Robert William Pickton (October 24, 1949 – May 31, 2024), also known as the Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher, was a Canadian pig farmer and serial killer. He is believed to have murdered at least twenty-six women, many of them prostitutes from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside; he would confess to forty-nine murders to an undercover RCMP officer. In 2007, he was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years—the longest possible sentence for second-degree murder under Canadian law at the time.
Pickton hosted parties at an ad hoc nightclub inside a converted slaughterhouse at the farm, called Piggy's Palace. Events at the venue attracted up to 2,000 people, including prominent political and business figures as well as members of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club. Pickton and his brother were eventually sued by Port Coquitlam officials for violating zoning ordinances—neglecting the agriculture for which it had been zoned and having "altered a large farm building on the land for the purpose of holding dances, concerts and other recreations." The Picktons registered a non-profit charity, the Piggy Palace Good Times Society, with the Canadian government in 1996, claiming to "organize, co-ordinate, manage and operate special events, functions, dances, shows and exhibitions on behalf of service organizations, sports organizations and other worthy groups." After flouting legal pressure and holding a New Year's Eve party, the brothers were faced with an injunction banning future gatherings. The charity's non-profit status was removed the following year after failing to produce financial statements; the charity was subsequently disbanded.
The official investigation into the disappearance of Downtown Eastside sex workers continued with little success until Pickton's name came up again in 2002. Early that year, a person formerly addicted to drugs familiar with Pickton's farm alerted police about unlicensed firearms being stored there. Police again raided the farm, but they found no weapons. What they did find, however, was an inhaler prescribed to Sereena Abotsway, a Downtown Eastside sex worker who went missing a year earlier. This discovery was enough to convince the authorities to undertake a more thorough investigation of Pickton and his farm. That investigation subsequently led to the discovery of numerous body parts that were later identified as belonging to a host of other missing Vancouver women. Twenty-six victims were identified by the remains found on the farm. The remains of a twenty-seventh victim were also found, but never identified. In the months that followed, murder charges were levied against Pickton for each of the identified victims.
During the early days of the excavations, forensic anthropologists brought in heavy equipment, including two 50-foot (15-metre) flat conveyor belts and soil sifters to find traces of human remains. On 10 March 2004, the government revealed that Pickton may have ground up human flesh and mixed it with pork that he sold to the public; the province's health authority later issued a warning. Another claim was made that he fed the bodies directly to his pigs. In 2003, a preliminary hearing was held and the clothes and rubber boots that Pickton had been wearing during the Eistetter assault were seized by police from an RCMP storage locker. In 2004, lab testing showed that the DNA of two women (Borhaven and Ellis) were on the items.
Death[]
On May 19, 2024, Pickton was attacked by another prisoner at the Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec. The prisoner, Martin Charest, described as having a history of assaulting other prisoners, took a broomstick, broke the handle, and shoved it into Pickton's face. Correctional officers intervened, handcuffed Charest, and took him to the Structured Intervention Unit. Pickton was airlifted to a hospital and put on life support. He died at a hospital in Quebec City from complications of the attack on May 31. In July 2025, Charest was charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty, saying he did it for Pickton's victims.
Robert Pickton (The Pig Farmer) was a Canadian serial killer mentioned in Dexter: Resurrection as a part of Leon Prater's collection.