General

Robert Pickton will not get a new trial

Supreme Court upholds B.C. serial killer’s conviction

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled unanimously that Robert William Pickton is not eligible to get a new trial for murdering six women in British Columbia. The former pig farmer was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years after being found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder in December 2007. Before delivering the verdict, jurors had asked the judge whether they could convict Pickton without being certain he was the only person involved in killing the six women. The court said it was sufficient to find Pickton was an active participant, but Pickton’s lawyers said the judge’s last-minute instruction to the jury robbed their client of a fair trial. Today, the top court ruled Pickton would not get a new trial because the case was not about whether Pickton had a minor role in the killing of the victims but about whether he had killed them. The court stated: “No miscarriage of justice was occasioned in this trial.”

CBC

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