[bcdphie]

We don't have capital punishment at all in Canada, but I am a firm believer in it. The are many people who deserve this fate like the following: recently 50 women have gone missing from Vancouver downtown's eastside so far 7 of the deaths have been tied to Willie Pickton

New murder charge laid against Pickton

canada.com

Wednesday, May 22, 2002

VANCOUVER - A seventh murder charge has been laid against Robert William Pickton in Vancouver's
missing women case.

The newest count accuses Pickton of the first-degree murder of Brenda Wolfe, who disappeared in early
1999 from Vancouver's downtown east side.

Wolfe, 32, wasn't reported missing until April 2000.

In February, police began searching Pickton's pig farm and the search was expanded last month to a
nearby property.

A seventh murder charge has been laid against Robert William
Pickton in Vancouver's missing women case.(CP)

Police investigators, who have been collecting DNA samples from
family members of the missing women, have said in the past they
have found human remains at the pig farm.

Police wouldn't say what evidence led them to lay the latest
charge against Pickton, nor would Vancouver police Det. Scott
Driemel say whether DNA was found.

Driemel said police are finalizing the hiring of about 50 specialists
in human osteology, a branch of archeology.

"The individuals who will be hired for a period ranging from a few
months to a year come from the academic and science community
in Canada,'' Driemel said.

They start work in the next few weeks.

Driemel wouldn't say what the scientists would be doing and he said they have signed confidentiality
agreements.

"The individuals have also been told - in very clear terms - that public disclosure about their work could
result in not only them getting fired but facing charges under relevant legislation,'' Driemel said.

There are about 80 investigators working for the joint RCMP-Vancouver city police task force investigating
the disappearances.

Investigators originally anticipated the search at Pickton's farm would take a few months but that estimate
has since increased. Officers will be at the farm for at least a year collecting evidence.

Peter Ritchie, lawyer for Robert Pickton
(CP/Richard Lam)

The women began disappearing in 1983. Thirty-nine of them have
gone missing in the last six years.

Family and friends have been highly critical of the way Vancouver
city police handled the disappearances prior to the RCMP joining
the investigation a year ago.

Community activists have complained that because most of the
women were prostitutes and addicted to drugs, they were treated
as throwaways by police who ignored concerns there may be a
serial killer prowling the poverty-stricken downtown eastside
neighbourhood.

However, the province's solicitor general has rejected calls for an inquiry into police handling of the case
while Pickton is before the courts. Many family members of the missing women complain police
repeatedly turned a blind eye to the disappearances.

Pickton, 52, will begin a preliminary hearing Nov. 4, 2002. He will appear in Port Coquitlam court on the
new charge tomorrow.

Six other counts of first-degree murder have been laid against Pickton in the last three months, since
police began searching his farm in Port Coquitlam.

Investigators are looking for 50 women who have disappeared from Vancouver's drug-infested downtown
east side in the last two decades.

Robert Pickton is also charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of:

- Mona Wilson, 26-years-old when she was last seen in November

- Serena Abotsway, 29-years-old when she disappeared in August 2001

- Jacqueline McDonell, 23-years-old when she was last seen in January 1999

- Diane Rock, 34-years-old when last seen in October 2001

- Heather Bottomley, 25-years-old when she disappeared in April 2001

- Andrea Joesbury, 22-years-old when last seen in June, 2001

© Copyright 2002 Canadian Press