"The Nerve to Write That Book": CBC News on the Outcry Over Robert Pickton's Self-Published Book, 2016

Name: "The Nerve to Write That Book": CBC News on the Outcry Over Robert Pickton's Self-Published Book, 2016
Uploaded: 2016-02-22T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 min 35 s
Description: A February 2016 CBC News Vancouver report on the anger of victims' families and the B.C. government after a book written by Robert Pickton, claiming his innocence, went on sale on Amazon. Pickton is not heard.

A February 2016 CBC News Vancouver report on the anger of victims' families and the B.C. government after a book written by Robert Pickton, claiming his innocence, went on sale on Amazon. Pickton is not heard.

Subject: Robert William Pickton
Recorded: February 22, 2016
Runtime: 1:35

Content warning: Refers to the murders of women whose remains or DNA were found on Pickton's farm. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview with Robert Pickton, who is not heard. It is a 95-second CBC News report from Vancouver, broadcast on February 22, 2016, about a book called "Pickton: In His Own Words" that had gone on sale through Amazon. The reporter explains that another man is listed as the author but that the book is Pickton's work. Sandra Gagnon, whose sister Janet Henry went missing in 1997, gives her reaction, and one other person, not named, asks how prisoners can write books.

Historical Context

Robert Pickton was arrested in February 2002 after police searched his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on the property. In December 2007 a jury convicted him of six counts of second-degree murder, and he received a life sentence; 20 further murder charges were later stayed. In 2016 he was held at Kent Institution near Agassiz, British Columbia.

Circumstances

The 144-page paperback went on sale on Amazon from late January 2016 under the name of another man, a retired construction worker in California. News reports said Pickton's handwritten manuscript was passed to a fellow inmate at Kent Institution, who sent it to that man, and that he had it typed and sent to the Colorado self-publishing service Outskirts Press. When the book became widely known in February 2016, families of the missing women and the British Columbia government protested. On February 22, the day of this report, Outskirts Press withdrew the book and Amazon removed it.

What the Recording Covers

The reporter says the book's back cover calls Pickton "the Fall Guy" and that in "144 rambling pages" he proclaims his innocence. Sandra Gagnon says it "really disgusts" her that "the worst serial killer in Canadian history has the nerve to write that book and reopen wounds." The reporter cites a CTV report that the manuscript was smuggled out of prison by a former cellmate and self-published. The report recalls that Paul Bernardo's novel had been pulled from Amazon the previous fall, notes that Ontario has a law preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes while British Columbia did not, and says the B.C. government was appealing to Amazon to take the book down.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It records a later chapter of the Pickton case: his attempt, from prison, to publish his own account claiming innocence, and the reaction of a victim's family that helped lead to the book's withdrawal the same day.

Archival Importance

A contemporaneous CBC News report on the broadcaster's own channel.

Important Caveats

Pickton is not heard, and nothing from the book is read aloud as his words beyond the reporter's summary. The reporter's phrase "convicted of killing six women, but confessed to killing 49" compresses the facts: the figure of 49 comes from what Pickton told an undercover officer in a police cell after his 2002 arrest, not from a confession at trial. The reporter's name is heard in the sign-off only; its spelling is not verified. The second speaker at 01:06 is not identified.

Cbc Reporter: Another man is listed as the author, but the book is the work and the words of Robert William Pickton, Canada's deadliest serial killer, a former pig farmer who's in a maximum security prison in B.C. He was convicted of killing six women, but confessed to killing 49. The back cover calls him "the Fall Guy," and indeed, in 144 rambling pages, Pickton does proclaim his innocence. Victims' families are outraged. Sandra Gagnon's sister, Janet Henry, used to frequent Pickton's farm and went missing in 1997.

Sandra Gagnon: It really disgusts me knowing that, um, the worst serial killer in Canadian history has the nerve to write that book and reopen wounds.

Cbc Reporter: So how did Pickton get a book published? CTV is reporting Pickton had the manuscript smuggled out of prison by a former cellmate, who gave it to a friend, who apparently used a self-publishing website. From there, it's an easy jump to online booksellers, both in the U.S. and Canada.

Unidentified Speaker: How can they write books when they're supposed to be doing time for something so brutal?

Cbc Reporter: Last fall, there was an uproar when serial killer Paul Bernardo published a novel online. It was quickly yanked from Amazon. Ontario has a law preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes. B.C. has no such law. The B.C. government is appealing to Amazon to take down Pickton's book. [unclear: "Mira Baines" / "Meera Baines"], CBC News, Vancouver. [Speech ends at about 01:34; clip ends at 01:35.] ---