"Exactly What's Happened Today": CBC News Reports the Death of Robert Pickton, 2024
On May 31, 2024, CBC News reported that Robert Pickton had died in hospital after an assault by another inmate at a Quebec prison, with reporter Georgie Smyth in Vancouver on the families' reaction. Pickton is not heard.
- Subject
- Robert William Pickton
- Recorded
- May 31, 2024
- Runtime
- 2:42
Content warning: Refers to the murders of women whose remains or DNA were found on Pickton's farm, and to the prison assault that led to his death. No graphic detail.
The Interview
This is not an interview with Robert Pickton, who is not heard. It is a 2-minute-42-second CBC News report from May 31, 2024, the day Correctional Service Canada announced that Pickton had died. A studio anchor introduces the news, and CBC reporter Georgie Smyth, live from Vancouver, summarizes the federal statement, the case and the reaction of victims' families.
Historical Context
Robert Pickton was arrested in February 2002 after police searched his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, on a firearms warrant. He was eventually charged with the murders of 26 women, many of them from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. In December 2007 a jury convicted him of six counts of second-degree murder, and on December 11, 2007, he received a life sentence (an indeterminate sentence). The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on the farm.
Circumstances
On May 19, 2024, Pickton was assaulted by another inmate at Port-Cartier Institution, a maximum-security prison in Quebec. He died in hospital on May 31, 2024, aged 74. Correctional Service Canada announced the death that day and said it would convene a Board of Investigation into the assault. CBC posted this report on its YouTube channel the same day.
What the Recording Covers
The anchor says Pickton's death "is stirring up complicated emotions" in British Columbia. The reporter says Pickton had been in a medically induced coma and on life support after "a major assault by another inmate," and relays the Correctional Service Canada statement: that he died in hospital, that registered victims and families would have been notified, and that an investigation would examine "whether policies and protocols were followed." She summarizes the case and says the sister of one victim had told CBC earlier in the month that she was relieved he had been attacked. She recalls a vigil at the farm a few months earlier, prompted by news of his parole eligibility, when a relative said Pickton "needed to stay in prison until he died, which is exactly what's happened today."
What Makes the Recording Significant
It is same-day national coverage of the end of the Pickton case, recording the official account of his death and the families' reaction as it was reported at the time.
Archival Importance
A CBC News report on the broadcaster's own channel.
Important Caveats
Pickton is not heard. The reporter's phrase "charged with the murders of 26 women in 2007" compresses the timeline: the charges were laid from 2002 onward, and 2007 was the year of the six convictions. The distance of "about 450 kilometers northeast of Quebec City" is the reporter's figure; the straight-line distance from Quebec City to Port-Cartier is roughly 480 kilometers (much farther by road), so page copy should say "northeast of Quebec City" without a figure. The views of the victims' relatives are reported, not heard. The anchor's surname is not given in the audio.
Cbc News Anchor: One of the country's most notorious prisoners is dead. Robert Pickton has died from injuries sustained earlier in the month in a Quebec prison assault. Pickton's death is stirring up complicated emotions on the other side of the country, in British Columbia. CBC's Georgie Smyth joins us now from Vancouver. So, Georgie, what can you tell us?
Georgie Smyth: Well, as you said, I mean, Pickton was in that medically induced coma and on life support after he was attacked in what was described as a major assault by another inmate at that maximum security institution, about 450 kilometers northeast of Quebec City. His death was confirmed in a statement by Correctional Service Canada. Uh, just recently, the statement said that he died in hospital following injuries resulting from that assault. The statement also said that people who were registered as victims, or families of the victims, many of which are of course in BC, would have been notified of his death.
Georgie Smyth: It went on to say that an investigation into the assault that took place would also happen. The investigation would examine all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assault against Pickton, including whether policies and protocols were followed. It said it would also identify any recommendations or corrective measures as needed. Of course, we're waiting to see for more reaction in BC, where many of these murders did take place.
Georgie Smyth: Robert Pickton was one of Canada's worst serial killers. He was charged with the murders of 26 women in 2007 and was convicted of the second-degree murder of six women who disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. In total, the remains or DNA of 33 women, many of whom were Indigenous, were found at Pickton's pig farm in Port Coquitlam in BC, about 25 kilometers east of downtown Vancouver.
Georgie Smyth: We did speak to families of the victims just days after the news of this assault broke earlier this month, and the sister of one of Pickton's victims told us that she felt relieved that Pickton had been attacked, and she was happy to hear the news that he'd been attacked. Um, the families of these victims have very much been involved in advocacy, even in the years since, even just a few months ago were holding a vigil outside the pig farm where some of those remains were found, and that was off the back of news about parole eligibility that Pickton was possibly facing. And at the time, a relative told us that Pickton needed to stay in prison until he died, which is exactly what's happened today. Jacqueline.
Cbc News Anchor: Georgie, thank you. That's the CBC's Georgie Smyth in Vancouver. [Clip ends at 02:42.] ---