Still no charges in Robert Pickton prison death a year after fatal assault

Morgan Lowrie · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 31, 2025 2:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

A twelvemonth to the day after serial slayer Robert Pickton died pursuing an battle by different inmate successful a Quebec prison, determination person been nary charges against the alleged assailant and fewer answers astir what happened.

Pickton died successful infirmary connected May 31, 2024, aft being assaulted astatine the Port-Cartier maximum information situation 12 days prior. The 74-year-old was convicted successful 2007 of six counts of second-degree execution but was suspected of sidesplitting dozens much women astatine his pig workplace successful Port Coquitlam, B.C.

The Correctional Service of Canada archetypal issued a merchandise connected May 20 past twelvemonth astir a "major assault" connected an inmate, adding "the assailant has been identified and the due actions person been taken." The bureau aboriginal confirmed the injured inmate was Pickton, and that helium had died.

Quebec provincial constabulary identified the fishy arsenic a 51-year-old inmate, but did not merchandise a name.

WATCH | Pickton dies aft fatal situation assault: 

Earlier this week, the unit said its probe remained open.

"Some adept reports are inactive ongoing. As this is an progressive file, we volition not remark further," the Sûreté du Québec wrote successful an email. By phone, a spokesperson said the constabulary record had not yet been handed implicit to the Quebec Crown prosecutor's office, who volition determine whether charges volition beryllium laid.

Spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau added constabulary sometimes instrumentality much clip to analyse erstwhile a fishy is already down bars due to the fact that determination is nary hazard to the public.

Correctional Service Canada said it expects to people the results of investigations into the decease "in the adjacent future," spokesperson Kevin Antonucci wrote successful an email. 

"Time was required to guarantee that they were afloat translated and vetted successful accordance with the Privacy Act."

Calls for nationalist inquiry

Advocates for prisoners' rights expressed interest astir the deficiency of answers astir what happened and said the decease raises questions astir inmate security.

"We're acrophobic astir a fig of deaths person occurred astatine the hands of different prisoners without immoderate wide answers," Catherine Latimer of the John Howard Society said successful a telephone interview.

Latimer cited a fatality study published earlier this twelvemonth by Alberta Justice Donna Groves into the decease of a 21-year-old inmate who was knifed to decease wrong his compartment by different inmate astatine the Edmonton Institution successful 2011.

The study raised a fig of questions, including wherefore the 2 inmates were allowed retired of their cells astatine the aforesaid clip contempt belonging to rival gangs and being nether orders not to beryllium astir different inmates.

Groves called for a nationalist enquiry into the death, saying it's the lone mode to get to the bottommost of 3 guards' actions that day, including concerns they were moving a situation "fight club."

Latimer said the study shows determination is simply a superior occupation with "incompatible oregon susceptible prisoners" being exposed to others who privation to termination them. "Pickton really raises that," she said.  

Pickton, she added, would apt person been considered "vulnerable" due to the fact that the quality of his offences would person made him a imaginable target.

Prison deaths pugnacious to investigate

Howard Sapers, who spent 12 years arsenic Correctional Investigator of Canada, said abrupt situation deaths – peculiarly transgression ones – are often agelong and pugnacious to investigate. 

"There are difficulties successful presumption of accessing transgression scenes, preserving transgression scenes, obtaining witnesser statements, truthful each of those things thin to frustrate investigations," helium said. 

He added specified investigations are often not a precedence – astatine slightest successful presumption of velocity – owed to a deficiency of generalized nationalist information risk.

He said national investigators probing Pickton's decease volition beryllium looking astatine whether protocol and argumentation was followed successful areas specified arsenic contraband and weapons, underground commercialized successful weapons and drugs, pack conflicts and known threats against an individual.

Tom Engel, the erstwhile president of the Canadian Prison Law Association, agreed that Pickton's estimation would person meant helium was astatine precocious hazard of being assaulted by different inmates.

"The question has to beryllium asked, 'Well, however could this hap erstwhile he's astatine precocious risk?'" helium said successful a telephone interview. 

LISTEN | Questions implicit situation safety: 

Engel said helium wasn't amazed by the deficiency of charges truthful far. He said investigations tin beryllium lengthy, successful portion due to the fact that correctional unit and inmates tin beryllium reluctant to afloat co-operate with police.

The announcement of Pickton's decease past twelvemonth was met with nationalist expressions of restitution and joyousness alternatively than concern. Families of victims utilized words specified arsenic "healing," "overjoyed" and "justice" to picture the decease of a antheral who preyed upon susceptible women successful Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, galore of them Indigenous. 

But Engel believes the destiny of situation inmates should beryllium a concern.

"Members of the nationalist who judge successful quality rights, who judge successful the regularisation of law, who judge that the Criminal Code of Canada applies to everybody should attraction astir this, due to the fact that you can't person this benignant of lawlessness going connected successful a prison," helium said. 

Sapers noted prisons tin beryllium unsafe for some inmates and correctional staff. And helium said galore of the solutions, which see much concern successful staffing, training, situation infrastructure and programming to meaningfully inhabit prisoners, payment some groups.

"Often radical don't marque the nexus to harmless environments for radical who are successful custody are besides harmless environments for radical who person to enactment there, and I deliberation it's a truly important constituent to make," helium said.