the streets of the downtown East Side and survived a violent sexual assault. she began using heroin and crack cocaine. Andrea's mother and father separately maintained that they continued to support her and their door was always open. She checked in every few months by phone and sometimes she would turn up in person until one day in 1997 when all contact ceased.

A later search of the Picton Farm uncovered a plastic bag of jewelry hidden in the kitchen floor vent of Robert's mobile trailer home. Andrea Borehaven's DNA was found on an earring. Her DNA would also be found on one of those rubber boots police seized after he attacked Wendy. Even though the newspapers didn't name Robert Pickton as the one charged in relation to the knife attack on Wendy, word got around quickly and all the locals knew it was him. He started phoning his female friends to tell them not to believe what they read in the papers. One of those women was a new friend named Gina Houston, a sex worker he'd already met briefly

several years earlier. She'd been with a colleague on the downtown east side when he walked up and introduced himself as Willie looking for company. He stood out to Gina at the time because he was clearly very comfortable picking up a sex worker. He'd definitely done it before. Her friend took the job and Gina didn't see him again for a couple of years. But then, she happened to be at Piggy's Palace and recognised him. He didn't recognise her, but they struck up a conversation and began a friendship. Gina Houston had been down and out for years, a single mother supporting a couple of children

and funding her own hazardous use of drugs and alcohol through a combination of welfare payments, sex work, and however else she could provide. Robert found her friendly and easy to talk to. Gina thought he was a nice guy, but also identified him as gullible, someone who liked to think himself as someone who helps others out. And Gina really needed help, so she took advantage of it.

She would often bring her kids to the farm to play, and hung off Robert's every word. He started giving her pork meat when she didn't have money to buy food. Soon, she became his best female friend. He was supporting her financially and her kids were calling him Daddy. Gina would later testify that she cared for Robert,

describing him as polite, gentle, kind and naive, but it was never a sexual relationship. In fact, Gina found women on the downtown County side to bring to the farm for him. She had a shortcut. She just went to the wish drop and centre on the main strip, Hastings Street, and told them she had a friend with drugs and cash who was up for a party. Many of them knew she was talking about Willie Pickdon, noted creep, and they also knew that he'd been charged in relation to the attack on Wendy, who was well-liked. But they also knew those charges had also been dropped. Gina Houston seemed to be

to be vouching for him, and they figured the chances of something happening while she was there were low. Gina was always able to convince one or two women to get in the pickup truck and go back to the farm with her. It was a risk they could take because they desperately needed the money. One, she didn't even have to convince. Kelly Little was a 28-year-old transgender sex worker who was staying with Gina at the time, along with her pet cat.

Kelly was a member of the New Chatlet First Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and she'd been born with significant physical and health challenges. She only had one kidney, a cleft lip, jaw and dental deformities that required surgery and severe hearing loss. She'd grown up in foster care after being taken from her mother at a young age. Kelly struggled through her teenage years, reportedly attempted suicide and as a young adult spent some time in prison for assault before she transitioned. Transgender people often end up resorting to sex work to survive

because systemic discrimination in employment and housing often leaves them in poverty. So that's where Kelly Little was in April of 97. She stayed overnight at Gina Houston's home, then got ready for work and left. and she didn't come back. Gina knew that Kelly would never neglect her cat and reported her missing after a week or so. Next to disappear was 37-year-old Janet Henry, the youngest of 12 children from a Kwakkawak First Nation family

from King Kim Inlet in BC. Janet and her siblings faced a number of tragedies throughout their childhood. Their father was killed in a boating accident. and the kids were separated and put in various foster homes. One of Janet's sisters was sexually assaulted and murdered by five men. A brother was hit by a car and died. Another sister overdosed on prescription medication.

Janet herself was targeted by the man now known as one of Canada's most prolific serial killers, Clifford Olson. As a child, he kidnapped, drugged and assaulted her, but for some reason decided to release her. He would later be convicted of murdering 11 children and young adults. Somehow, Janet Henry was able to overcome all this trauma for a time. She got married, had a daughter, and spent a period of her adult life and relative stability on the lower mainland. She was a hairdresser and she cut the hair of the people she loved,

including her older sister, Sandra Gagnon, and her nephews. Sandra is now in her 70s and tells us that Janet was a strong, loving person, a good mother who loved music and dancing and was always there for her loved ones. But all that early trauma caught up with Janet. Her marriage ended and she eventually drifted to the downtown east side, developing substance use disorder and relying on street-based sex work to survive. But despite everything, Janet spoke with her sister Sandra on the phone every day

and would often talk about how she didn't like the life she was living and wanted to get treatment so she could see her daughter again. The sisters had a regular routine. When they got their GST checks, they would go out for dinner together and share some laughs. One night in June 1997, Janet Henry did not show. up. Sandra went looking for her on the downtown east side. Her rent had been paid up for the next month and everything was in place and the room she rented. Janet just disappeared, age 37.

Sandra did learn that her sister had been going to parties at Robert Willie Pickdon's farm in Port Coquitlam, where he was offering free cocaine. She reported Janet missing, but the police showed very little urgency, telling her, a lot of people are missing. Janet tells us that it wasn't for several more years after Janet was connected to the infamous pig farmer serial killer case that authorities seemed interested. To this day, Sandra Gagnon remains deeply upset that her sister's disappearance only mattered once the circumstances became sensational. That same month, Helen Hallmark went missing.

Born in Vancouver, Helen grew up with instability, violence and abuse at the hands of her mother's partners. Helen often took the brunt of that abuse to shield all her siblings, according to her sister. At age 13, Helen had been labelled a rebellious teenager and placed in foster care, but she remained close with her siblings. She was known to be bright, funny, sophisticated, with sparkly eyes. At 19, Helen gave birth to a daughter who she gave up for adoption. She reportedly married twice, but a series of unfortunate events resulted in her living on the downtown east side with substance use disorder.

She desperately wanted to pull herself out of it and was known to warn vulnerable teenagers not to go down the path she had. Then Helen Hallmark disappeared, age 31. Her family searched for her for years without answers. They had no idea her DNA was in blood spatter in Robert Pickton's bedroom and on a cowboy hat in his closet. Then there was Jacqueline Murdoch of the Tackler Lake Band of Carrier Secondy First Nation in BC Central Interior. Her family called her Jackie,

She was the youngest of 15 siblings and known to be a bright, affectionate child. At age 12, Jackie was put into foster care and she ran away a year or two later. She told her sister that she'd been sexually abused by a relative. She began engaging in hazardous substance use. As an adult, Jackie gave birth to five children and were separated from the mall but trying to get help. She completed an intensive rehabilitation program where she wrote delicate poetry describing pain, resilience and the need for faith and support during moments of despair. Her loved ones would describe her as kind and joyful, someone who was funny, laughed easily

and spoke badly of no one. In 1996, facing homelessness, Jackie Murdoch hitchhiked to Vancouver and ended up on the downtown East Side. A year later, she disappeared, age 26. Jackie's DNA would later be found on a used condom wrapper on the Picton farm. Jackie was the eighth woman who disappeared from the downtown east side that year, a massive spike compared to previous years. In around September of 1997, Cynthia Beck, known as Cindy, was living on the downtown East Side. with her boyfriend, who was also her pimp and had been charged with assaulting her two months earlier. Originally from Ontario, Cindy was adopted and her family would describe her as a beautiful child

who became a lovely woman with a beaming smile, popular and remembered with affection. She had a rebellious streak and ended up in the company of people who used drugs. Cindy was 33 years old when she disappeared and reportedly pregnant. Cindy's parents were in regular contact with the police. No trace of her has ever been found. At the end of 1997, Cynthia Fallix also disappeared. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and after a series of divorces where both parents relinquished control,

she and her siblings ended up with their stepmother, in Vancouver. At age 16, Cynthia decided to go and visit her father in Florida. Her stepmother would later tell author Stevie Cameron that her father met his 16-year-old daughter at the airport with alcohol and cannabis and tried to talk her into sleeping with him back at his trailer. He also pointed a gun at her. This experience had a dramatic effect on Cynthia, who started using drugs with friends in high school as soon as she got back to Vancouver. Cynthia had been a competitive swimmer. She stopped altogether. Soon, she would leave home for days. She started using heroin. She married in her early 20s and gave birth to a baby girl.

Cynthia fought hard to detox and was successful for a time, but substance use disorder had taken hold, and she ended up on the downtown east side. She still kept in regular contact with her sister Audrey, but the phone calls to home suddenly stopped. The last anyone saw of Cynthia Fallix was in November 1997. She was 43. Her DNA would later be found on plastic sheet liners on the farm and in nine packages of ground pork in one of the freezers.

It was by this point almost the end of that year, and the women in the downtown Eastside were heartbroken, frustrated and terrified. 97 had been the worst year yet. So many of them had gone missing, and more would join them before the year was through. Marnie Frey was almost 25 years old, living at the Balmoral Hotel with Substance Use Disorder. Marnie had a young daughter that she left with her father, Rick Frey and stepmother Lynn, back home in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. She still called them to check in every two days or so and went home as often as she could to visit.

In the lead up to her 25th birthday, Marnie's family told her they were sending her some money and clothes. Her birthday came and went, and they waited for that next phone call. Marnie Frey was born to an indigenous mother and fisherman father in Campbell River. Her parents broke up when she was young, and she mostly lived with her father Rick after that, and later his partner Lynn. Marnie was said to have a way with animals and was described as energetic, full of life and loved people. She was also known to be generous. She would literally give the shirt off her back if it helped someone.

When Marnie was 14, she started using drugs, hanging out with a different crowd, and became difficult to live with. Her father and stepmother tried everything they could to remove her from the situation, including changing schools. But Marnie had developed substance use disorder. She quit school by grade 11 and moved away from home soon after that. She had several run-ins with the cops before finding out she was pregnant at Once her daughter Brittany arrived, Marnie tried to make it work, but she was too deep into substance use. She moved to the downtown east side with a friend. Before long, she was living at one of the CEDY hotels and was hospitalized with suspected drug toxicity.

She survived, but when Rick and Lynn Frey did not hear from Marnie after her birthday, they contacted everyone they could think of, but no one knew where she was. After a week, they reported her missing to the Vancouver Police Department, who told them it was too soon to be upset. Marnie was probably on a cruise, they said. Her family should check in again in a few months. And they did. Over the following year, Rick and Lynn went to Vancouver to look for Marnie on the down.

town east side and ask around if anyone had seen her. Lin would later tell the missing women inquiry that she heard rumours about a Willie Picton who lived on a farm in Port Coquitlam. Rumors were that he took women back to his farm and they ended up in his wood chipper. She was told she'd never see Marnie again. Lynn's foster daughter, Joyce Lechance, lived out at Port Coquitlam. and they decided to head over to the Picton farm and scope things out. Lynn climbed the front fence in a daring stunt to get in. She peered over the top and saw tractors, vehicles and big mounds of dirt and grass.

Suddenly, two big Rottweilers appeared barking. There was a sign on the fence that warned there was a pit bull with AIDS. Marnie Frey's jawbone would later be found on the farm. along with four of her teeth. Robert Picton had continued to troll the downtown east side that year, but he'd started feeling unwell. Eventually, he took himself to the doctor, and he was diagnosed with hepatitis C.

He learned it was a virus that attacks the liver, contracted through direct contact with the blood of an infected person, most commonly by sharing needles or drug paraphernalia, and less commonly through unprotected sex with blood exchange. Robert complained to his good friend Lisa yelled that he must have gotten the virus from Wendy during their knife fight. He declared he'd been infected by her blood. He was still holding a massive grudge.

Of course, he had no idea if Wendy even had hepatitis C, but it was known to be one of several major health issues for sex workers on the downtown east side. At the end of 1997, Robert Picton found himself lonely on Christmas Eve. He went to the downtown East Side looking for company, but found the place quiet. The sex workers who frequented there were of course loved and missed by their families, and many were home for the festive season, or at one of the local churches or community shelters. They were not out and about as usual. Robert would later tell an undercover police officer that he devised a silly prank to amuse himself.

He returned to the farm and picked up a couple of piglets, drove back to the downtown east side and let them loose on Hastings Street. He said he watched as they ran around terrified and he laughed as he watched the police try to catch them. He made a joke about pigs trying to catch pigs. Finally, someone called the Humane Society and the prank was over. Robert would tell the undercover officer he never came forward to claim the pigs, but he certainly thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever done. Journalist and author Stevie Cameron verified this story in her book on the farm. A Vancouver police constable reported seeing Robert Pickton's vehicle that Christmas Eve,

amongst other reports of piglets on the loose. The next day, 39-year-old Kerry Lynn Koski was celebrating Christmas with her family in Coquitlam, right next to Port Coquitlam where the Picton family farm was. As a child, Kerry was described as pretty and full of life, a great dancer, kind and generous, always had a big smile on her face. Her adult life unraveled after her husband died, by suicide, leaving her a single mother with three young daughters. She reportedly started using heroin

with a bad run of boyfriends and became the victim of domestic violence. About two months before Christmas, she just left her daughters with her family and moved to the downtown East Side. When Kerry arrived for Christmas that day, her family noticed she looked like she hadn't eaten for days. That was the last time they saw her. Two weeks later, when her sister reported her missing, the police were not interested. Carrie's daughters were young teenagers by this point, devastated after all they'd been through. One of her daughters told the police, you have to find my mom. The Vancouver PD told them not to worry. Kerry was probably off partying. Carrie Koski's DNA would be found on a pair of earrings in the grocery bag of jewelry hidden under the floor vent in Robert Pickton's mobile

trailer home. 13 women had gone missing from the downtown East Side in 1997, a massive spike from previous years, and this would be the worst year. And still, the Vancouver Police refused to take the losses seriously. Inge Monique Hall was the first woman to go missing in 98. She'd immigrated to Canada from Germany with her parents when she was young and first lived in Ontario. When she was 14, she ran away from home. At 19, she married a man from Alberta and gave birth to a daughter who ended up being cared for by his family.

The relationship broke down. Inga met another man in British Columbia. She gave birth to another daughter and again left her with her in-laws. She moved to Vancouver's downtown east side. She reportedly attempted to track down her daughters later, but returned, deflated, where she and another woman tried to rob a bank with a plastic gun. Inga Monique Hall was last seen in February 98.

She was 46. Her DNA would be found in nine packages of ground pork in one of the freezers on the Picton pig farm. and on plastic sheet liners. Clumps of her hair would be found in a plastic bag in the slaughterhouse. In April of 98, 28-year-old Sarah DeVries vanished from the corner of Princess and Hastings Street on the downtown East Side. She was almost 29 years old.

She'd been standing there with a fellow sex worker friend who left briefly with a date. When she returned, Sarah was gone. Sarah was of mixed racial background, white, black, Mexican and indigenous, described as absolutely stunning. Her parents weren't able to care for her, so when she was 11 months old, she was adopted into a white middle-class family in Vancouver, the DeVries family, where she had three older siblings. Because of the way adoption worked at the time, Sarah had no contact with her birth family after she was placed. She was described as bright, artistic and athletic, often seen rollerblading around. She loved swimming and gymnastics and she did well academically.

She was also a prolific writer from a young age. In her journal, she wrote about the increasing isolation she felt as a girl of colour growing up in a predominantly white community, the racial slurs that were hurled at her, the bullying and physical abuse she had to endure. Sarah's sister would later say she also believed Sarah had been repeatedly sexually abused by a neighbour during childhood. She became increasingly unhappy. When Sarah DeVries was 14, she ran away from home. By 17, she was on the downtown east side, engaging in sex work and hazardous drug use. She told a journalist working on a book about youth on the street, that she'd become pregnant after being sexually assaulted by a client or trick, and that she'd had an abortion. Despite everything, Sarah stayed connected

to the DeVries family. She visited them often and was frequently in the process of trying to stop using heroin. According to the missing women's inquiry, she lived for years with a partner on the downtown east side and gave birth to a daughter. She served a short prison sentence and a few years after that gave birth to a son. Both children ended up living with the DeVries family, but Sarah saw them regularly. Here's a passage she wrote in her journal. Woman's body beaten beyond recognition. Am I next? Is he watching me now?

Stalking me like a predator and its prey. Waiting, waiting for the perfect spot, time or my stupid. mistake. How does one choose a victim? Good question, isn't it? If I knew that, I would never get snuffed. It's a shame that society is that unfeeling. She was some woman's baby girl, gone astray, lost from the right path. She was a person. One day, a new client picked Sarah DeVries up. His name was Wayne Ling, and he became a regular, developing romantic feelings for her. Sarah stayed with him for a time because she felt safe, but eventually returned to the downtown east side. She told Wayne she only wanted friendship, and he accepted it. He would say he was

grateful simply to be part of her life. In 1998, when Sarah disappeared off the street corner, Wayne Ling noticed almost immediately. He went straight to the police, but was told he wasn't a family member. The police dismissed him, so he reached out to her family members and joined forces with her sister Maggie DeVries, who filed a missing persons report. They put up posters, searched the downtown Eastside, and asked people on the street if they'd seen Sarah. No one had. Sarah DeVries was the 48th woman to disappear from the downtown Eastside in the 20 years since 1978. By this point, the families of the growing collection of missing women were distraught and frustrated with the Vancouver Police Department

who were not taking the issue seriously. Once again, it was too easy to dismiss these women as expendable throwaways who deserve what they got instead of someone's daughter, sister, mother. They were people, they were loved, and someone was picking them off the streets one by one. Wayne Lang was well connected on the downtown east side and began reaching out to the press. He wanted the public to be aware that his friend Sarah DeVries wasn't just one missing woman. She was one more in a very long and growing list that deserved a closer look. Frank Luber of the province wrote an article about Sarah DeVries,

who had been missing for about six weeks by that point. It featured an interview with Wayne Lang and her mother, Pat DeVries. The article got people talking. Some reached out to Wayne himself to provide tips. In a follow-up article two months later, Wayne reported receiving a series of disturbing phone messages. The caller was male and Wayne Ling described him as having a slightly slurred voice. He said, Sarah is dead, so there will be more girls like her dead. There will be one every Friday. night at the busiest time. You'll never find Sarah again, so just stop looking for her all right.

So bye, she's dead. In a final message, the caller said, This is in regards to Sarah, I just want to let you know that you'll never find her again alive because a friend of mine killed her and I was there. In response to questions that the mystery caller might have been pranking, Wayne said this man, knew some things about Sarah DeVries that had not been made public. He forwarded the voicemails on to the Vancouver Police. Sarah DeVries' DNA would later be found in lipsticks in a white purse, along with a used condom with Robert Picton's DNA.

The purse had been hidden in the loft of one of the many outbuildings on the Picton farm. The next call Wayne Lang received would be a revelation, It was from a man named Bill Hiscopx, who explained that in the past two years he'd worked for a demolition and salvage company owned by David Pickedon, and he'd seen and heard some strange things on the Pickedon family farm out at Port Coquitlam. Wayne Leng had never heard of David Picton or this farm before. Bill Hisccox told him that David's older brother, Willie Pickton, had hired him for the job, and he often went to the pig farm to pick up his paycheck. His cocks described it as a creepy-looking place

with lots of outbuildings and spaces for hiding things, vehicles and heavy equipment everywhere. He also described being chased by a 600-pound vicious pig on the property that ran with the guard dogs. He got a strange feeling from that farm, especially from Willie Picton, who he described as, quite a strange character, a quiet guy, antisocial, hard to strike up a conversation with.

He told Wayne Lang that Willie had a reputation for being a slow pig farmer that had to be looked after by his younger brother David, but that wasn't the case. His cocks described Willie as cunning. He said Willie was known to make frequent trips to the downtown east side to pick up sex workers, and he had actually heard him talking about one that he seemed to have intense animosity towards and mentioned a police investigation around it. Quote, he said he wanted someone to bring her out to the farm, he'd take care of her. His cox also told Wayne Lang that a friend of his who did cleaning on the farm had seen bags of bloody clothing, at least ten women's purses, and identification care.

for various women strewn around the farm. Bill Hiscox told Wayne Lang that he'd actually called the Vancouver Police Department tip line several times. One time they said they'd look into it and asked for the name of the woman who told him about the items belonging to women on the farm. Her name was Lisa Yelds. He also reported that Willie had said a few strange things to him and to others. One time, Willie told him,

If you ever have a body that you need to get rid of, Bill, just bring it in and we'll throw it in the piggery. That'll be that. Hiscock said he believed the remark was made jokingly at the time. But then, he started hearing from multiple sources that Willie had been bragging about disposing of bodies with his meat grinder. That did not seem like a joke. As it turned out, Bill Hizcox wasn't the only one seeing and hearing things about the Picton Pig Farm.

He was just the first to tell the police. Thanks for listening. In part three, farm workers and guests describe an escalation of disturbing encounters, but they're silenced by threats and intimidation. Then, one woman wakes to a scream from the slaughterhouse and finds herself the first. first and only direct witness to an act so horrific, many would find it difficult to comprehend. And women would continue to vanish for three more years before police finally step onto the farm. The next episode will be available in a week. You can listen, ad-free and early on our premium feeds.

For the full list of resources, sources, research studies and anything else you want to know about the podcast, See the show notes or visit Canadian True Crime.com. We donate monthly to those facing injustice. Proceeds from this series are going to the Wish Dropin Center Society, supporting street-based sex workers on Vancouver's downtown east side since 1984. Special thanks to Danielle Paradie for Family Outreach and Additional Research. Audio editing was by Crosby Audio and Eric Crosby voiced the disclaimer. Our senior producer is Lindsay Eldridge, and Carol Weinberg is our script consultant.

Research, writing, narration and sound design was by me, and the theme songs were composed by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime episode. See you then.