genderberg.com - Suspected serial killer trial in January

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - The murder trial of Robert William Pickton, suspected in the killings of as many as 32 prostitutes, is set for January, a court heard.

Pickton, a pig farmer from a suburb of this West Coast city, is charged with the murders of 15 women. Prosecutors earlier said they will lay seven more murder charges, and are considering a further 10, for a total of 32. Prosecution spokesman Geoffrey Gaul said Thursday that the trial is expected to take at least eight months, and lawyers on both sides are examining 500,000 pages of evidence. Pickton did not appear in court Thursday, but listened from his jail via video link. His next court appearance is May 25. Pickton was investigated by a police task force looking into disappearances of 69 women, most of them involved in drug addiction and prostitution, from Vancouvers squalid Downtown Eastside area. He was arrested and charged with murder in February 2002, after police found human DNA and the personal belongings of some of missing women. The police have said the investigation is continuing, with forensic scientists sifting through rubble removed from Picktons pig farm and taken to police laboratories. Origionally published
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