Canadian True Crime - 16 Robert Pickton - Part 2

Starting point is 00:00:00 This podcast may contain coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to Canadian True Crime, Episode 16, Robert Picton, Part 2. This is Christy. When we left off, Wendy Lynn Eisteder had survived a knife attack with Robert Picton. She'd been picked up and taken to hospital, still with handcuffs on. Robert arrived sometime later at the same hospital, along with the key that opened the handcuffs. He had been charged for instigating the attack. Robert was kept at the hospital for three days for his stab wounds.

Starting point is 00:00:56 He told his brother David his side of the story that some bitch had stabbed him. He was released from the hospital on a $2,000 cash bond, with an order for him to stay at the farm, not contact Wendy, and not use any alcohol or drugs, which of course he didn't use anyway. Robert needed to be cared for post-surgery, but David didn't have the time to do it, so arranged for Robert's old friend Lisa Yelts to come and do it. The tale he told her was that he'd been snoozing in his truck, and a sex worker woke him up. He said she went back to the trailer with him, and she saw a wad of cash on the table, grabbed a knife, and threatened him. He tried to protect himself and the rest is history, he said.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Lisa noted he was clearly very bitter about Wendy. Lisa told him to let it go that it was done, but the brothers didn't forget Wendy and hired a private investigator to get background information on her. On April the 8th, 1997, the police charged Robert with attempting to murder Wendy and with unlawful confinement and aggravated assault. Robert hired an expensive and well-known lawyer to defend himself, telling his friends he'd paid $80,000. Whether or not she knew she was being investigated by Robert and his team, Wendy was traumatized by the attack and terrified of Robert and his brother.

Starting point is 00:02:26 Understandably, she'd fallen back into her drug addiction and was not in the right emotional and physical state to cooperate with her lawyers. She could not provide any helpful testimony, and she refused to attend any court sessions. As a result, the judge dropped all the charges against Robert. Meantime, once Lisa had finished looking after Robert post-surgery and moved back into her house, Robert phoned his new friend Gina Houston to tell her not to believe what she read in the papers. Even though he hadn't been named publicly, all the locals in that circle knew that it was him. A week later, they ran into each other at a grocery store, and that was the start of their close friendship. He found her friendly and easy to talk to.

Starting point is 00:03:20 But Gina wasn't surviving very well. She had two children and at least three foster children and was supporting them all, plus her drug habit on welfare payments, foster payments and sex work. Sometimes she didn't have money for food and relied on Robert to show up with pig meat from the farm for them to eat. She would often rely on the farm as a place to take the kids to play. Of course, Gina was conning him the whole time, taking advantage of the fact that Robert liked to think of himself as someone who likes to help others out. Soon, he was supporting her financially and she was seen to hang off his every word. But while she liked everyone to have the impression they were a couple, she later claimed it wasn't a sexual relationship.

Starting point is 00:04:07 In fact, she would help him find women in the downtown Eastside to bring back to the farm and a couple for Pat Casanova, the business associate that helped him with the barbecue pork. Gina's favorite spot to pick up sex workers was Wish. The drop-in center for sex workers in a church at the corner of Hastings Street and Gore in the downtown Eastside. She'd tell them she had a friend with drugs and cow she was up for a party and could take them all. Many of them had heard of Robert Picton or Willie as he was known. He was on the bad date sheet and they all knew he was a creep. The word about Wendy's attack had reached the downtown Eastside.

Starting point is 00:04:49 She was well known and well liked and her story reinforced the rumors they'd been hearing about the farm, the Hell's Angels next door, and Piggy's Palace. But most of all, the word was getting out about Robert. Be careful of Willie, the rat-faced guy with free drugs who asked you to go to his farm. But when Gina came on his behalf, this put the women at ease. They thought with Gina there, chances of something happening were slim to none. Besides, they needed the money. So, despite the warnings they'd heard, Gina was always able to convince one or two women to go back with them.

Starting point is 00:05:27 One, she didn't even have to convince as she was already staying in Gina's basement apartment in Poco. 28-year-old Kelly Little met Gina while they were both visiting friends in the same prison. They struck up a friendship of their own. Kelly was a transsexual sex worker, aboriginal, and had been born with a number of health problems, including one kidney, a cleft lip, jaw deformity, and severe hearing loss. She'd had a troubled childhood, having been in foster care since she was three years old. One night in April 1997, Kelly got ready to go out, left Gina's house, and was never seen again. Neighbours reported to police that they heard a woman screaming in Gina's backyard around that time,

Starting point is 00:06:16 and they went to investigate, but nothing turned up. Next to disappear was 37-year-old Janet Henry, another aboriginal woman. She was the youngest of 11 children in a dysfunctional home. She'd had a horrific and tragic childhood that started when her father was killed in a boating accident when she was young. Janet and her brothers and sisters were separated and put in various foster homes. Her older sister was raped and murdered by five men. Her older brother was hit by a car and died, and her sister overdosed on prescription medication. And Janet herself had been drugged and assaulted by none other than Clifford Olson,

Starting point is 00:07:00 the British Columbian sex killer who murdered 11 children and young adults. But he had decided to release her. Janet married and had a little girl who stayed with her father when the couple divorced four years later. Janet got a new boyfriend who persuaded her to join him in his drug-taking, but when he died of a drug overdose, she was officially on her own on the downtown east side. But she was still in constant touch with her older sister Sandra. They spoke on the phone almost every day, no matter how high Janet was. One night in June 2007, Janet was supposed to meet Sandra for dinner. She didn't show up.

Starting point is 00:07:42 Sandra reported her missing the next day and spent time in the downtown east side looking for her but to no avail. She did find out that Janet had been going to parties at Uncle Willie's Farm in Poco and that he had bowls of cocaine set out all over the place. Two months later, Helen Hallmark aged 32 would go missing. She and her two siblings all had different fathers and experienced a lot of violence and abuse at the hands of whoever their mother's latest companion was. Her younger sister said that Helen took the brunt of it in an effort to protect her siblings. Her mother described her as a rebellious teen and put Helen into foster care at age 13.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Her school friends remembered her as being sophisticated and funny with sparkly eyes. Helen continued to keep in close contact with her siblings, but the combination of her life's event up until this point pointed her towards the downtown east side. At 19, Helen had a baby girl but gave her up for adoption when she was just a year old. Helen desperately wanted to get clean, but she wasn't able to cope with rehab. Although she couldn't change her own circumstances, she actively spoke to troubled teenagers warning them about where they might end up if they don't make the right choices. She did manage to save some lives.

Starting point is 00:09:11 No one knows when it was exactly that Helen disappeared, except that it was in August 1997 sometime. Her siblings and mother tried to find her for years, but there was no trace. Also to go missing in August was 27-year-old Jacqueline Murdoch, an Aboriginal woman with four children who was remembered as being funny and able to make anyone laugh. Her children were raised by her mother Evelyn. So, eight months into 1997, and eight women disappeared from the downtown east side so far. This was a massive spike compared to previous years. During this year, Robert Picton continued to troll the downtown east side,

Starting point is 00:10:00 but now he had hepatitis C. He hadn't been feeling well and the doctor had diagnosed him with the illness. Lisa Yelts would later say he believed that Wendy Lynn Eisteder gave it to him when he attacked her and she managed to stab him multiple times in self-defense. He was sure he'd been infected by her blood, even though he likely didn't even know whether she had the disease or not. In September of that year, 1997, a sex worker called Renata was propositioned by Robert's brother David, dressed in dirty jeans and a t-shirt. He said to her, I'm not a cop, and pulled out his penis as a show of good faith. He offered her $100 for a blowjob, which was more than twice the area's top rate of $40.

Starting point is 00:10:50 She turned him down. She didn't like the way he looked and he was dirty and smelly. He offered her drugs, but she had a rule. She only took cash for sex. David gave up and asked her if she knew anyone else, saying it wasn't for him. It was for his brother back home. Renata decided to recommend a good friend of hers, Sherry Irving, who was 24. Sherry was described as beautiful, outgoing, with long blonde hair and a broad smile. She was part Aboriginal from her mother's side. Somewhere along the way Sherry's parents separated, moved house frequently and understandably she had a rough time with it. By the time she was 19, she had a drug addiction and she was working as a sex worker to support her habit.

Starting point is 00:11:42 However, she didn't work the downtown east side. She worked the new Westminster Burnaby area, about 25 minutes drive southeast from the downtown east side. She became homeless, so Renata had offered her a place to stay for a while in her basement apartment. At this point, Sherry owed Renata $60 for rent, so he was an opportunity to pay it back. David Picton was now offering $100 each, plus drugs, and Renata said if Sherry came with her, she would give her $40 and the drugs and would keep the remaining $60 settling up the rent debt. Plus, Renata was going with her meaning she wouldn't have to go alone. Not too bad a proposition they both agreed.

Starting point is 00:12:29 Besides, David said Robert was, quote, an invalid and probably couldn't even get it up to get a blowjob, but he likes to have a girl try anyway. Sherry had a friend staying with her at Renata's house, and Renata thought it was time for them both to find somewhere else to stay now, so Sherry and her male friend agreed to meet up afterwards and catch the ferry to Vancouver Island together. David drove Renata and Sherry to the farm, and Robert appeared on the porch wearing his trademark rubber boots and jeans. He steered at the two women and nodded his head towards Sherry. Sherry said goodbye as she walked off with Robert.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Renata had a funny feeling that this was the last time she was ever going to see her friend, and it was. Renata ended up forming a business relationship with David, finding girls to take back to the farm for Robert. She thought of David as a bit of an idiot, but Robert was something different altogether. She said he was weird too, but he looked evil and mean. She saw something in his eyes that she didn't like. Six months after she left Sherry with Robert Picton, Renata found out that she'd never boarded the ferry to Vancouver Island with her friend. She went to the police and reported her missing, but there's no evidence that any action was taken. Also in September 1997, Marnie Frey went missing.

Starting point is 00:14:02 Marnie had a childhood that was mostly happy, save for a few hiccups along the way. Her mother was Aboriginal, but had drug addiction problems, which was a large part of why her parents would separate. Marnie lived with both parents individually before settling in with her father and his long-term girlfriend, Lynn. Marnie loved animals and had a bubbly, sparkly personality. She was known to be generous. She would literally give you the shirt off her back and would be ready to help anyone who was in need no matter what. But according to her father, Rick, at around age 14, Marnie started taking drugs and became difficult to live with. Rick and Lynn tried everything they could do to remove her from the situation, including sending her to a Christian school, but Marnie was rooted in her addiction.

Starting point is 00:14:55 She quit school by grade 11 and had to move out. She had several run-ins with the cops before finding out that she was pregnant. Once her daughter, Brittany, arrived, Marnie tried to make it work, but the call of her addiction wouldn't stop. She left the baby with her father and stepmother and eventually ended up in the downtown East Side. Despite this, she kept in touch with Rick and Lynn, calling them at least three or four times a week, sometimes multiple times a day, and visiting them often. In May 1997, she went into detox, but a few weeks after that, the addiction again became too strong to resist. Marnie was hospitalized from a suspected overdose and ended up living in her car. By now, she was almost 25 years old, and Rick and Lynn told her by phone they'd be sending her some money and clothes for her birthday.

Starting point is 00:15:49 But she didn't call again. They contacted everyone they could think of, but no one knew where Marnie was. Finally after a week, they reported her to police. The local police told them it was too soon to be upset. The missing persons unit at the Vancouver Police Department said Marnie was probably on a cruise and to call back again after Christmas, even though it was September. Her welfare check was cashed on September 24, 1997, but this was the last sign that Marnie was alive. Around the same time as Marnie went missing, so too did Cindy Beck. She was 33 years old and originally from Kitchener, Ontario.

Starting point is 00:16:34 She was described as a beautiful child who became a lovely woman with a beaming smile, popular and remembered with affection. Cindy had been adopted by a Mennonite couple, a religion similar to Amish. Her brother and sister went on to become important in the church, but Cindy was the rebel in the family. In her teens, she became pregnant with a baby who she gave up for adoption. She ended up falling into the company of people who used drugs and drifted out to Vancouver. Her parents travelled there to look for her but weren't successful. She always called on her birthday though, but in 1997, she didn't call. Her parents knew something was very wrong.

Starting point is 00:17:21 Next to go missing at the end of 1997 was Cynthia Felix from Vancouver, or Cindy, as she was known. Cindy's parents divorced after six years when her father was discovered to be an alcoholic and a cheater. Cindy's mother remarried and the kids didn't see their father until age 16, Cindy decided she wanted to see him again. Cindy was beautiful, blonde and outgoing with a wide disarming smile. She tracked her father down in Florida and went to visit him, but she said he met her at the plane with alcohol and marijuana, tried to talk her into sleeping with him and then pointed a gun at her and threatened to burn his trailer down. Understandably, this experience had a dramatic effect on Cindy, who started drinking and doing drugs with friends in high school as soon as she got back. She stopped swimming competitively. It wasn't long before she was away from home for days, shoplifting and stealing from her mother.

Starting point is 00:18:22 She was now addicted to heroin. She married in her early 20s and gave birth to a baby girl who was born addicted to the drug. Cindy fought hard to detox and was successful for a time, but her addiction again took hold, eventually sending her to the downtown east side and away from her family. As Cindy drifted further and further away from them, the phone calls to home became less frequent. The last anyone saw of her was on November the 26th, 1997. She was 43. It was now almost the end of the year and the people in the downtown east side were both heartbroken and frustrated. They lost so many of their own and 1997 was the worst year yet. Their heartbreak worsened when they looked around and realized that yet another of them had vanished, although they didn't know exactly when in the year.

Starting point is 00:19:21 Her name was Andrea Bohaven and she was 25. Her childhood was unhappy. She was described as an unwanted accident shuffled between her mother, father and other relatives. Understandably, she had deep seated issues with abandonment and not feeling like she belonged anywhere. Despite that, she was always described as high spirited and cheerful. When she was 13, she got into trouble for smoking pot and was diagnosed with ADHD. Andrea's mom decided that the only way she could get her help was to make her a ward of the state so she could go to a special residential treatment facility, which unfortunately didn't last long because Andrea ended up running away and living with other relatives for several months. She was described as smart, spunky, loving and intelligent but had trouble controlling her impulses that resulted in outbursts she later regretted.

Starting point is 00:20:20 She ended up on the streets of the downtown east side, although her mother and father separately maintained that they continued to support her and that their door was always open. Andrea would sometimes turn up asking for money or a place to stay. Police would say she was last seen in 1997 sometime, although no one can quite remember when as she didn't have a fixed address. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Square Space makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose Square Space because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It's important to have a website that looks good and I was inspired by Square Space's wide selection of clean and modern templates.

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Starting point is 00:22:57 At the end of 1997, Robert Picton found himself lonely on Christmas Eve. The downtown east side was no better. The sex workers who frequented there were of course loved and missed by their families who made special efforts to provide some happy memories over the festive season. They were not out and about as per usual, so feeling lonely and not having anyone to keep him company, Robert devised a silly prank to amuse himself. He brought some small pigs with him and set them loose on one of the corners and watched as they ran around terrified. Finally, someone called the Humane Society and the prank was over, but Robert thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever done. He would go on to repeatedly tell the story to anyone who would hear it, cackling as he recounted. The day after the pig incident was Christmas Day and 38 year old Keri Koski was celebrating Christmas with her family in Coquitlam. Note, this is a separate city to Port Coquitlam or Poco, but it's right beside it.

Starting point is 00:24:06 Keri was another of the downtown east side women and her family had been extremely worried when she arrived for Christmas looking like she was starving to death. Her family always supported her, but crossed the line at giving her money to buy drugs. As a child, Keri was described as pretty and full of life. She was a great dancer, kind and generous. She loved her family and friends and was raising three teenage girls as a single mother. Unfortunately, she had a bad run of boyfriends, one of which had recommended heroin to her and she was also the victim of domestic violence. She'd only been living in the downtown east side a couple of months by the time she went missing sometime between Christmas 1997 and mid-January 1998. When Keri's sister reported her missing, the police weren't interested and told her not to worry that Keri was probably off partying. Keri's daughters were devastated that after all they'd been through, their mum was now missing. One of her daughters said, you have to find my mum.

Starting point is 00:25:15 The official count for 1997 was 13 women, a massive spike from the previous years. 13 women who were loved and missed, vanished without a trace. This would be the worst year. And yet still, the Vancouver police refused to take the losses seriously. 1997 turned into 1998 and there was no sign of things changing. Inga Monique Hall was the first woman to go missing in 1998. She had immigrated to Canada from Germany with her parents when she was young and settled into Peterborough, Ontario, a city about one and a half hours drive northeast of Toronto. When she was 14, she ran away and moved to Prince George, British Columbia, eventually ending up on the downtown east side. Inga gave birth to two daughters, Crystal and Diana, both of whom ended up being raised by the families of their respective fathers. Later on, Inga made attempts to find her daughters but ended up returning to the downtown east side, deflated, where she tried to rob a bank with a plastic gun.

Starting point is 00:26:27 Inga was last seen on February 26, 1998. She was 46. Six weeks later, 28-year-old Sarah DeVries would disappear. She had a unique mixed heritage of black, Aboriginal, Mexican and white and described as stunning. Her mother had some issues and had troubles looking after her, so Sarah was adopted out at 11 months old. Sarah went to a white, middle-class family helmed by Pat and Jan DeVries and was able to enjoy the company of three older siblings. But Sarah was an ethnic face among a white community and this led to her being picked on and made to feel like she didn't quite belong. In her early teens, a friend introduced her to the rough part of Vancouver's downtown and she felt an instant connection. She didn't feel so out of place given there were many other women with Aboriginal and mixed heritage there too. By the time she was 18, Sarah had been absorbed into the drug culture of the downtown east side.

Starting point is 00:27:33 But even so, people remembered her as bright and attractive. She loved to cook, sketch and write in her journal and she was often seen rollerblading around. Soon after she turned to sex work, she moved in with her pimp and several other sex workers. They all lived in a dilapidated house in the downtown east side. Sarah soon became pregnant with two kids, both of whom were born addicted to cocaine and heroin and ended up living with Sarah's family. In the meantime, Sarah met a John who would hopelessly fall in love with her. His name was Wayne Ling and he would be an important part of the story. Wayne was divorced and picked up Sarah one day. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the love was unrequited as Sarah said she only wanted to be friends.

Starting point is 00:28:25 She did end up living with him for a time, finding his place safe, but soon returned to the downtown east side. Although he wanted more from their relationship, he was happy to have her as a friend just to be able to see her. So they continued as friends until Sarah went missing in 1998. She was with the fellow sex worker friend who left her to take a date. When the friend got back, Sarah was gone and she was never seen again. Wayne Ling noticed the absence almost straight away and went straight to the police who he said dismissed his concerns given he wasn't a family member. Wayne was angry so took things into his own hands, calling up Sarah's family, plastering the area with missing posters and asking randoms on the street if they'd seen her. Finally, Sarah's sister Maggie was able to file the missing persons report.

Starting point is 00:29:20 Sarah DeVries was the 48th woman to disappear from the downtown east side in the 20 years since 1978. Back at the Vancouver PD, a staff sergeant and a constable discussed the sharp increase in missing women and agreed that something needed to be done. They noticed the families of the missing were growing because they were always trying to get in and speak with law enforcement about their situations. The problem was becoming worse. They agreed it was necessary to speak with profiler Kim Rosmo again, but he was away for the summer so they'd have to wait until he got back. Publicly, the Vancouver PD continued to try its best to quell the public's distress by dismissing the possibility of a serial killer. During interviews and press conferences, a Vancouver PD spokesperson explained that after having reviewed cases dating back to 1971, there appeared to be no indication that a serial killer was on the loose. The spokesperson added that the increase of violence and disappearances was likely due to disputes over drugs. Even the mayor of Vancouver at the time, Phillip Owen, said there were no bodies so denied the possibility of a serial killer at work too.

Starting point is 00:30:41 In the meantime, the families of the missing women were also speaking with the press and a reporter called Lindsay Kynes of the Vancouver Sun was taking note. Wayne Lang also approached Lindsay to talk about Sarah DeVries, as well as the other missing women. He wanted to make the point that Sarah wasn't just one missing woman, she was one more and a long list. Lindsay Kynes took note and ended up writing a two-part story for the Vancouver Sun, featuring an interview with Wayne Lang. Wayne later said that many people looked at sex workers as throwaways who deserved what they got, quote, but those of us who knew them, we knew there was so much more. Sarah was a wonderful person. The articles got people talking, and many called Wayne to talk about it and provide tips. One day, he got an interesting call. It was from a man called Bill Hiscox. He explained that he'd worked for David Picton's demolition company in 1997 and 1998, and had spent a lot of time on the farm. Wayne Lang had never heard of David Picton or the farm before, but asked Bill to go on. He said that David's brother Robert Picton was, quote, quite the strange character, eh? Very, very strange. He went on to say that he believed that Robert might be responsible for the missing women.

Starting point is 00:32:06 He noticed women's clothing strewn all over the place and told Wayne about how Robert was charged with the attempted murder of Wendy Lynn Eistetter, the one who was stabbed and managed to escape. Bill Hiscox went on to tell Wayne Lang about the farm and all its potential hiding places and how Robert went to the downtown east side all the time for girls. He also said that Lisa Yelts had told him there were a heap of IDs, purses, and women's clothes around, saying it was very strange. It turned out that Wayne Lang wasn't the only person Bill Hiscox had told. He'd also called the Vancouver PD several times. One time, they said they'd look into it. They tried to speak with Lisa Yelts to hear it from her directly, but she was known to be anti-police and so would not cooperate with them. Another time, Bill Hiscox called the Vancouver PD to follow up, but they said there wasn't anything they could do. In the meantime, Vancouver Sun reporter Lindsay Kynes wrote another story on the missing women. The public was starting to talk and question why the Vancouver PD wasn't doing more and what was quickly being revealed as a massive problem.

Starting point is 00:33:24 So the Vancouver police decided to set up a working group to review past cases, but still said publicly, quote, We're in no way saying there is a serial murderer out there. We're in no way saying that all these people missing are dead. Lindsay Kynes stayed close to the Vancouver PD, who made it clear that they thought the new investigation was a bit of a waste of time and that there were lots of reasons the women might be gone, that without bodies there were no cases. When Kim Rosmo returned to work, he conducted a new analysis of the missing women and reported that yes, it seemed a serial killer was still at work, but the momentum was slowed down again by buck passing and political tantrums within the department. Finally, Project Amelia was founded to look at the disappearances of women between 1971 and 1998. Officers were sent to interview sex workers in the downtown east side and note down any bad tricks they had encountered.

Starting point is 00:34:28 Police also met with families of the missing women to collect DNA samples. They plan to use this DNA to identify any bodies they might find later on, but almost immediately they had new names to add to the list. 31-year-old Julie Louise Young, of whom little is known. Angela Jardine was next. She was 28 years old and cognitively and developmentally disabled due to being deprived of oxygen at birth. This caused perceived behavioral issues, including frequent emotional outbursts, which ended up with Angela on Ritalin. Despite this, she was described as cheerful and outgoing, sometimes loud and boisterous. Angela ended up in a foster home at age 18 and then living on her own.

Starting point is 00:35:20 She was not given the tools or assistance to be able to manage life by herself, so she wound up on the downtown east side with a boyfriend who took advantage of her. Throughout this time though, she stayed close with her parents. In November 1998, Angela participated in an all-day rally in the downtown east side called Out of Harm's Way, all about drugs and solutions for kicking addictions. Angela lasted a good part of the day, ushering people to their seats as a volunteer, but ironically in the afternoon she needed drugs, so went off to earn money to buy some, and this was the last time she was seen.

Starting point is 00:36:02 Also to go missing was 19-year-old Michelle Gurney, an Aboriginal woman who had a son who was adopted out. She was described as having a tough exterior, but underneath was a strong loyal friend. She was last seen on December 11, 1998. Just a few weeks later, Marcy Creason disappeared, soon after being released from jail on prostitution charges. Marcy was born in Toronto and moved to British Columbia when she was a teenager with her mother. She was already smoking marijuana and wasn't interested in school, and according to her uncle, things escalated from there. By 1997 at age 19, Marcy was living full-time in the downtown east side. Ruby Ann Hardy was 37 years old when she disappeared, sometime in 1998, but no one knows when.

Starting point is 00:37:00 An Aboriginal woman she had a son and two daughters. Her daughter wrote later that she was a strong woman who knew how to survive and took good care of her kids. A total of 11 women went missing from the downtown east side in 1998. Around this time is when an employee of the Picton Brothers started having serious suspicions that Robert was involved with the missing women of the downtown east side. Scott Chubb had spent a lot of time on the farm over the years, having worked in a lot of jobs including being a driver for David, as well as security detail at Piggy Palace. Scott knew about Robert's butchering skills and had seen the women's clothes, purses and jewellery strewn in areas of the farm. He decided to tell David Picton about his suspicions, urging him to get Robert off the street to stop the murdering. David didn't do anything. He was busy dealing with the Piggy Palace, its rough reputation, constant complaints and authorities and Pocos repeated attempts to have it closed down.

Starting point is 00:38:09 1999 was ushered in with more disappearances. First was 22 year old Jacqueline McDonnell, who was born in Toronto but grew up in Trail, British Columbia, a small city about 7 hours east of Vancouver. She was described as a bit of a hippie, intelligent and well read. She didn't do very well in school though and dropped out when she became pregnant at 18. Her daughter meant the will to her and she was said to have taken great care of her. Unfortunately a few years later, Jacqueline got together with a recovering drug addict and together they began using. Jacqueline tried her hardest to get clean but wasn't successful and her daughter ended up living with her mother and stepfather. She was a regular at wish, the women's drop in and people remembered her as someone who loved to read books. But only a couple of months after the downtown east side became her full time home, Jacqueline had vanished.

Starting point is 00:39:11 In early 1999, two people would move into the Picton Farm and would become central pieces of the puzzle. Lynn Ellingson and Andrew Bellwood. The history of how these two became involved starts with Gina Houston, Robert's latest best friend who was staying in a women's shelter in Surrey. Gina had just left a domestic violence situation with her boyfriend and met Lynn Ellingson also there because of a similar situation. Lynn was addicted to alcohol and drugs and had a son who was being raised by her parents. Gina struck up a conversation and asked Lynn if she wanted to go and meet a friend of hers called Willie Picton. He's a really nice guy, Gina said. They went to a gas station to meet Robert where he gave Gina $50 to help her get through the next few days. Gina reiterated to Lynn what a great guy Robert was. Soon after, Lynn reached out to Gina to see if she knew of anywhere she could stay.

Starting point is 00:40:13 Gina suggested Robert's farm saying in exchange there were jobs around the farm that she could do. Lynn moved into the spare room in Robert's trailer which originally was only supposed to be a temporary solution but she ended up making herself useful on the farm and with admin work for David's business. She ended up making it her permanent home with an agreement with Robert that she didn't have to pay rent as long as she kept helping out. I thought it was great. I thought it was great to be on the pig farm at the beginning. It was too good to be true. I only had to do, I didn't really have to work that hard to make that much money. I'm used to busting my ass to try and make my ends meet by the end of the day. Gina said to sit and talk on the phone and take faxes and I thought it was great to have this kind of money and now having this kind of money, of course my addiction was becoming a high habit a day. Instead of, you know, opposed to a 20 rock a day, well he's given me a couple hundred dollars a day so I'm using a couple hundred dollars a day. It got to the point that I was always high now.

Starting point is 00:41:32 David had learned right where he wanted her. He could feel like he was playing at rescuing a damsel in distress while making sure she was somehow indebted to him. Andrew Bellwood would be picked in farm resident number two at this time. I was just like everybody else that was hanging around that farm. We all needed shelter, we needed money, some of the people needed their drugs, work or whatever. It seemed like everybody that hung around that farm all had a need, all had a want. Andrew was in his early 30s and had just finished a five month drug treatment program. He had problems finding a place to live when he finished though. A friend he met in the program called Ross Contois invited him to stay in the place he was staying at for a while. This turned out to be Gina Houston's basement apartment.

Starting point is 00:42:22 Andrew Bellwood left that place after about seven days. By this time he'd found a job driving trucks and would sleep in the cab overnight. It had the benefit of him being able to avoid the yelling that was going on at Gina's as she was always arguing with someone. Unfortunately, despite spending five months in detox, Andrew was now back on the drugs. After a while, Gina asked Andrew to drive his truck to the Picton farm to pick something up. This is where Andrew Bellwood first met Robert Picton and they struck up a friendship. Andrew found Robert friendly and they got on well. After a while, Andrew was doing odd jobs for Robert and Robert asked him if he wanted to stay in the trailer,

Starting point is 00:43:09 the same one where Lynn Ellison was staying. They eyed each other off and were able to tolerate each other's presence for a while. But it turns out doing drugs together is a fantastic icebreaker. As Andrew and Robert got to know each other, Robert opened up more. He seemed to be a very generous, caring person that seemed to understand my situation, somebody that you would grow very close to very quickly. Especially in a time of desperation, which I would call in my life, finishing six months of treatment. I was feeling pretty down and old at that time and desperate to get back onto my feet.

Starting point is 00:43:57 They spent hours in conversation. Andrew got the impression that the pig farmer trusted him. Robert had a bunch of stories he liked to tell people over and over again. One night, Andrew recalls a particular story that shocked him. I was sitting in this chair watching TV and Willie come through the door behind me, proceeded into the bedroom, sat on the corner of his bed and he continued to start a conversation with me. Andy, do you want to get a hooker? Let's go get a hooker. And I just sat in the chair looking at him saying, no, I don't want to get a hooker, Willie.

Starting point is 00:44:41 I'm not into getting the hookers. Come on, Andy, let's get a hooker. No, Willie, I don't want to get a hooker. I tried to keep contact with the TV. Willie got up from the corner of the bed and he said, Andy, you know what I do with hookers? And he grabbed three items, one being a leather belt and a piece of wire and a pair of handcuffs. He proceeded onto his knees onto the bed and pretended there was a woman in front of him stroking their hair. He motioned with his left hand grabbing an arm that wasn't really there.

Starting point is 00:45:18 And with his other hand, he pretended to slip on handcuffs. Once he got the handcuffs on, he grabbed his belt and he motioned about putting his belt around their neck, stroking their hair saying it was going to be all right, it was going to be all over now. He got up from the bed, sat back down and looked at me and said, do you know how much people bleed? He wouldn't believe how much people bleed. He said, after that, he says, I take them to the bar and hang them and gut them. Robert explained to Andrew how pigs will eat pretty much all of human remains and that anything that wasn't eaten would go into the barrels and take into the rendering plant with the rest of the waste.

Starting point is 00:46:02 Andrew got the impression that Robert was hoping he might join him in his activities, but Andrew showed no interest. It seems Robert regretted giving so much information to Andrew because three days later, Robert told Lynn Ellingson that he was sure Andrew was stealing from him and could she pull together some rough men to talk to him. Corned in Robert's small office with the men Lynn had gathered but not Robert himself, Andrew protested his innocence. He was physically assaulted by the men and told to get the tools back in 24 hours or he would be dead. Bloody and injured, Andrew found Robert and told him to his face, he didn't steal anything. Robert coolly responded that he had helped the man, given him a chance and told him he better give the tools back.

Starting point is 00:46:56 Andrew was out of there. He spent that night in Gina's basement apartment and then the next morning he went to his mother's house on Vancouver Island where he was treated for a broken nose. He never went back to the Picton farm again. Andrew could have been the one that perhaps put an end to everything with just one phone call to the police. It was an eyewitness account, not just second or third party information. It could have been huge. But he didn't. Wanting to put the whole ordeal behind him, Andrew said he assumed that someone who was doing those kinds of things and telling people about it like that would be caught soon enough. Unfortunately, Andrew was wrong.

Starting point is 00:47:43 Back in the downtown east side, next to disappear was 31-year-old Brenda Wolfe, an Aboriginal woman who was last heard from on February 17, 1999. Brenda was strong, both physically and in character. Well loved because she stood up for what is right and defended women when they were in trouble. She had two children and a family in Alberta who adored her. By now, family members of the missing women were distraught and vocal. They were calling for more police action and a reward of $100,000 for information. At first, the police argued against issuing a reward, saying it wasn't needed because there were no bodies and therefore no evidence of foul play.

Starting point is 00:48:30 Even the mayor of Vancouver at the time, Phillip Owen, was quoted in the media as dismissing the reward as little more than a quote, location service, inferring that it would just be given away to people who had located sex workers who had simply moved away from the downtown east side. Obviously the mayor didn't believe they were missing. They'd just moved to a different location and hadn't told anyone. The mayor would later say he didn't recall making that statement, saying he was only against the reward for budget purposes. He didn't want the city of Vancouver to have to be responsible for paying the whole amount. Phillip Owen also disputed the claims of the families that said they stayed in touch with their loved ones and said they just wouldn't vanish like that. Quote, that's what they say. There's been prostitutes moving around and it never came up before.

Starting point is 00:49:24 I didn't get a letter or a phone call from anyone before this and some of these girls have been missing for a year, but all of a sudden it becomes a major event. Finally, the city contributed $30,000 and the BC government contributed $70,000 for a reward. Around this time an organization called PACE, or Prostitution Alternatives Counseling and Education Society, started interviewing sex workers on the downtown east side. They wanted to learn more about them in order to promote safer working conditions and support. They interviewed 183 sex workers, discovering that 58% of them worked to support a drug habit. More than half had been robbed while working. 39% of them had been kidnapped or confined before. One third said they had survived a homicide attempt.

Starting point is 00:50:22 The perpetrators of these atrocious crimes were usually clients who exploited the woman's vulnerability and mistrust of authorities. 40% of these sex workers did not report the incidents out of a profound sense of mistrust, which is not surprising given the public position of the authorities up until this point. A month or so after Andrew Bellwood left the farm and never looked back, Lynn Ellingson was still living there, doing her admin work and odd jobs for Robert Picton. In return he also paid for her alcohol, groceries, cigarettes and drugs and lent her money from time to time. But like employee Scott Chubb, Lynn became suspicious of Robert. One day she summoned the courage to talk to his brother David. She said she positioned it that she'd been hearing a lot of rumors like that there were arms and legs in the freezer. Casually David said, sure, let's go in the trailer and talk.

Starting point is 00:51:24 She went in the trailer and instead of talking, Lynn says David pushed her up against the wall and slapped her. She ran down the hallway into her room, but David followed her. She grabbed a vase with flowers in it and threw it, smashing a window in the trailer. After that, Robert told her that David wanted her gone, so to stay inside the trailer when he was out and about on the farm, not to let him know that she was still there. One night, Robert asked Lynn if she wanted to go for a ride with him while she ran some errands. She said yes. They did the errands and then Robert drove to the downtown east side, asking Lynn if she would mind if he picked up a girl for the night. She said no, but first she needed some drugs.

Starting point is 00:52:10 He pulled over and bought her some crack cocaine from a dealer and then drove up to a sex worker with long thick black hair and high cheekbones. I remember him stopping and this girl came up and he leaned over me and propositioned her. She looked at me and she said, are you going back there? And I said, yeah, I'm staying out there. So she goes, okay, well, as long as you're going to be there, I'll go. She got in the truck. We had all of our drugs now and we got some booze and we're happy, right? We're nice and dry.

Starting point is 00:52:49 And Willie says, well, which one first? So they went down to the room and I went down to my room and for some odd reason, something was telling, like, brought me out of my room. I didn't hear a word or anything, so I walked right down to the door and I opened up the door and there was nobody in the room. There was just clothes in the room. And all I remember was seeing a light out of the corner of my eye. There was a light on in that barn and that was the barn where he butchered his pigs. So I started walking towards the barn. I walked right up to the barn door and I pushed the door open and that is when I seen the woman she was already hanging.

Starting point is 00:53:36 He pulled me inside the door behind where the freezer used to sit behind the door. And he made me stand at the table and tell me that if I said anything, that I'd be right beside her. It was almost like my whole body froze. And the first thing that came out was, don't worry, I won't say a word. Like, whatever you do, I just need money for drugs. Robert walked Lynn out of the barn and back to the trailer. She assumed he would want her gone so she told him she was going to get some clothes and she'd leave. Instead, he told her not to worry that he would call her a cab and leave for a bit and he would pick her up the next day.

Starting point is 00:54:21 She went to Surrey where she drank and got high for a few days and then showed up back at the farm. She says she told him she was leaving to get back with her ex-boyfriend, the one who assaulted her, the reason why she ended up in the women's shelter where she met Gina Houston. After this encounter with Robert Pickden, Lynn was scared for her life. And that's where we're going to leave it for this episode. Stay tuned for part 3, where we'll go through how Robert Pickden finally got caught. Thanks for listening. Also thanks to everyone who sent kind messages on Twitter, the Facebook page and group and Instagram.

Starting point is 00:55:04 And if you left me a review either on Apple Podcasts or the Facebook page, I love reading them so thank you so much. This time I'm saying a big thank you to these patrons who received this episode a few days early. Tor H, Nikki P, Simon K, Kirby R, Sarah M, Diana J, Janine M and Taylor Rae F. And now for the podcast recommendation. Today it's the Dirty Bits podcast. I'll let Toni Plattis introduce herself because she's a pro, but I wanted to say she's also one of the sweetest people I've met in podcasting so far. You're going to love her show.

Starting point is 00:55:50 Hi, I'm Toni Plattis, one of the creators of the Dirty Bits podcast on the Orbital Jigsaw Network. I'm a voiceover actor who very casually and sometimes comically retells the sexy, scandalous and salacious stories from history your teacher probably left out. Listen to a new episode every Tuesday and find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by visiting orbitaljigsaw.com. This episode of the Canadian True Crime podcast was researched and written by Meg Zhang and me with audio production and scoring by Eric Crosby. Special thanks to Wednesday LaChance who provided valuable information and input. And thanks to Tyler Allen from The Minds of Madness for voicing my disclaimer. I'll be back soon with part three. I'll see you then. Thank you for watching!

Canadian True Crime - 16 Robert Pickton - Part 2

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