The Correctional Service of Canada confirms that British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton is the inmate injured during the “major assault” that occurred Sunday in the Port-Cartier prison, in the Côte-Nord region.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said Pickton, 74, was taken to hospital with injuries considered life-threatening.
A spokesperson for the SQ, Hugues Beaulieu, adds that a 51-year-old suspect is in custody.
Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007, with a maximum parole ineligibility period of 25 years, after being accused of murdering 26 women.
The remains or DNA of 33 women, many from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, were found on Pickton’s hog farm in Port Coquitlam, and he once bragged to an undercover police officer that having killed 49 in total.
Pickton’s confirmed victims were Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.
At the time of sentencing Pickton, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a “rare case that properly justifies the maximum period of ineligibility for conditional release available to the court.
The correctional service first announced Monday that an inmate had been sent to hospital after a serious assault at the maximum security institution in Port-Cartier. He clarified Tuesday that the attack did not involve any member of his staff.
Police began searching Pickton’s farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam more than 22 years ago as part of what would be a years-long investigation into the disappearance of dozens of women, many of whom came from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Vancouver police have been criticized for not taking these cases seriously because many of the missing people were sex workers or drug addicts.
Pickton became eligible for day parole in February, sparking outrage from politicians and victims’ family members who have criticized Canada’s justice system, saying he should never be released from prison.
Four years ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) requested the elimination of evidence found on a property in Ruskin, British Columbia, linked to Pickton and held in RCMP warehouses.
The items include clothing, shoes and hairpins — including one with hair still in it — as well as more intimidating evidence, like a sex toy and a rusty bolt-action rifle.
The RCMP’s request argued that the items took up a lot of space and continued to generate costs for their storage. The department argued that the evidence in question would not affect future prosecutions.
In an email sent Tuesday, RCMP Staff Sergeant Kris Clark confirmed the application was still before the courts and the process was ongoing.
A group of families, lawyers and advocates sent a letter to the federal Department of Public Safety in December calling for a halt to the disposal project.