The Emerald Order

This week’s entry drags us into the mud, both literal and moral. Robert “Willie” Pickton was a Canadian pig farmer and prolific serial killer who preyed on some of society’s most vulnerable. By the time the truth came to light, the scale of his crimes had shaken the entire nation.

THE VICTIMS

Pickton primarily targeted women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, many of whom were sex workers or struggling with addiction.

The systemic failure to prioritize missing person cases involving marginalized women allowed his crimes to continue undetected for nearly two decades. He lured them to his farm under the pretense of drugs or money.

In 1997, a woman escaped from Pickton’s farm, bleeding and handcuffed, and ran to a nearby road for help. She told police that he had tried to kill her. Charges were filed, but later dropped when the case was deemed too weak to prosecute. That woman’s survival could have ended this story right there. Instead, it continued for five more years.

At one point, an informant alleged that Pickton had human body parts stored in freezers on the farm. Police searched but claimed they found nothing. Years later, those very freezers would become a focal point of the investigation.

During a 2002 search for illegal firearms, investigators found more than they bargained for: purses, clothing, and ID cards belonging to missing women. That accidental discovery finally triggered a full-scale investigation, and what they uncovered was a nightmare rooted deep in negligence.

Pickton was convicted of the second-degree murders of six women:

• Sereena Abotsway

• Mona Wilson

• Andrea Joesbury

• Brenda Wolfe

• Georgina Papin

• Marnie Frey

  
  

Many more victims are suspected, with DNA or remains linked to at least 33 women, and Pickton himself confessed to killing 49. The true number will likely never be known, not because the evidence wasn’t there, but because it was lost in the cracks of apathy, bias, and bureaucratic failure.

THE METHODS

Pickton’s farm became a dumping ground of horror. Investigators found human remains in freezers, buried on the property, and potentially even ground into pig feed.

The grotesque nature of his disposal methods has haunted Canadians since the case broke. He was known to butcher pigs in the same spaces he used to kill his victims, blurring the line between slaughterhouse and crime scene.

Disturbingly, authorities also investigated reports that Pickton may have mixed human remains with pork and sold it to the local community. Though never officially confirmed, enough concern was raised that public health officials issued warnings to anyone who may have received meat from the farm.

THE MOTIVE

There was no financial motive. Pickton was a millionaire thanks to his family's property. What he sought was dominance, cruelty, and complete control.

His victims were women he believed wouldn’t be missed. It was calculated dehumanization. In interviews, he showed no remorse, once telling an undercover officer he had planned to make it to "an even 50" before getting caught.

He also reportedly claimed that he was “cleansing evil” from the world, referring to his victims as the source of that evil. This warped justification only added to the depravity of his crimes, reframing murder as some kind of delusional moral crusade.

Psychologists cite sexual sadism and severe antisocial personality traits, paired with a deep contempt for women, especially those in sex work. But just as disturbing was the complacency of the system that let him get that far.

CURRENT STATUS

Robert “Willie” Pickton is dead. He died on May 31, 2024, at the age of 74, following an assault by another inmate at the Port‑Cartier Institution in Quebec. The attack occurred on May 19, 2024, during routine medication distribution.

The weapon? A broken broom handle. Pickton succumbed to his injuries nearly two weeks later in hospital.

He had been serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years after his 2007 conviction on six counts of second-degree murder. Though he had confessed to killing 49 women and was forensically linked to 33 victims, the remaining murder charges were stayed in 2010.

The man charged in the attack is Martin Charest, a 52-year-old federal inmate now facing first-degree murder charges. As of July 2025, his next court appearance is scheduled for September 2, 2025.

A Correctional Service Canada investigation into the incident found that inmates had unrestricted access to cleaning tools, including the broom that became a fatal weapon. CSC has since recommended enhanced security protocols, such as locking up all mop and broom closets within federal prisons.

QUESTIONS FOR THE ORDER:

❓What do you think allowed Pickton to kill undetected for so long?

❓Do you believe the official victim count reflects the true scale of his crimes?

❓How should society reframe how it handles missing persons cases involving marginalized populations?

❓What forensic innovations or legal changes could help prevent another case like this?

The Pig Farmer Killer may have been caught, but the blood on the system’s hands is harder to wash off.

Drop your thoughts below, Order Members. Let’s crack this one wide open.