‘Tears of joy’ from victim’s sister after prison attack on BC murderer Pickton

Cynthia Cardinal says she was “overwhelmed” with happiness when she received a text message on Monday with the news that serial killer Robert Pickton, who murdered her sister Georgina Papin, was in life-threatening condition after an attack in prison.

She calls it “karma.”

The text came from a cousin of Tanya Holyk, another missing woman whose DNA was found on Pickton’s pig farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C

“I don’t think someone that evil should be living on Earth as far as I’m concerned,” Cardinal said Tuesday. “I have tears of joy. Very big tears of joy.”

Correctional Service Canada confirmed Tuesday that the B.C. serial killer was the inmate injured in a “serious attack” at a Quebec prison on Sunday.

Quebec provincial police said Pickton, 74, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu added that a 51-year-old suspect was in custody.

Federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he was informed late Sunday and his thoughts immediately turned to the families of the Pickton victims in British Columbia as well as corrections officials in Quebec.

LeBlanc called Pickton “one of the most dangerous criminals in the country” but said he could not provide further details about the incident or Pickton’s condition due to privacy concerns. The minister did not mention Pickton by name but responded to a question about him.

“When we think of the inmate who was attacked, when we say his name, we think of the victims, of the families,” LeBlanc said in French, adding that Correctional Service Canada has a process to review such circumstances.

“One of my main concerns, of course, is the safety of these institutions and the men and women who work in these prisons,” he said in English.

ALSO READ: BC murderer Robert Pickton in life-threatening condition after prison attack

Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with a maximum parole ineligibility of 25 years in 2007 after being charged with the murders of 26 women.

The remains or DNA of 33 women were found at Pickton’s farm, many of them from the Downtown Eastside, and he once bragged to an undercover police officer that he had killed 49 in total.

Pickton’s confirmed victims were Papin, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe and Marnie Frey.

Cardinal, 63, said she felt authorities were suppressing information about Pickton, noting that she learned of the attack not from officials but from Lorelei Williams, Holyk’s cousin.

She remembered her sister as “full of life” and a great mother to her seven children, the youngest of whom was just a year old when Papin went missing.

“She had so much talent. But she also had a hot temper because as sisters we argued, you know how it is, but she was very tough,” Cardinal said.

She said the last two decades have been tough for Papin’s family and every time Pickton’s name is mentioned, “it kind of takes you back to that time.”

However, the latest news brought with it “a great feeling.”

“I think karma, and he had it for me a long time ago,” she said.

When Pickton’s sentence was handed down, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a “rare case that justifies the maximum period of parole ineligibility available to the court.”

The correctional service announced for the first time Monday that an inmate had been hospitalized after a serious attack at the maximum-security Port-Cartier facility, about 480 kilometers northeast of Quebec City.

On Tuesday it was said that none of the employees were involved in the attack.

Police began searching the Pickton Farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam more than 22 years ago. This was supposed to be a year-long investigation into the disappearances of dozens of women, many from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Vancouver police have been criticized for not taking the cases seriously because many of the missing people were sex workers or drug users.

Pickton became eligible for day parole in February, sparking outrage among lawyers, politicians and victims’ family members, who criticized Canada’s justice system and said he should never be released from prison.

Four years ago, the RCMP requested the destruction of evidence found at a property in Ruskin, British Columbia, associated with Pickton and stored in RCMP warehouses.

The items include items of clothing, shoes and hairpins – including one with hair still in it – as well as more frightening pieces of evidence such as a sex toy and a rusty repeating rifle.

The RCMP’s application argued that the items took up significant space and storing them continued to drive up costs. It said the evidence in question would have no bearing on future prosecutions.

In an email on Tuesday, RCMP Sergeant Kris Clark confirmed that the application is still before the court and the process is ongoing.

A group of families, advocates and advocates sent a letter to the federal Department of Public Safety in December calling for the disposal plan to be halted.

READ ALSO: British Columbia mayors say allowing Pickton to apply for parole sends a ‘chilling message’

— By Morgan Lowrie in Montreal and Nono Shen and Chuck Chiang in Vancouver

The Canadian Press