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Crown Says Police Found Severed Heads on Pickton's B.C. Pig Farm

Posted on: Monday, 22 January 2007, 18:00 CST

By STEPHANIE LEVITZ

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CP) - Police were raiding Robert Pickton's farm searching for illegal firearms when they found a bloody scene, jurors heard in the Crown's opening statement Monday.

CAUTION TO READERS: the details of this case may sometimes be raw. Some content may offend.

Prosecutor Derrill Prevett said police found two large plastic pails that included severed heads inside two large freezers. Both had been cut in two vertically.

Police had to call in the missing women's task force and get another warrant before they could begin an intensive search.

Several human bones and teeth were found and DNA analysis has identified the remains of each of the six women Pickton stands accused of killing, Prevett said as the long-awaited trial for the pig farmer got underway.

"These murders of these six women were the work of one man, the accused, Robert William Pickton," Prevett said in his statement.

"He had the expertise and equipment for the task. He had the means of transportation available and the means for the disposal of their remains."

Prevett said Pickton committed the murders over the course of several years and that the women had been at his home, an isolated farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

His opening statement provides the first public details of a case that the judge warned weeks ago would resemble a horror movie.

Again on Monday, Justice James Williams cautioned the seven men and five women on the jury that the evidence will be distressing and repulsive. He said they must be careful not to allow their objectivity to get swept away with their shock.

The evidence "may arouse feelings of revulsion and hostility that can overwhelm the objective and impartial approach that jurors are expected to bring to their task.

"You should be aware of that possibility and ensure it does not happen to you."

Williams told the jurors to avoid all media coverage of the case and not to discuss it with anyone.

He also issued a warning to the media, and read out the numerous publication bans made at various times during the Pickton legal process, which began in 2003.

"It is not my intention to stand by and simply see the court orders flouted. I believe that members of the media will approach this matter responsibly."

More than 300 reporters from Canada, the U.S. and Britain are accredited to cover the trial. Some international media have published details heard under a publication ban.

Among those in the public gallery was the daughter of one of the women Pickton is accused of killing.

Brittney Frey, 14, said she was a little scared and nervous, but felt she had to be at the courthouse to seek justice and accountability.

"I'm here for her and for the other family members to support them," said Frey, who looks strikingly like her mother, Marnie.

The teen said she also wants to support her stepmother, Lynn Frey, who helped raise Marnie and who has been raising Brittney.

"We just all need to be here together," said the slim teenager, who wore white hightops and a grey windbreaker.

Lynn Frey said whatever she hears during the case, it won't give her what she wants most.

"I just wish she (Marnie) could come home with me but I can't have that."

Marnie's biological mother and brother also turned up at court. They have not spoken publicly before, but Rick Frey Jr. said he and his mom have been devastated by the case.

Added Charlotte Frey: "We all know what happened. None of it is going to be good. We just want it over with."

Sandra Gagnon arrived at the courthouse at 7 a.m. in an effort to get a seat.

Her sister Janet Henry is among the more than 30 other women who have disappeared from the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood but no charges have been laid in their deaths.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time and it's finally here," she said slowly.

"It's very difficult at the same time because it's taken its toll on a lot of my family. Going through this whole thing, I know it's going to be a long, long road."

The case has received saturation coverage locally and television and radio stations delivered their morning programs live from in front of the courthouse.

Seating for the public in the tiny courtroom where Pickton is appearing is limited to only 13. Family members, the media and Victims Services workers have another 37 seats.

But against most expectations, it appeared few members of the public were keen to get in Monday. The line to get through security was mostly full of reporters and family members of those involved in the case.

The case is expected to continue for another year.

The jurors are hearing evidence about the deaths of Mona Wilson, Brenda Wolfe, Marnie Frey, Sereena Abotsway, Andrea Joesbury and Georgina Papin.

Source: Canadian Press

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