Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton has been hospitalized and is in critical condition after he was assaulted in prison on Sunday.
The Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Pickton was the victim of a major assault at the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec.
Pickton was taken to a hospital for treatment. The incident did not involve staff, according to the CSC.
“We are not able to disclose any additional details, including medical information,” the statement reads. “The safety and security of institutions is paramount and an investigation into what occurred is currently underway.”
Quebec provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec, are investigating.
Two sources, including one police source, confirmed with Radio-Canada say Pickton is between life and death.
Authorities identified the assailant, who is another inmate, and “appropriate actions have been taken,” the CSC said in an earlier statement.
Port-Cartier, Que., is located around 850 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
In 2007, Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
They were Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Marnie Frey, Georgina Papin and Brenda Wolfe.
The remains or DNA of 33 women, many of whom were Indigenous, were found on Pickton’s pig farm in Port Coquitlam, about 25 kilometres east of downtown Vancouver.
Pickton was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of full parole for 25 years.
In an interview with Radio-Canda’s Tout un matin Tuesday, federal Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc said an internal investigation will be carried out at the Port-Cartier prison to shed light on the circumstances of the attack.
He did not confirm the identity of the inmate who was assaulted, citing reasons related to the protection of privacy and security in prisons.
Source Agencies
