Susie Kinshella, sister of Wendy Crawford, one of the missing women, leaves the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Vancouver, Thursday, June 25, 2009.Jonathan Hayward
The disappearance and possible murder of more than 60 women from Canada's worst slum, Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, has been a dark stain on the city's reputation for more than a decade.
A court decision yesterday upholding Robert Pickton's conviction for second-degree murder of six of those women may do little to wipe it away, family members and community activists said yesterday.
Sandra Gagnon, the sister of a woman who disappeared in June, 1997, said she feared police may not pursue investigations into the missing women since prosecutors say they would not charge Mr. Pickton with any more murders as long as the convictions for six were upheld. Mr. Pickton is already serving the maximum sentence permitted under the law and further trials would be pointless, the prosecutors have said.
"My sister is still one of the missing women," Ms. Gagnon said, referring to her sister, Janet Henry. "The Missing Women Task Force said to me they definitely think she ended up [at Mr. Pickton's farm] But even if they find enough DNA on the farm, there's never going to be any charge," she said in an interview.
Bernice Williams earlier this week completed a 1,500-kilometre walk from Vancouver to Prince Rupert to draw attention to the women in Vancouver and northern B.C. who have gone missing and possibly were murdered. "It's shameful," she said outside the courthouse. "I think it is so sad." Echoing the request of several aboriginal groups, Ms. Williams said the government should appoint an inquiry into the missing and murdered women.
Yesterday, the B.C. Court of Appeal, in a 2-to-1 decision, dismissed Mr. Pickton's appeal of his conviction of six second-degree murders. Mr. Pickton and his lawyers have not yet decided whether to appeal the B.C. court's decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, lawyer Patrick McGowan told reporters.
The sensational trial over 11 months in 2007 attracted international attention, with explicit testimony of several drug addicts and prostitutes and extensive evidence of unfathomable depravity. The severed heads of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson and Andrea Joesbury were found on Mr. Pickton's farm across the street from a commercial development in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam. The partial jawbones of Marnie Frey and Brenda Wolfe and hand bones of Georgina Papin were also discovered on the property.
Mr. Pickton, 60, was found guilty of killing the six women and sentenced to 25 years without parole. The women were dependent on drugs and worked as prostitutes in one of Canada's most desolate neighbourhoods. He remains charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 20 additional women.
More than 60 women disappeared from the Downtown Eastside in the years before Mr. Pickton was arrested in 2002. A current RCMP poster of missing women shows 69 faces, including six that were killed by Mr. Pickton. The investigation into the fate of the missing women on the poster continues, RCMP spokeswoman Corporal Annie Linteau said in an interview. The police are also continuing to investigate any other suspects in addition to Mr. Pickton. "We have to look at the fact that more than one person could be responsible," she said.
However B.C. Attorney-General Michael de Jong told reporters that he did not expect any further proceedings against Mr. Pickton unless the Supreme Court of Canada was to overturn the B.C. appeal court's decision. He declined to comment on whether the government intends to appoint an inquiry into the missing women. "There is a right of appeal, and as long as that exists, you are not going to hear me speculate about other proceedings," Mr. de Jong said.
Susie Kinshella, a sister of Wendy Crawford, said the Crown should have put Mr. Pickton on trial for all 26 murder charges, not just for six. The murder of Ms. Crawford is one of 20 that remain in limbo. Visibly disappointed but composed, Ms. Kinshella said she will fight the system until her sister's case is heard.
Being in jail for six murders should not mean he will not be tried for other crimes, she said. "What kind of a government system is that?" Ms. Kinshella said.