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Remains of 49 Victims Found on Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton’s Pig Farm
From as early as 1983 to 2002, he preyed on the most vulnerable women and almost got away with it.
I have always found Robert Pickton’s murders, particularly chilling. The details of the recovery operation, to identify victims remains haunting. It is believed that he had at least forty-nine victims. He used his pig farm to hide the bodies of his victims. I remember this being on the news every night, as the victim count rose higher and higher as they recovered bone fragments, personal belongings, and DNA. His trial seemed never-ending as it went on for months.
The pig farm is gone, it has since been paved over, and a strip mall stands in its place. With time, and as landscapes change, history should remember the victims. Pickton was emboldened because his victim’s disappearances drew little attention.
Robert Pickton, who preferred to be called Willie, was born October 24, 1949, in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Little is known about his childhood or family background, but it is reported that his father was absent in his childhood, and his mother, Louise Pickton, raised him. She was described as a workaholic who was tough and had eccentric tendencies in raising her children. She would work her children for long hours on the pig farm, even on school days, but it was the 1950s, and this wasn’t unusual for a smaller farming community.
There is a story that Robert, as a child, had a pet calf that he had raised from birth. He loved this calf, and he felt it was his only companion. His parents had told him that this calf could be his pet, and he loved and took care of it to the best of his abilities. As he and the calf grew, so did their bond. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware that the family never had any intentions of keeping the cow any longer than necessary, and his parents had the animal slaughtered.
He never got over the grief and betrayal of losing his pet. Also, his family’s traumatic torment reminded him that his pet was being served at the dinner table.
Robert did not do well in school. He had been put into special education classes and eventually dropped out. He was described as having personal hygiene issues as a child and into adulthood…
