Canadian serial killer Robert "Willie" Pickton was sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years yesterday after a court hearing in which victims' families described their emotional devastation.
Pickton (58), was convicted on Sunday for the murders of six women whose bodies were butchered in the slaughterhouse of his pig farm near Vancouver. He is charged with 26 murders and faces another trial on the remaining 20 murder counts.
Robert Pickton is seen in his Port Coquitlam home in this undated file video grab. Photo: Reuters
The six murder victims were among more than 60 women who disappeared in Vancouver from the late 1980s until late 2001, shortly before Pickton's arrest in February 2002.
"Mr Pickton there is really nothing that I can say to adequately express the revulsion the community feels about these killings," Justice James Williams said as he handed down the harshest sentence possible for the second degree murder.
Relatives of the victims erupted in cheers in the courtroom. Pickton did not react.
"Nobody should meet death the way she did," Jay Draayers, a half brother of victim Sereena Abotsway, wrote in a statement read to the court. Ms Abotsway's head, hands and feet were discovered in a bucket on Pickton's farm.
Pickton sat emotionless in the prisoner's box as the family statements were read. Pickton leaned forward as if ready to speak when the judge later asked if he had anything to say, but his lawyer quickly said he would not address the court because he is still facing the 20 additional murder charges.
The life sentence was mandatory for a conviction on second degree murder, so the judge was deciding when would be eligible to apply for parole, within a range of 10 to 25 years.
Prosecutors had asked for the toughest sentence possible, calling the murders "cold blooded" and saying Pickton had shown no remorse. Canada does not have a death penalty.