Families of victims murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton have lost a court bid to delay RCMP applications to dispose of thousands of items seized from his former Port Coquitlam farm. The B.C. Supreme Court ruling, released Thursday by Justice Frits Verhoeven, determined that the RCMP's disposal process will not negatively impact civil trials scheduled to begin next year.
Court Ruling Details
Justice Verhoeven stated that he was not persuaded the civil claims would suffer any prejudice by allowing the RCMP applications to proceed. He noted that police documentation regarding the seized items is thorough and comprehensive, and would be more than sufficient to address any needs in civil proceedings. This reasoning was sufficient to dismiss the application for an adjournment.
The RCMP has filed 25 applications to dispose of or disperse approximately 15,000 items seized from the property owned by Robert Pickton and his brother David on Dominion Avenue in Port Coquitlam. Only a small portion of these items were entered as exhibits at Pickton's criminal trial. The exhibits from the trial have since been returned to RCMP custody.
Lawyer's Perspective
Jason Gratl, the lawyer representing family members in their civil lawsuit against Pickton's estate and his brother David, expressed that the ruling was not a setback for his clients. He emphasized that the court confirmed the records of original evidence seized by the RCMP are sufficient for use in the civil proceedings against David Pickton. Gratl noted that the application was made to ensure that no defendants in the civil claim could argue that the families had not attempted to secure the most original or best evidence.
“My clients and I are not in any way disappointed with the reasons for judgment,” Gratl said. “They confirm that the records of the original evidence seized by the RCMP are sufficient for use in the civil proceedings against David Pickton. We had applied to ensure that none of the defendants in the civil claim could ever complain that we hadn’t attempted to secure the most original or best evidence. From our point of view, you can check that due diligence box.”
Background on Robert Pickton
Robert William Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of women who disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He was serving a life sentence when he was murdered in May 2024 at the Port-Cartier maximum-security federal penitentiary in Quebec. Fellow inmate Martin Charest pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year, claiming he killed Pickton on behalf of the victims.
The RCMP's disposal process is separate from the civil cases and follows Section 490 of the Criminal Code, which outlines the steps police must take to deal with items seized during investigations.
