A serial killer is reportedly near death

According to Canadian news reports, Robert Pickton, a former pig farmer and one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, is near death after being attacked with a “broken broom-like handle” in prison on May 19.

On May 20, Correctional Service Canada issued a press release confirming that on May 19, “an inmate was the victim of an attack at Port-Cartier Institution, a maximum-security federal facility.” However, the agency did not mention Pickton by name.

The Vancouver Sun reported that Pickton was the inmate who was attacked in the Canadian prison by another inmate who had been released from Pickton’s unit despite having “previously attacked other inmates in the prison.”

According to CBC, the attack occurred at a maximum security prison in Quebec, Canada. Pickton was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the murders of six missing Vancouver women, but “the remains or DNA of 34 women, many of whom were local,” were also found at Pickton’s pig farm near that city, CBC reported.

“Pickton claimed to have killed 49 women. His case was the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history,” says the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Serial killer Robert Pickton is reportedly clinging to his life

GettyIn this undated picture, Robert William Pickton is seen from a television screen. Pickton and his brother ran a drinking club near their pig farm outside Vancouver, Canada, frequented by bikers and prostitutes. Pickton was arrested on February 22, 2002 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with two of the 50 women who have disappeared from the Vancouver area over the past two decades.

Pickton was “airlifted to hospital” after the attack at 2 p.m., The Vancouver Sun reported.

Pickton was “impaled in the head with a broken broom handle,” a source told The Vancouver Sun.

Correctional Service Canada confirmed he had suffered a “serious assault.”

Pickton’s lawyer declined to comment to the Sun. The Vancouver Sun reported that Pickton was “clinging to life.”

CBC quoted Radio-Canada, which also confirmed that Pickton was attacked in prison, and said his condition was critical. Sources told CBC that “Pickton is between life and death.”

GettyCards, candles, photos and flowers are left at a memorial to the more than 50 missing women near a pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, on April 4, 2002. The farm is under investigation for the 50 missing women from downtown Vancouver. Farm owner Robert Pickton is charged with five counts of premeditated murder.

The Correctional Service Canada press release said: “The injured inmate was assessed and transported to an outside hospital for treatment. The Sûreté du Québec is currently investigating the incident. The attacker has been identified and appropriate action has been taken.”

Neither Pickton nor the suspect are named in the press release. “The safety of the institutions, their staff, and the public remains the highest priority in the operation of the federal prison system,” it said. “To improve practices to prevent these types of incidents, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take appropriate action.”

The belongings of missing women have reportedly been found on Robert Pickton’s pig farm near Vancouver

GettyRoyal Canadian Mounted Police investigators move debris at a pig farm February 19, 2002 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm is currently searching for fifty missing women from downtown Vancouver. The owner, Robert Pickton, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Pickton ran a family pig farm and hosted charity events there called the Piggy’s Palace Good Times Society.

Pickton would travel to downtown Vancouver because he was “disposing of animal parts at a rendering facility,” reported the Canadian Encyclopedia, which added that Pickton would take women “back to his farm” after offering them “money and drugs.” had.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, at least 65 women disappeared from the area between 1978 and 2001, but many of the deaths went unnoticed. Police were accused of failing to properly investigate reports that a body may have been seen at Pickton’s farm along with women’s handbags. They searched his property in 2002 and found some of the missing women’s belongings as well as blood, reports the Canadian Encyclopedia.

The National Post reported that Pickton was accused of feeding corpses to pigs.

GettyMissing woman Mona Wilson is remembered at a memorial near a pig farm on April 4, 2002 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm is searching for fifty missing women from downtown Vancouver. Farm owner Robert Pickton is charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, wrote on X in February 2024 that Pickton was eligible for parole. “Today, one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers, Robert Pickton, is eligible for parole,” he wrote. “Monsters like this should never be released from prison. Common sense conservatives believe that mass murderers should face consecutive sentences just to get out of prison in a box.”

The National Post reported that Pickton was eligible for day release and full parole in 2027.

Other notorious inmates have been attacked and even killed in prisons over the years

Police photoJeffrey Dahmer

Other notorious inmates have been attacked and even killed by other inmates over the years, some in U.S. prisons.

For example, Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death by another inmate in a Wisconsin prison along with Jesse Anderson, a convicted wife murderer.

Whitey Bulger, a notorious gangster, was attacked and died in a federal prison in the United States.

Derek Chauvin, the former Minnesota police officer convicted in George Floyd’s death, was attacked in prison but survived.