Pickton Robert William - Butcher

I would like to thank the following people for their support and assistance during the writing of this book: First and foremost, my wife, Teresita, for her endurance and months of essentially living alone while I barricaded myself behind closed doors and confined myself to the computer, telephone, and, of course, my big-boy office chair, which I rarely leftthree major, and necessary, tools of the trade! I couldnt do it without her love, cooperation, and understanding. I am also very grateful to Kirsten and Sarah, as always, for helping out when needed during such a time-intensive and grueling project. Thanks to all of you for always being there.

I am also forever grateful to Michaela Hamilton, editor-in-chief at Kensington Publishing Corporation, for her keen insight, sharp red pencil, and the clear vision for having seen the importance and magnitude of doing a book about the Robert Pickton case, clearly one of the worst serial murder cases in history. Im also grateful to Mike Shohl for his suggestions to improve the manuscript, and am equally grateful to everyone else at Kensington who work in the fore-front as well as behind the scenes to make these books happen.

Thanks also to my longtime agent, Peter Miller, of PMA Literary & Film Management, Inc., for his support and show of confidence throughout the years, and to his assistant, Adrienne Rosado, who keeps everything fine-tuned and in great working order, and for her patience during those times when I become a nuisance. A writer couldnt ask for better representation when the best is already there!

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the numerous dedicated members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Vancouver Police Department for their tedious work in gathering the tremendous amount of evidence that it took to bring Robert Pickton to justice after they realized they had a serial killer at work in their midst.

Thanks also to Jorge Jaramillo at Newscom and to Kimberly Waldman at Associated Press for their assistance in helping locate photographs appropriate for this book.

A very special thank-you to copyeditor Stephanie Finnegan whose efforts and professionalism in literally working over my manuscript have resulted in a more readable final product.

The contents of the book that you now hold in your hands is that of an often complicated story of missing women, torture, mutilation, and dismemberment involving one of the most horrifying cases of serial murder in modern history. I have been following the case in varying degrees since it first broke with Robert Picktons arrest in February 2002, and the depiction of the events herein is based on hundreds of hours of research of more than yearlong trial accounts, telephone calls, and e-mails with those who were willing to discuss the tragic events following the trial, as well as a careful analysis of statements that Pickton made to an undercover police officer and others after his arrest. For purposes of clarity, every attempt has been made to present the story in the order that it unfolded, from the time that it was first noticed that women from Vancouvers Low Track area began disappearing, through the investigation after the police were convinced that they had a serial murderer on their hands, and on through the trial. Even though backgrounds of the women who disappeared during Uncle Willies reign of terror will be presented, the primary focus of this book is on the victims whose deaths Pickton was actually charged with and those women of which he was convicted of murdering.

No attempt has been made to fictionalize any aspect of this sad storyevery incident portrayed herein is based on the facts as they are knownand none of the characters portrayed are fictional or are composites of my imagination. Portions of the story were related to me by family members and friends of the victims, and portions were taken from the various public information sources that became available following Picktons trial. A gag order had been in effect prior to the outcome of the trial, and during the trial only selected information releases to an equally selected media were authorized by the Canadian government.

Nonetheless, every effort has been made to portray the victims of Vancouvers Downtown Eastside as the living, breathing human beings that they were, and it is my hope that they are not further objectified. These women, whose lives on the streets were tragic enough before Robert Pickton came along, deserve the honor, respect, and commemoration that Pickton took away from them and their families.

G.C.K.

The angels all were singing out of tune,

And hoarse with having little else to do,

Excepting to wind up the sun and moon,

Or curb a runaway young star or two.

Lord Byron, The Vision of Judgement

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:44

September 1978

Summer was still barely hanging on when Lillian Jean ODare, thirty-four, disappeared without a trace from the rough-and-tumble streets of East Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 12, 1978. The temperature was still in the low-sixties during the day, but the nights were becoming somewhat chilly with the mercury hovering in the mid-to-upper forties, cold enough to bring out the onset of autumn colors and to necessitate the wearing of warm clothing in the evening. With a light breeze comprising variable minor gusts and occasional fog during the early-morning hours, and with scattered clouds throughout much of the rest of the day, Vancouver was free of precipitation as Lillian walked the streets of Low Track, a high-vice area that is home to prostitution and drug addicts, where overdosing had become a regular occurrence. Low Track is known for having one of the highest HIV-infection rates in North America, and would eventually become the focal point of a prolific serial killer bent on snatching unsuspecting prostitutes off its seedy streets with promises of drugs and money. Of course, when Lillian ODare vanished, no one had a clue, yet, of what was to come.