NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia — A pig farmer accused of being Canada’s worst serial killer was found guilty Sunday of six counts of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
The verdict ended the trial of Robert “Willie” Pickton on the first six of 26 murder charges in the deaths of women, most of them prostitutes and drug addicts from a seedy Vancouver neighborhood.
The defense acknowledged that the remains of the six women were found on Pickton’s farm outside Vancouver but denied he was responsible for their deaths.
Pickton, 58, will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison and will not be eligible for parole for at least 10 years. The jury was deliberating whether to extend that 10-year period.
