Robert Pickton, the convicted serial killer from British Columbia, was attacked by another inmate over the weekend and critically injured in Québec’s maximum Port-Cartier Institution.
A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, the province’s police service, said the 74-year-old Pickton was assaulted by a 51-year-old inmate at around 5:15 p.m. ET on Sunday and airlifted to a Québec City hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The Correctional Service Canada (CSC) confirmed with CityNews that Pickton was the victim of a “major assault,” though the circumstances and his current condition are unknown.
“We can confirm that inmate Robert Pickton was involved in a major assault on May 19. This assault did not involve any of our staff,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “The safety and security of institutions is paramount, and an investigation into what occurred is currently underway.”
In a news release issued on Monday, the CSC said that the Sûreté du Québec is investigating the incident but did not name Pickton as the victim.
“The assailant was identified, and the appropriate actions have been taken,” the news release states. “In order to improve practices aimed at preventing this type of incident, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take the appropriate measures.”
Port-Cartier Institution is a maximum-security federal prison located about 600 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Pickton was convicted in 2007 of the murders of six women. He was arrested in 2002, and his trial began in 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder in Canada.
The investigation into his crimes was one of the largest in Canadian history. The Pickton case led to significant changes in how law enforcement handles missing persons cases, particularly those involving marginalized communities.