More human remains found at pig farm
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Police used heavy machinery to search Pickton's farm in 2002.
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A pig farm is giving up its grisly secrets with DNA from 31 woman identified so far.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) -- Canadian police said on Tuesday they have discovered the remains of nine more women on the property of accused serial killer Robert Pickton, who is already facing charges of murdering 22 of more than 60 missing Vancouver sex trade workers.
The discoveries, based on a nearly 18-month search of Pickton's farm, have not yet resulted in new charges. Police said they still do not know the names of three of the nine people because their DNA does not match any of the 65 names on the police's official list of missing women.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman would not rule out that additional DNA would be identified, because laboratories are still in the early stages of analyzing the thousands of pieces of evidence dug up in the search of the ramshackle property in Port Coquitlam, near Vancouver.
Pickton, 53, is officially charged with 15 counts of first-degree murder, and prosecutors have told the court that seven more counts are ready to be filed. Police allege he is the deadliest serial killer in Canadian history.
All of the women he is accused of killing were sex trade workers and drug addicts who lived in Vancouver's poor Downtown Eastside neighborhood.
Pickton, who has been in custody since his arrest in February 2002, has not entered a plea to the murder charges, but has denied having any connection with the missing women. Preliminary hearings are expected to begin in September.
Pickton is the only person charged in connection with the missing women cases. Police would not say whether all the DNA was found at Pickton's 10-acre pig farm, or came from an adjoining property that was searched briefly.
Police notified the families of the six women whose DNA they have identified, including that of Dawn Crey, whose brother Ernie Crey has become an unofficial spokesman for many of the families in the missing women case.
Investigators appealed for help identifying the remains of the three women whose names remain a mystery. Police have collected DNA from relatives of 64 of 65 women known to be missing to help identify remains found at Pickton's property.
"We believe this DNA probably belongs to women who are missing, but have not been reported to the police," said RCMP Cpl. Catherine Galliford.
Many of the people on the police list were not reported as missing until months or years after they disappeared, because their drug addictions had estranged them from family and friends.
Police refused to give details on the types of remains found because the court case is ongoing, but acknowledged it was "sensational" in nature.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
