Investigation alone cost $70 million
According to figures released Monday by the B.C. provincial government, the total cost of the investigation and trial in the Robert Pickton serial murder case topped $100 million. The final tally of expenditures since the investigation began in April 2001 came in at $102.8 million. The most significant chunk of spending was on the lengthy multi-jurisdiction police investigation, which cost nearly $70 million. After that, the second-largest cost was for defence lawyers, who were paid just under $12 million. Pretrial, prosecution, and witness costs added just over $9 million to the total, while security and trial support cost nearly $7 million. The province also spent $2.4 million on support services for the families of Pickton’s victims. Other expenditures included B.C. Supreme Court expenses, management services, and corrections and coroners’ services.