1 of 2 | Robert Pickton was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for murdering six women, but he had confessed to police about killing 49. Photo by BCTV/EPA
June 1 (UPI) -- Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton died Friday after being attacked by another inmate, authorities said.
Pickton, 74, was hospitalized after being assaulted on May 19 at the Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec.
He was in a medically induced coma and on life support before succumbing to his injuries 12 days later, Correctional Service Canada said.
Pickton in 2007 was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a maximum parole ineligibilty period of 25 years.
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He was charged with murdering 26 women in British Columbia, but 20 of the charges were stayed.
Pickton was one of Canada's most infamous serial killers. Despite being convicted for just six murders, he once bragged to police officers about killing 49 women.
He would bring victims to his pig farm in Port Coquitlam and dispose of their remains by feeding them to the animals.
At least 65 women disappeared in nearby Vancouver between 1978 and 2001 before Pickton's arrest.
Police found the remains of 33 women on Pickton's farm, which has become the largest crime scene in Canadian history.
His confirmed victims, whose deaths ultimately landed Pickton a life sentence, were Georgina Papin, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe and Marnie Frey.
The CSC on Friday said Pickton's next of kin and registered victims were notified of his death. Families of the victims expressed mixed reactions to the news.
Papin's sister, Cynthia Cardinal told the Globe and Mail she was "feeling really happy" but felt sorry for the families of the victims who didn't receive justice.
Michele Pineault, the mother of 20-year-old Stephanie Lane, whose death Pickton was not charged for, said she was "elated" by his death because "there was no justice" for her daughter.
After Pickton's conviction, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry accused police of multiple systemic failures that allowed Pickton to continue his killing spree.
Many of Pickton's victims were indigenous women or sex workers, and activists said police did not take their cases seriously.
An inquiry into the Vancouver Police Department's handling of the case revealed department leaders had dismissed warnings of a potential serial killer as inaccurate and inflammatory more than four years before he was arrested in 2002.
Provincial policing standards for missing persons were reformed to reflect "the important lessons of the Pickton case and other missing and murdered women investigations," after the inquiry.
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