Serial killer Robert Pickton has died after several days on life support following an assault from another inmate while inside a maximum security prison.
Pickton, 74, died on Friday after being taken from a maximum security prison in Quebec where he was serving his sentence to a nearby hospital for treatment, Correctional Service Canada confirmed Friday afternoon.
He had been assaulted on May 19 by another inmate at Port-Cartier Institution.
Pickton had been serving an indeterminate sentence for six counts of second-degree murder that began on Dec. 11, 2007.Correctional Service Canada contacted the next of kin of Picktion’s registered victims as well as his own family.
“We are mindful that this offender’s case has had a devastating impact on communities in British Columbia and across the country, including Indigenous peoples, victims and their families. Our thoughts are with them,” reads a statement from the prison service.
Correctional Service Canada will be launching an investigation into the assault to find out the details surrounding the incident and see if policies and protocols were followed.
Pickton had been charged with murdering 26 women and would later claim his murder tally to be 49. He became eligible for day parole in February.
He often preyed on women who were prostitutes, drug abusers or homeless, inviting them to stay at his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, where he would later rape, torture, and kill them.