On March 23, 1997 Robert “Willy” Pickton attacked a downtown eastside Vancouver sex trade worker at the Port Coquitlam property he shared with his brother.  The Crown laid charges of attempted murder, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault against him but stayed the charges as the trial approached.

Why?

The VPD and the RCMP had Pickton in their sights as a prime suspect in the disappearances of other downtown eastside sex trade workers from August of 1998 onwards but didn’t apprehend him.  He was able to kill dozens of women, as many as 49 in all, until February 5, 2002.

Why?

These are the central factual questions posed by the terms of reference of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.  The anguished families of Pickton’s victims have long sought a public inquiry into these questions, and others.  Now that the Commission is finally hearing testimony from the police officers actually involved in the investigations, will the families get the answers they need and deserve?  Or will the sudden appearance of a host of lawyers for individual police officers to augment the teams that the VPD and RCMP have had to look out for their interests for the last decade throw a spanner in the works?

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The latest report from The Vancouver Sun’s Neal Hall is here.

The next witness at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry will be Vancouver Det. Cst. Lori Shenher, who had primary conduct of the missing women investigation for the VPD from June of 1998 until late 2000.  Before joining the VPD, she was a Calgary journalist.  She is also credited as a technical advisor and writer on 25 episodes of Da Vinci’s Inquest, where a fictional missing women’s case was a recurring theme on the show.  

In July and August of 1998, Shenher received information from Bill Hiscox that a Port Coquitlam pig farmer named Robert “Willy” Pickton was likely responsible for the disappearances of women from Vancouver’s downtown east side.  She determined that the information was credible, and soon learned that Pickton had been charged with the attempted murder and forcible confinement of a Vancouver sex trade worker the year before.  (The Crown dropped those charges; the Commission is supposed to inquire into the facts concerning that decision)  Although three more informants independently came forward with information fingering Pickton as a likely serial murderer, neither the VPD nor the RCMP apprehended him.  On February 5, 2002, a junior Coquitlam RCMP member investigating an apparently unrelated matter found evidence of some of the missing women on a property owned by Pickton and his brother and sister.  Pickton was subsequently convicted of six murders and twenty other first degree murder charges against him were stayed, the Attorney General decising that “it would not be in the public interest” to prosecute him further. Pickton is believed to be responsible for as many as 49 murders, which would make him Canada’s most prolific serial murderer.  The case reportedly cost Canadian taxpayers as much as $200 million dollars to investigate, prosecute and defend.

Today’s session began with David Neave unexpectedly arriving and introducing himself as the lawyer for former VPD Insp. Biddlecombe and advising he intended to cross-examine witnesses and would need time to prepare. Biddlecombe’s role in the investigation of Canada’s worst serial killing was well-documented by VPD Deputy Chief LePard’s August 2010 report, but Biddlecombe did not apply for standing when the Commission sought applications a few months later.   An updated list of the lawyers for the various police interests is set out below:

RCMP: Cheryl Tobias, Q.C., Jan Brongers, Judith Hoffman and Andrew Majawa

Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Police Board: Sean Hern and Tim Dickson

Vancouver Police Union: David Crossin, Q.C.

Dr. Kim Rossmo (ex-VPD): Mark Skwarok

Doug Fell (VPD): Kevin Woodall and Claire Hatcher

Don Adam (ex RCMP): Janet Winteringham, Q.C.

Gary Bass (ex RCMP): Richard Peck, Q.C. and Tony Paisana

Earl Moulton (RCMP): Ravi Hira, Q.C.

Brian McGuiness (VPD): Greg DelBigio, Q.C.

Terry Blythe and John Unger (ex VPD): Edward Greenspan, Q.C. and Vanessa Christie

Brock Giles (VPD): David Butcher, Q.C. and Anila Srivastava

Gary Greer (VPD): Rick Henderson

Fred Biddlecombe (VPD): David Neave

Peel Regional Police: Linda Bordeleau

Brian Hutchinson has written an excellent article in today’s National Post that summarizes some of the evidence before the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.  The first paragraph reads:

“It was April 2000, the height of Robert “Willie” Pickton’s killing spree. Dozens of women were already missing, and 23 more would vanish. The Port Coquitlam pig farmer was trolling for skid row prostitutes, driving them to his farm, murdering them, disposing of their bodies and going back for more. He would continue this horrible pattern for at least another year, and right under the noses of police.”

The Pickton brothers' Dominion Ave. property: Ian Lindsay, Postmedia News

After noting that Pickton became a prime suspect of both the RCMP and VPD in August of 1998, Hutchinson writes:

“Perhaps most telling, on April 25, 2000, RCMP officers were already discussing the possibility that bungled police efforts would lead to a public inquiry.

On that date, a staff sergeant named Brad Zalys had a conversation with a superior officer, RCMP Inspector Earl Moulton. Staff Sgt. Zalys made the following observation in his notebook: “Also discussed Pickton again–>if he turns out to be responsible–>inquiry!–>Deal with that if the time comes!”

What led Staff Sgt. Zalys, Inspector Moulton, and others to such a state? What did they know? Why hadn’t Pickton been stopped by then? And why did B.C.’s criminal justice branch decide, in 1998, to stay proceedings against the loathsome pig farmer, after he’d been charged with attempting to murder a prostitute on his pig farm?

The present inquiry, led by former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal, has a mandate to find out all of that, and to recommend changes to the way police homicide investigations are conducted.”

Robert William Pickton was not stopped until February 5, 2002.  By then he had participated in as many as 49 murders.