Quebec prison inmate to plead guilty to murder of notorious pig-farm serial killer Robert Pickton

A prison inmate in Quebec is set to plead guilty to the murder of Robert Pickton, the convicted pig-farming serial killer who fed victims to his pigs. Martin Charest, 54, is charged with first-degree murder for stabbing Pickton in the face with the end of a broken broomstick in the common area of Port-Cartier maximum-security prison on May 19, 2024. A plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25, to be conducted by video from the Sept-Îles courthouse, according to prosecutor Mélissa Hogan and the defense lawyer, Sonia Bogdaniec. Judge Jean-Louis Lemay has scheduled the plea hearing for September 25, according to prosecutor Mélissa Hogan.

Charest is charged with first-degree murder for stabbing Pickton in the face with the end of a broken broomstick during a medication pickup in the prison’s common room. Pickton, 74, died 12 days later at a hospital in Quebec. Pickton was serving a life sentence for six murders, but investigators believe he killed dozens more, bringing his victims to his Vancouver-area farm to butcher them and feed them to his pigs.

The attack on Pickton occurred in the common room when he was collecting his medication, and Charest allegedly used the broomstick end to stab him in the face. Pickton was airlifted to a hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma. The depraved farmer’s crime spree stretched from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The investigation into his crimes became one of Canada’s most extensive cases into disappearances from Vancouver’s streets, involving many missing women who were sex workers or drug users.

During a lengthy investigation, remains or DNA of 33 women were found on Pickton’s Port Coquitlam farm. At his 2007 trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Pickton killed at least six women, including Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Georgina Papin, and Marnie Frey, though he was suspected of far more. A former undercover officer quoted in court described Pickton admitting to killing as many as 49 women.

Health officials previously issued a tainted meat advisory to neighbors who might have bought pork from Pickton’s farm, amid concerns that human remains could have entered the meat supply. Families affected by Pickton’s crimes have described the killer’s death as a potential step toward healing; Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Pickton, said the news could help many families move forward. "This is gonna bring healing for, I won’t say all families, I’ll just say most of the families," she said.

The Pickton case has loomed large in Vancouver’s history of missing-person investigations, highlighting concerns about how authorities treated disappearances in vulnerable communities. Charest now faces a plea that could bring the legal case to a close without a trial, pending the judge’s acceptance of the agreement and any terms that accompany the plea.