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The Case That inspired “The County Road Cover Up” & “Mass Grave”

Source credits:

murderpedia.org, wikipedia.org, nationalpost

Robert William Pickton born in October 24, 1949 of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada 

I’m sure, if you have been listing to my music for at least the last few years, you would have heard me mention the name, “Willie Pickton” or “Willie” and “Pickton”, in one form or another in a few of my songs. Although this case isn’t based in America, I thought it was an extraordinary story that’s very different from the ‘killer norms’ and more trendy names like Ted Bundy, etc. The fact that Pickton went on a span of crimes from early 1980’s-2002 amazes me and how he was able to fly under the radar for so long. However, he was eventually convicted in 2007 of second-degree murders of six women, and he was also the subject of interest of other cases which yielded evidence of even more murders. 

He ran a pig farm with his younger brother, David, that was passed down by generations of family. By the time he was arrested, Pickton had already transitioned the pig farm to utilize the land for different farming endeavors and would only raise a few pigs to sell to friends and neighbors.

Robert Pickton’s Pig Farm being raided on Feb, 2002 by RCMP (pictured above):

Robert Pickton’s Pig Farm being raided on Feb, 2002 by RCMP (pictured above):

Robert Pickton’s Pig Farm being raided on Feb, 2002 by RCMP (pictured above):

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BELOW ARE SOME CRIME SCENE PHOTOS TAKEN FROM PICKTON’S PROPERTY:

ROBERT PICKTON JUMPING INTO HIS PIGPEN (pictured below):

Willie would drive a rusted pickup truck and invite drug addicted sex workers, also often referred to as “strawberries”, many of which came from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. To him, they were easy, vulnerable targets that he was able to lure in with the promise of money and/or drugs in exchange for sex. Once he gets them back to the “piggy palace”, as it was known, it was all downhill from there. In court documents, Pickton was known to feed his victims to some of his pigs as a means of disposal and getting rid of the evidence. He would usually use syringes filled with antifreeze to inject his victims which gave a five to ten minute window before they’ve succumbed. Pickton would also butcher and dispose any remnants of the victims throughout his putrid, junkyard-like property.

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On the night he was arrested, he was set up to room with an undercover agent in hopes of coaxing more information from the boondock madman. The plan worked in law enforcement’s favor as he released details in the form of a wild, pessimistic confession since he admittedly failed to meet his ‘intended’ body count. The conversation with his cell mate was captured on audio and video.

Below is Part One of the actual jail cell footage and is a demented two-part series:

Part Two: 

I can’t pinpoint just one aspect of this case that caught my attention since there’s so many twists and turns; it’s an ‘almost’ never ending gory story. Mostly, in my opinion, he was a skinny, meek, unkempt and unsuspecting neighborly farmer, meanwhile, he was targeting the vulnerable and desperate women around town. I also don’t believe he did all of this by himself – he had confessed to killing 49 women; it just seems like a lot of work and coverup work for one individual. Then again, those you least suspect are sometimes the ultimate culprits.

Below is a photo of the missing women police believe Pickton may be connected with in their disappearances:

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Here are the names and details of the missing that may be connected to Pickton:

(credit: wikipedia.org)

Count 1, Sereena Abotsway (born August 20, 1971), age 29 when she disappeared in August 2001; her foster mother reported her missing on August 22, 2001.
Count 2, Mona Lee Wilson (born January 13, 1975), age 26 when she went to her doctor on November 30, 2001, and was reported missing that night.
Count 6, Andrea Joesbury, age 22 when last seen in June 2001; reported missing June 8, 2001.
Count 7, Brenda Ann Wolfe, age 32 when last seen in February 1999; reported missing on April 25, 2000.
Count 16, Marnie Lee Frey, last seen August 1997; reported missing on December 29, 1997.Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case #98-209922.
Count 11, Georgina Faith Papin, last seen in January 1999 and reported missing in March 2001.
More victims
Pickton also stood accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of 20 other women until these charges were stayed on August 4, 2010.

Count 3, Jacqueline Michelle McDonell, 23 when she was last seen in January 1999. Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case # 99-039699.
Count 4, Dianne Rosemary Rock (born September 2, 1967), 34 when last seen on October 19, 2001. Reported missing December 13, 2001.
Count 5, Heather Kathleen Bottomley (born August 17, 1973), 27 when she was last seen (and reported missing) on April 17, 2001.
Count 8, Jennifer Lynn Furminger, last seen in 1999.
Count 9, Helen Mae Hallmark, last seen August 1997. Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case #98-226384.
Count 10, Patricia Rose Johnson, last seen in March 2001.
Count 12, Heather Chinnook, 30 when last seen in April 2001.
Count 13, Tanya Holyk, 23 when last seen in October 1996.
Count 14, Sherry Irving, 24 when last seen in 1997.
Count 15, Inga Monique Hall, 46 when last seen in February 1998. Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case # 98-047919.
Count 17, Tiffany Drew, last seen December 1999.
Count 18, Sarah de Vries, last seen April 1998.
Count 19, Cynthia Feliks, last seen in December 1997.
Count 20, Angela Rebecca Jardine, last seen November 20, 1998, between 3:30- 4p.m. at Oppenheimer Park at a rally in the downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case # 98.286097.
Count 21, Diana Melnick, last seen in December 1995.
Count 22, Jane Doe, charge lifted* (see below)
Count 23, Debra Lynne Jones, last seen in December 2000.
Count 24, Wendy Crawford, last seen in December 1999.
Count 25, Kerry Koski, last seen in January 1998.
Count 26, Andrea Fay Borhaven, last seen in March 1997. Vancouver Police Missing Persons Case # 99.105703.
Count 27, Cara Louise Ellis aka Nicky Trimble (born April 13, 1971), 25 when last seen in 1996. Reported missing October 2002.
*As of March 2, 2006, the murder charge involving the unidentified victim has been lifted. Pickton refused to enter a plea on the charge involving this victim, known in the proceedings as Jane Doe, so the court registered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. “The count as drawn fails to meet the minimal requirement set out in Section 581 of the Criminal Code. Accordingly, it must be quashed”, wrote Justice James Williams. The detailed reasons for the judge’s ruling cannot be reported in Canada because of the publication ban covering this stage of the trial.

If you have time, watch the documentary below for a in-depth details of ROBERT “WILLIE” PICKTON:

THE TRACK SCATHED WAS BASED ON THIS HORRIFIC CASE.

Some of the research in this article came from these following sources:

Wikipedia

butcherbaker.net

Anchorage State Troopers – Case Files.

Robert Christian Hansen (February 15, 1939 – August 21, 2014), known in the media as the “Butcher Baker“, was an American serial killer. Between 1971 and 1983, Hansen abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17, and possibly more than 30 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, hunting them down in the woods with a Ruger Mini-14 and a knife. He was arrested and convicted in 1983 and was sentenced to 461 years and a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

THE BUTCHER BAKER


Out in the desolate frigid air of the state of Alaska Between the 70’s & 80’s, something more grizzly and vicious was prowling the mountains other than bear and caribou. It’s apart of life for many who grew up hunting and fishing, passed down through generations of family, but for one by the name of Robert Hansen, his perspective on hunting came in many forms.

When he moved from Estherville, Iowa, to Anchorage Alaska he opened a bakery. Police and friends would call him Bob and eat at his bakery on a daily basis. Although Bob had a nice business and looked like a normal faithful family man, all that was just a shell for everybody that watched from the outside.

Whatever his excuses may have been, along with his checkered past, nothing could prepare the officials at the Anchorage Police Department for the 12 years of brutality Robert Hansen unleashed on the victims of Alaska. Nobody was safe, Over those years people started vanishing and was never seen again. People started noticing as the first of the bodies were found by construction workers near Eklutna Road. The body, dubbed “Eklutna Annie” by investigators, has never been identified. Later that year, the body of Joanna Messina was discovered in a gravel pit near Seward and in 1982, the remains of 23-year-old Sherry Morrow were discovered, in a shallow grave near the Knik River. Now there were three bodies and it all looked like it was done by one killer.

 

 

 

How Hanson Threaten Women To Get in His Plane

The Fall of Robert Hansen: Cindy told police, he had offered her $200 to perform oral sex but when she got into the car, he pulled a gun on her and drove her to his home in Muldoon. There, he held her captive, torturing, raping and sexually assaulting her. She mentioned that after he chained her by the neck to a post in the house’s basement.

Cindy Paulson Interview w/ Sgt. Glenn Flothe, AST


MERRILL FIELD AIRPORT

Hansen took a nap on a nearby couch. When he awoke, he put her in his car and took her to Merrill Field airport

He told her that he intended to “take her out to his cabin” (a meat shack in the Knik River area of the Matanuska Valley accessible only by boat or bush plane). Paulson, crouched in the back seat of the car with her wrists cuffed in front of her body, waited to escape until Hansen was busy loading the airplane’s cockpit. While Hansen’s back was turned, Paulson crawled out of the back seat, opened the driver’s side door and ran toward nearby Sixth Avenue.

She later told police that she had left her blue sneakers on the passenger side floor of the sedan’s backseat, as evidence that she had been in the car. Paulson escaped and made it to Sixth Avenue and managed to flag down a passing truck. He drove her to the Mush Inn, where she jumped out of the truck and ran inside.  The truck driver called the police to report the barefoot, handcuffed woman.


Robert Hansens M.O was abducting and threatening women all the way up to the point of putting them onto his plane and flying them out in the middle of nowhere Anchorage Alaska, uncuffing them and letting them think he was setting them free, but he would then Hunt them with a Ruger Mini-14, chasing through the snow and teasing until he got fed up and then shot them like wild game.

 

Robert Hanson in Custody
Robert Hansen confession.

Hansen’s Victims that were identified, for many of his other victims their bodies were never recovered or identified.

Hansen had barrels scattered throughout the mountains of Anchorage filled with everything he needed when he went “Hunting.” From rope, ammo, guns, duct tape, shovels, and all the disposable accessories. Part of his fall was the map they found, along with the Guns he used on his victims hidden in his attic. The spots mark on the map below lead to many of Hanson’s grave sites where bodies were recovered. 

The Map they found with guns in Hansen’s Home

Gun’s found in Hansen’s Attic 

The Murder Weapon He Used The Most

On October 27, 1983, investigators uncovered jewelry belonging to some of the missing women, as well as an array of firearms in a corner hideaway of Hansen’s attic. The biggest find was an aviation map with little “x” marks on it, hidden behind Hansen’s headboard.

Hansen Later showed investigators 17 grave sites, in and around Southcentral Alaska, 12 of which were unknown to investigators. There remained marks on his map that he refused to give up, including three in Resurrection Bay, near Seward (authorities suspect two of these marks belong to the graves of Mary Thill and Megan Emrick, whom Hansen has denied killing). The remains of 12 (of a probable 21) victims were exhumed by the police and returned to their families. Hansen was sentenced by a jury to 461 years plus life in prison, without the possibility of parole.


Known victims as shown on Wikipedia

Hansen is known to have raped and assaulted over 30 Alaskan women. He is also responsible for murdering at least 17, ranging in age from 16 to 41. They were:

  • Lisa Futrell, 41 (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • Malai Larsen, 28 (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • Sue Luna, 23 (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • Tami Pederson, 20 (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • Angela Feddern, 24 (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • Teresa Watson (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help)
  • DeLynn “Sugar” Frey (acknowledged, body discovered on August 20, 1985 by a pilot testing new tires on the sandbar of the Knik River)
  • Paula Goulding (acknowledged, body found)
  • Andrea “Fish” Altiery (admitted, body not found)
  • Sherry Morrow, 23 (admitted, body found)
  • “Eklutna Annie” (admitted, body found, true identity has never been discovered)
  • Joanna Messina (admitted, body found)
  • “Horseshoe Harriet” (acknowledged, body found with Hansen’s help, true identity has never been discovered)
  • Roxane Easland, 24 (acknowledged, body not found)
  • Ceilia “Beth” Van Zanten, 17 (denied, but suspected because of x on aviation map, body found)
  • Megan Emerick, 17 (denied, but suspected because of x on aviation map, body not found)
  • Mary Thill, 23 (denied, but suspected because of x on aviation map, body not found)

Of these 17 women, Hansen was only formally charged with the murder of four – Sherry Morrow, Joanna Messina, Eklutna Annie, and Paula Goulding. He was also charged with the kidnapping and rape of Cindy Paulson.

Hansen died at the age of 75, at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage on August 21, 2014, due to undisclosed, lingering health conditions.

You a reader of true crime? take the time and visit: butcherbaker.net  For more details and interviews with Robert Hansen.

FOR OTHER ENTERTAINMENT WATCH “THE FROZEN GROUND” STARRING NICOLAS CAGE BASED ON ROBERT HANSEN AKA THE BUTCHER BAKER CASE

Story By Corey Jennings of The Butcher Baker – ROBERT HANSEN


COMING SOON THE STORY OF ROBERT “WILLIE” PICKTON (THE PIG FARM MURDERS.)

THIS CASE INSPIRED THE SONGS “The County Road Cover Up” & “Mass grave”