Fri. September. 20 2002 3:59 AM ET
The B.C. missing women case could become the worst case of serial murder in Canadian history as police laid four more first-degree murder charges against Robert William Pickton.
The more recent charges are in addition to the seven murder counts Pickton already faces, bringing the total to 11.
Canada's most notorious serial killer, Clifford Olson, claimed the lives of 11 youngsters in the Vancouver area during the 1980s. The most prolific serial killer in North American history was John Wayne Gacy, who claimed 33 victims.
Today, Pickton was charged in the deaths of Georgina Papin, Patricia Johnson, Helen Hallmark and Jennifer Furminger. He is scheduled to appear on the latest charges on Oct. 2.
"DNA exhibits found at the farm did lead to these charges," RCMP Const. Cate Galliford said. "We have burdened the labs with many exhibits."
Galliford, a spokesman for the joint task force investigating the case, said the number of women now officially listed in the case had been increased to 63. She said that five more women could be added.
Galliford said the search is continuing at the Port Coquitlam farm and a nearby site on Burns Road, where the Pickton brothers once held parties at a venue dubbed Piggy's Palace. She added that other aspects of the investigation are ongoing.
Earlier this week, Rick Papin said RCMP visited him at his Alberta home and told him that DNA samples he provided were used to identify remains that belonged to his sister. Georgina went missing more than three years ago.
"When they first came here last night I knew right away what they were going to tell me. There's more closure for me now," Papin said after being told his sister's DNA had been found at the suburban pig farm.
Papin said his sister, a mother of five, was someone who "could just light up a room just by coming in ... she made a mistake." Like many of the missing women, Georgina was heavily addicted and worked in the sex trade.
Earlier this year, Pickton was charged with the murders of Andrea Joesbury, Mona Wilson, Diane Rock, Sereena Abotsway, Heather Bottomley, Brenda Wolfe and Jacqueline McDonell.
Last month, Maggie deVries told BC-CTV that police had also come to her home to say that they had found her sister's DNA at the farm. Sarah deVries was 28 when she went missing in the April 1998.
Second lawsuit filed
On other fronts, a second civil lawsuit is being filed against police and government officials by the father of one of the missing women in Victoria.
Doug Creison, whose daughter Marcella who was last seen working the streets in December of 1998, is launching the lawsuit against Vancouver city police, RCMP and the provincial and federal governments.
"It would be our premise that the negligence of the officials involved and how the investigation was carried out certainly added to even the opportunity for discovering the true ending of her life," lawyer Denis Berntsen said.
Berntsen added that there's the possibility that a class-action lawsuit could be filed, adding he has been contacted by several families.
"I think it's understandable that there's a lot of hurt people," Berntsen said.
The mother of Andrea Joesbury has already filed a civil lawsuit against the cities of Vancouver and Port Coquitlam and the Vancouver city police and RCMP.
Karin Joesbury has a second suit against Pickton seeking to make his farm a memorial site for the women Pickton is accused of killing. Pickton owns the farm in suburban Port Coquitlam with his two siblings.
The B.C. government recently said the investigation would cost $20 million this year alone, double the amount of a previous estimate. An expansion of the investigation to another property owned by Pickton is blamed for the increase.
In a related development, a $50,000 renovation project is slated to begin at the Port Coquitlam provincial courthouse where Pickton's preliminary hearing will be held. The project is aimed at security and crowd control for the high-profile trial.
