Canadian serial killer Robert Picton 'between life and death' after attack in prison

Doug Cunningham

May 22, 2024 at 3:36 p.m.·2 min read

May 22 (UPI) -- Serial killer Robert Picton remains in critical condition and is not expected to survive following an attack in prison. The Canadian murderer was speared in the head with a broken broom handle while serving his maximum security sentence at Port-Cartier prison.

The 74-year-old Picton was attacked Sunday and was between life and death Tuesday after surgery, according to two sources including one police source cited by Radio-Canada.

Prison officials would not share information about his condition Wednesday.

Tammy Lynn Papin, sister of Picton victim Georgina Papin told CBC News after Picton was attacked, "Good for him, he deserved it. I don't wish any harm on anybody but - karma, you know? I truly believe, you know, [the] Creator works in his ways."

Picton's unidentified attacker was a fellow inmate who is now being held in isolation.

Picton lured more than two-dozen female victims, many of them indigenous women, to a pig farm.

Chief Marilyn Slett with the Heiltsuk Tribal Council in Bella Bella, B.C. told The Canadian Press that the attack on Picton has raised painful memories.

Slett said his profile is being raised and he's being talked about, "Yet it's the women, the victims and families who are hurting today and still seeking justice for their families and their loved ones. And I can understand how people would feel [about] what happened to him."

Picton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and charged with 21 other murders but all but the six counts were stayed. He was sentenced to 25 years with no possibility of parole.

Investigators found the DNA of 33 women at the killer's Port Coquitlam pig farm. Many of the victims were sex workers from Vancouver.

In 2013 families of missing women who may have been killed by Picton filed complaints in British Columbia's Supreme Court alleging that a 1997 botched investigation allowed the killings to continue for five additional years.

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