Robert William Pickton will be sentenced Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster after a jury found him guilty of six counts of second-degree murder on Sunday, but there are already concerns about a possible appeal, a second trial and a public inquiry into the police investigation.
The six second-degree murder convictions of the 58-year-old pig farmer from Port Coquitlam will automatically result in six life sentences to be served concurrently.
But on Tuesday, the judge will decide how long Pickton must serve before he can apply for parole. The possible range is 10 to 25 years, again to be served concurrently.
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal told CBC News on Sunday that no matter what the judge decides, it will be very unlikely Pickton could convince a parole board to release him.
"It will be difficult to ever conclude that Mr. Pickton will ever see the light of day again," said Oppal. Before the judge determines Pickton's parole eligibility, the families of his victims will also have an opportunity on Tuesday to stand in front of the convicted serial killer and talk about the impact of his crimes.
Appeal still possible
It is possible that Pickton's defence team could appeal the verdicts in the next 30 days, and they may have some legal ground on which to do so.
On Thursday during deliberations, the jury asked the judge for clarification on whether they could convict Pickton if they inferred he "acted indirectly."
With the jury out of the courtroom, the defence team insisted the judge could not change his instructions, and that if he did, a mistrial had to be declared.
But the judge did broaden his definition of what was required to convict and deliberations continued.
On Sunday, after the verdict was announced, defence lawyer Peter Ritchie said he didn't want to talk yet about whether that would be grounds for an appeal.
"Days like this are not days to consider appeals. So we don't think about appeals today," said Ritchie. Instead, the defence will turn its attention to when Pickton should be given a chance to apply for parole, said Ritchie.
2nd trial still unclear
Pickton still faces 20 more murder charges, and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 17 to fix a date for a possible second trial.
But Stan Lowe, a spokesman for the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch, said on Sunday that a second trial is far from certain.
"We will conduct a reassessment of the available evidence for that trial and we must assess the impact of evidentiary rulings to date, and how the evidence from this case has been impacted from cross-examination," said Lowe.
But if the Crown does decide to proceed, the trial could still be years away, for several reasons.
- There could be an appeal of Pickton's six murder convictions.
- The Crown would need time to prepare a second case.
- There could be lengthy arguments over evidence before a jury is even chosen.
Judith Trimble, whose daughter Cara Ellis is among the 20 other women Pickton is accused of killing, told CBC News on Sunday that regardless of the legal concerns, the second trial is needed.
"The girls need their day in court too. And if they don't get it, there is something very wrong with this justice system. There has been a lot of controversy about the amount, the cost in this. To me, a life is priceless, and these girls' lives are priceless. There should be no price tag put on them," said Trimble.
Calls for public inquiry into police investigation
Some family members and social workers are also calling for a public inquiry into the way police handled the investigation into the missing women.
They say reports of women going missing from the Downtown Eastside went uninvestigated by Vancouver police for too many years.
Stories of women disappearing from the Downtown Eastside started emerging in the 1980s, and by the 1990s sex trade workers believed a serial killer was at work.
But police kept insisting the missing women were just missing and that there was no evidence of foul play.
Activists in the Downtown Eastside, along with reporters, began questioning whether police were taking the missing persons reports seriously.
The first reports of missing women dated back to June 1983, but it was not until nearly 19 years later in early 2002 that Pickton was charged in the case.
Lynn Frey, the stepmother of Marnie Frey, one of the women Pickton was convicted of murdering, said she went to Vancouver police on several occasions to tell them about a pig farmer in Port Coquitlam.
Rick Frey, Marnie's father, told CBC on Sunday that somebody should be held accountable for the lack of action.
"The public has to know. Look at how much money they've spent. I mean somebody's got to be held accountable for not listening to what was going on."
Elana Papin and Bonnie Fowler, sisters of Georgina Papin, hope the six convictions yesterday are enough to bring pressure on the government to hold an inquiry.
"It's the foundation that's going to increase awareness in the eyes of people."
If there is a public inquiry, it could still be years away. Attorney General Wally Oppal told CBC News it would not be possible to hold a public inquiry while any trials or appeals are underway.