Convicted serial killer Robert Pickton was hospitalized with critical injuries after an attack in a Quebec prison Sunday, and members of his victims’ families have complicated feelings about the attack and the fact that he may not survive.
The Correctional Service Canada (CSC) confirmed that Pickton was the victim of a “major assault,” though the circumstances and his current condition are unknown.
Cheam First Nation Chief Councillor Ernie Crey told CityNews that he’s still taking in the news.
His sister Dawn’s DNA was found on the Pickton farm after she disappeared in 2000.
Crey said that despite Pickton’s condition, “it’s over now. That’s it. For me, it’s over. We can’t forget them though. But it’s over now, for him.”
Crey took the time to reflect on the history and ongoing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
His feelings about Pickton aside, Crey said the public cannot forget about victims like his sister all over the country. “The other women, they’re missing now.”
Tammy Lynn Papin says she “jumped up and down” when she heard the news about her older sister Georgina’s killer.
Georgina’s remains were found on the Pickton farm and her murder is one of only six for which Pickton was convicted of second-degree murder.
“We’re happy. Like we’re really happy,” Tammy Lynn told CityNews, speaking on behalf of the Papin family. “It’s like justice for us, and for all the other families.”
Tammy Lynn says she remembers her sister regularly, through prayer, a treasured photo of Georgina, talking to her, and making offerings of food and tobacco.
Pickton, who is 74, is serving a life sentence after his 2007 conviction.
He was arrested in 2002 during a major investigation centring on the disappearance of dozens of vulnerable women, mostly from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
He was originally charged with 27 killings but 21 of the counts were stayed and never made it to trial.
The DNA of an additional six women was later found on his Port Coquitlam property.
—With files from Charlie Carey and Mike Lloyd