New info about 'involvement of others in murders'

Ethan Baron
The Province

Friday, May 27, 2005

Provocative new revelations are expected soon from the Robert Pickton serial murder trial, court heard yesterday.

Pickton, a Port Coquitlam pig farmer, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 27 women linked to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside sex trade.

The new information involves other people suspected of murders, but it is not yet clear whether any or all of those alleged crimes relate to the Pickton charges or the missing-women case.

Sixty-nine women have vanished from the Downtown Eastside. Investigators found DNA from 31 of them at the Pickton farm.

Yesterday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, Pickton's lawyer, Peter Ritchie, referred to "potential other suspects" and "potential involvement of others in murders."

Meantime, Justice Geoffrey Barrow has put courtroom proceedings on hold so he can go through more than 1,000 pages of documents concerning information the defence wants the prosecution to reveal.

After proceedings resume in court Wednesday, Barrow is expected to rule on closing the courtroom to the public and to media during the portion of the trial dealing with those thousand-plus pages and the allegations they may contain.

Crown prosecutor Mike Petrie and Ritchie agreed that the most effective way to protect the reputations of third parties would be to close the courtroom. Lawyers for the media contend that openness is needed so victims' families and the public can decide whether the criminal justice system is working.

ebaron@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2005