Robert Pickton Pleads Not Guilty

The 57-year-old Port Coquitlam pig farmer is accused of murdering 26 women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The case has been severed into two parts, with Pickton first being tried for the deaths of Mona Wilson, Sereena Abotsway, Andrea Joesbury, Georgina Papin, Brenda Wolfe and Marnie Frey in January.

Many of the victims were prostitutes and drug addicts.

Saturday also marked the beginning of jury selection and hundreds of possible jury members packed the courtroom to hear an address from Justice James Williams.

“One of your responsibilities as Canadian citizens is to participate in our system of justice by acting as jurors from time to time,” Williams said.

“Trial by jury is an ancient, honoured and important tradition in our society. It enables the justice system to draw on the common sense of men and women of the community.”

The process of selecting the jury could last as long as two weeks, the court heard. The Crown and Pickton’s lawyers are scheduled to start presenting evidence Jan. 8.

The Pickton case is the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history.

Some key dates in the case of more than 60 women missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside:

September 1978: Lillian Jean O’Dare, earliest known missing date on list, disappears from Downtown Eastside.
1991: Relatives of a growing list of missing women, along with advocates for sex-trade workers, establish annual Valentine’s Day remembrance, press for tougher police investigation.
June 1997: Helen Hallmark reported missing.
September 1998: Vancouver police set up team to review files of as many as 40 women missing as far back as 1971.
January 1999: Jacqueline McDonell reported missing.
Sometime in 1999: Georgina Papin, Brenda Wolfe and Jennifer Furminger last seen.
April 1999: Vancouver police board posts $100,000 reward for information in missing women case.
March 2001: Patricia Johnson last seen in Downtown Eastside.
April 2001: Heather Bottomley reported missing.
August 2001: Sereena Abotsway reported missing.
September 2001: Vancouver police and RCMP form joint task force — Project Evenhanded — to replace city police stalled investigation.
October 2001: Diane Rock reported missing.
November 2001: Mona Wilson reported missing.
December 2001: Task force investigators travel to Seattle to interview Gary Ridgway, charged in four of 49 Green River homicides in Washington state.
January 2002: Task force adds five names to list, bringing total number of women missing to 50.
Feb. 5, 2002: RCMP officers, accompanied by missing-women task force members, enter property in suburban Port Coquitlam on firearms warrant.
Feb. 6, 2002: Task force officers use their own warrant to begin searching property for clues in missing women case.
Feb. 7, 2002: Robert Pickton, one of two brothers who own property along with sister, charged with weapons offences as search of property continued.
Feb. 22, 2002: Robert Pickton charged with two counts of first-degree murder — Sereena Abotsway and Mona Wilson.
April 2, 2002: Crown announces three more first-degree charges against Pickton — Diane Rock, Jacqueline McDonell and Heather Bottomley.
April 9, 2002: Sixth murder charge laid against Pickton — Andrea Joesbury.
April 23, 2002: Karin Joesbury, mother of Andrea, files lawsuits against Pickton, police, the province and the federal government in relation to Andrea’s death.
May 22, 2002: Pickton charged with first-degree murder of Brenda Wolfe.
June 6, 2002: Police begin excavating Pickton properties with help of archeologists.
Sept. 19, 2002: Father of missing woman Marcie Creison files lawsuit against police, City of Vancouver, the province and the federal government over investigation.
Sept. 19, 2002: Pickton charged with four more murders — Georgina Papin, Helen Hallmark, Patricia Johnson and Jennifer Furminger. List of missing officially grows to 63.
Oct. 2, 2002: Pickton charged with murders of Heather Chinnock, Tanya Holyk, Sherry Irving and Inga Hall.
Jan. 13, 2003: Preliminary hearing begins in provincial court in Port Coquitlam.
July 21, 2003: Hearing concludes.
July 23, 2003: Judge David Stone commits Pickton for trial on 15 counts of first-degree murder.
Nov. 18, 2003: Investigators wrap up mass excavation and search of Pickton property.
Feb. 20, 2004: B.C. government reports investigation costs will likely run up to $70 million and that the money has been set aside in the provincial budget.
March 10, 2004: Health officials report they cannot rule out that human remains may have been in meat processed for human consumption at the Pickton property.
May 2005: Crown lays 12 more first-degree murder charges.
June 2005: Pre-trial hearings begin in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, under publication ban.
October 2005: Pre-trial hearings end.
Jan. 30, 2006: Legal arguments begin on admissibility of evidence.