Pickton book by VPD detective ordered disclosed by inquiry
Lawyer for women’s families argues that unpublished 370- page document should be made available in its entirety
The unpublished book written by the first Vancouver police detective to investigate tips about serial killer Robert Pickton was ordered disclosed Wednesday.
But first it should be vetted to exclude the private thoughts of Det.- Const. Lori Shenher, inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal ruled.
“It’s a lengthy one — 370 pages,” Oppal said, adding he read the book before making his decision.
Shenher’s manuscript deals with “her private thoughts about former police chiefs” and why Pickton wasn’t caught sooner, Oppal said.
Shenher testified earlier at the inquiry that she almost quit because she found it frustrating investigating the missing women case. She testified that she felt Pickton was the prime suspect after receiving tips about him in 1998 and 1999.
One of the tips told of a woman who had witnessed Pickton butchering another woman’s body in his barn, where he often butchered pigs.
Cameron Ward, the lawyer for the families of 25 murdered women, made an application last January for Shenher’s unpublished book to be disclosed.
Ward argued there should be no privacy issue because Shenher planned to publish the book — she had a contract with Mcclelland & Stewart, which was cancelled in May 2003, shortly after the first media stories appeared about Shenher writing the book.
Ward asked on Wednesday for the full manuscript to be marked as an exhibit and placed in a sealed envelope, because he plans to appeal the ruling that it be vetted.
“I’m going to seek a judicial review,” Ward said.
David Crossin, the lawyer representing the Vancouver Police Union at the inquiry, told Oppal that he will contact Shenher and they will vet the document and return it to Oppal.
Ward pointed out that he would like to have the document before he begins his cross- examination next week of Vancouver police department managers, including a deputy chief.
Starting Monday, the inquiry will hear from Vancouver Insp. Fred Biddlecombe, Insp. Dan Dureau, Sgt. Geramy Field and Deputy Chief Brian Mcguinness.
The inquiry will take a oneweek break starting March 19. It expects to finish hearings by the end of April and submit its report to government by the end of June.
A rookie Coquitlam RCMP officer executed a warrant on Pickton’s farm in Port Coquitlam to search for illegal guns on Feb. 5, 2002.
The guns were found along with personal items and identification of some of the missing women, which triggered the largest forensic search in Canadian history.
Police found the DNA of 33 women at the farm, but Pickton once confided he killed 49 women.
He was convicted at his first trial in 2007 of six murders.
After Pickton lost all of his appeals, the Crown decided not to proceed with a second trial involving another 20 murders.