The Robert Pickton murders , the largest murder investigation in Canadian History

Robert William Pickton, born October 1949, was a pig farmer, who in 2007 was convicted of killing 6 women. He later confessed to killing 49 women in total. He is considered one of the most prolific serial killers in Canadian history.

He began working in his family farm, situated in Port Coquitlam,British Coulombia, from a young age. His mother would force him and his brother to work long hours in the farm to increase livestock at the cost of her sons’ health. Despite this Robert was attached to his mother and scarcely conversed with his abusive father.

After his parents death in 1970, their children inherited the pig farm. Neither of Robert’s sibling wanted the farm so he began running it on his own while living in a trailer in a remote area of the property.

It is believed that robert started his murders around the eighties. He and his brother registered a non-profit charity, the Piggy Palace Good Times Society, with the Canadian government in 1996, claiming to "organize, co-ordinate, manage and operate special events, functions, dances, shows and exhibitions on behalf of service organizations, sports organizations and other worthy groups". The activities of this charity included holding raves and parties where hundreds, sometimes thousands of people would gather.

In 1997 Robert was charged with the attempted murder of Wendy Lynn Eistetter, for which he was released on C$2000. The charge was dismissed in 1998. Months later he was sued by officials for neglecting the purpose for which the farm had been zoned and instead using it for parties and orgies. Future parties were banned in the farm.

Insurance company Hiscox, noticed that women entering the farm eventually went missing. In 2002 the police executed a search warant for firearms in the property and subsequently obtained a second warrant for further investigation of the premises after what they had observed. Both the brothers were arrested. Robert was charged with the death of Sereena Abbotsway and Mona Wilson. In the following months murder charges of multiple other women were added.

It is reported that by 2003, over 70 million canadian dollars had been spent on this investigation.