18: EPISODE 18 // Robert Willie Pickton: Part Two

In this episode, Amanda and Kristen continue to discuss Canada's worst serial killer Robert Pickton, in addition to an interview with former RCMP officer Nathan Wells, who arrested Robert. We detail Robert’s arrest and the horrific search of the farm, Robert’s confession to an undercover officer in his cell, the trial(s) and verdict, police criticism and public inquiry into the case, as well as what was and wasn’t done to honour the victims, and where the Picktons are today. 

Robert, also known as Willie, sought out the most vulnerable victims he could, women who were desperate, in survival mode, living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, addicted to drugs and working as sex workers. Due to the conditions faced by Indigenous women in Canadian society today - including systemic racism, bias, stereotyping, lack of equitable resources, loss of cultural identity as well as multi and intergenerational trauma, many of Robert Pickton's victims were Indigenous. It's unfortunate that it took Robert's heinous crimes to finally shed some light on the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. In this episode, we also highlight some important resources and ways that you can help MMIWG2S. As this case and the way it was handled has been largely discussed and criticized, we also outline the information regarding criticism of police conduct and the results and recommendations of the Public Inquiry.

Finally, we end the episode with our interview with Nathan Wells, the RCMP officer who arrested Robert Pickton at his farm the night of February 5th, 2002.