A notorious Canadian serial killer, who is spending life behind bars, is not expected to survive after he was savagely attacked this week by other prisoners.
Robert Pickton, who was given the nickname “The Pig Farmer Killer” after he was tried and convicted of killing six women but was suspected of murdering more than 20, was attacked on Sunday.
In a Monday news release from Correctional Service Canada, the country’s prison bureau announced the hospitalization of an inmate, although Pickton was not initially named.
“On May 19, 2024, an inmate was the victim of a major assault at Port-Cartier Institution, a maximum-security federal institution,” CSA said. “The injured inmate was evaluated and transported to an outside hospital to receive treatment.”
CSA said an attacker was identified and an investigation was underway.
“The safety and security of institutions, their staff, and the public remains the highest priority in the operations of the federal correctional system,” CSA said. “In order to improve practices aimed at preventing this type of incident, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take the appropriate measures.”
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS News confirmed Pickton, 74, was the inmate who was attacked at the maximum security facility.
Police in Quebec told the network Pickton was the man attacked and that his injuries “were considered life-threatening.”
The Vancouver Sun reported Pickton was still in a hospital Tuesday and was “not expected to recover.”
The outlet further reported Pickton was on life support after he was “speared in the head” by a 51-year-old fellow inmate with a broom handle that had been fashioned into a weapon.
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A woman named Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Pickton, reacted to the news the serial killer was not expected to live by saying, “I know it’s her spirit because finally the devil is gone.”
Cardinal added, “This news actually gives me a little bit of closure for myself. I’ve had all these feelings today. I know it’s Georgina. And I know she’s happy.”
Pickton was convicted of the murders of six women in 2007 in British Columbia but had initially been charged with murdering 21 others.
According to the Sun, the DNA of 33 different women was found by police at Pickton’s farm near the city of Port Coquitlam.
The outlet reported the serial killer had once bragged about killing 49 women in a jailhouse conversation with an undercover police officer.
City News Toronto reported the investigation that identified Pickton as a suspect was among the largest in Canada’s history.
The probe ended when Pickton was arrested in 2002.
