Case adds 12 counts of murder

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A pig farmer who if convicted could become Canada’s most notorious serial killer was charged Wednesday with 12 new counts of first-degree murder.

The new counts come on top of the 15 charges Robert Pickton already faces in the disappearance of more than 60 women, mainly prostitutes who vanished from the seedy Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver.

The remains of at least 31 women were found at Pickton’s farm about 15 miles from the heart of Vancouver. The 55-year-old single man lived with his brother and sister on the farm left to them by their parents.

Lorraine Crey, the sister of Dawn Crey, whose DNA was identified among the remains of the women, was upset that a charge was not filed for her death. Apparently there was not yet enough evidence.

“It was like a punch in the gut,” Crey said outside the courtroom.

The trial is expected to begin in the fall with a lengthy examination of evidence before the case actually goes to jury, which is not likely to happen until January.

Pickton has been in custody since his arrest in a Vancouver suburb on Feb. 7, 2002, after police descended on the farm and other property he and his family owned and discovered the remains.

The new charges arose from the deaths of Cara Ellis, Andrea Borhaven, Kerry Koski, Wendy Crawford, Debra Lynne Jones, Marnie Frey, Tiffany Drew, Sarah Devries, Cynthia Feliks, Angela Jardine, Diana Melnick and an unidentified woman.

The previous charges concerned deaths believed to have occurred from 1996 to 2002, but some of the new charges date to 1995.