Who Is Robert Pickton? 9 Gruesome Details About The Canadian Pig Farmer Turned Serial Killer Who Wishes He'd Killed Just One More Woman

Who is Robert Pickton? Canadian pig farmer and serial killer Robert William "Willy" Pickton (also known by the names The Pig Farmer Killer, The Pigheaded Killer, and Pork Chop Rob) was caught on tape by an undercover police officer posing as his cellmate — and the video will make your blood run cold.

In the secretly captured recording, Pickton, who in 2007 was sentenced to life in jail for the second-degree murders of 6 women, claims to have killed 49 women in total between the years of 1983-2002, and bemoans the fact that he wasn't able to make that number even.

"I was kinda sloppy at the end, too. Getting too soppy... I was gonna do one more, make it an even 50. That’s why, that’s why I was sloppy about. I wanted one more, make, make the big 5-0."

Although charges were only brought against him for the murders of 6 women, few ever doubted that the actual number of women who fell victim to him during his two-decade long killing spree was far larger than authorities would ever be able to prove in a courtroom.

Here are 9 awful details about Canadian pig farmer Robert "Willy" Pickton, his victims, the gruesome way he disposed of their remains, and why he's considered one of the world's most infamous serial killers.

1. The farm he lovingly called "Piggy Palace."

Pickton, who was born on October 24, 1969, and his older brother, David, owned a pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, which they inherited along with their sister, Linda Louise Wright. The grounds were home to a 600 lb. boar described by former worker Bill Hiscox, who said, "I never saw a pig like that, who would chase you and bite at you. It was running out with the dogs around the property."

David has a criminal record for a sexual assault, he's been sued on three occasions for various traffic offenses, and was known as a hard drinker who dabbled in drugs. But it was Willy who attracted more attention from people in town. He was just plain odd in a way people found difficult to describe.

2. His "non-profit organization."

After selling off portions of their land in 1994 and 1995 for approximately $5.16 million and acquiring additional real estate, Pickton and his brother began to neglect their farming duties, and over time, the place began to deteriorate. They let the pigs run rampant, and locals report that when the two men would made trips into town, you could "smell them coming."

But the brothers had no intention of giving up their pigs. In 1996 he registered the Piggy's Palace Good Times Society, claiming that the group would "organize, coordinate, manage and operate special events, functions, dances, shows and exhibitions on behalf of service organizations, sports organizations and other worthy groups." Thousands of people would attend parties held by the society in a converted slaughterhouse on the property, wild events where drugs like ecstasy were often present, along with countless sex workers and members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.

Back in 2002, one couple told Canadian reporters that, "the parties were drug-infested affairs that often ended in bloody fights."

"I've actually had to take friends to emergency rooms because they've gone to the booze can after we left the bar," the woman said. "My one friend had looked at a girl wrong and ended up getting beat up so bad. The bouncers picked him up and were beating on him more as they were throwing him out the door, throwing him on the pavement outside."

3. The one who got away.

On March 23, 1997, Pickton was charged with the attempted murder of a sex worker he had hired and brought back to his place. Wendy Lynn Eistetter had sex with Willy and then, after handcuffing one of her arms in place, he stabbed her in the stomach several more times. Wendy struck back at Pickton, injuring him and fleeing the scene.

Adding insult to literal injury, Wendy was treated at the same emergency room where Pickton arrived to seek treatment. She wanted to press charges but after several months, charges were dropped. Because she was a sex worker and drug user the law was in no rush to try and help her: a sad but all-too-common story. Pickton got out of jail and went about his life.

4. The non-profit was closed down by law enforcement.

In 1998, local officials sued Willy Pickton for transforming his farm into a party space, something the farm very much wasn't zoned to do. Willy and his brother ignored the lawsuit and instead held a raging New Year's Eve party at their slaughterhouse venue. The party was shut down by the police and the brothers were banned from ever having another party.

Unsurprisingly, this also meant the following year they lost their not-for-profit status when they weren't able to present the right kind of financial paperwork about their "society." It tanked not long after that.

5. His murder spree.

In 2002, rumors about Willy and the farm were flying. It was said that women who went to visit the Pickton pig farm never returned and word has made its way to the authorities.

The police got two warrants to search the Pickton property: one was for illegal firearms and the other was regarding the 'British Columbia Missing Women Investigation' which was brought together due to the large number of missing sex workers and other women who had been reported in the area.

It didn't take the police long to find what they were looking for: personal items belonging to the missing women were found at Willy's pig farm and now it was only a matter time.

Ultimately, Willy was charged with the first degree murders of 27 women: Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, acqueline McDonell, Diane Rock, Heather Bottomley, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin, Patricia Johnson, Helen Hallmark, Jennifer Furminger, Heather Chinnock, Tanya Holyk, Sherry Irving, Inga Hall, Cara Ellis, Andrea Borhaven, Debra Lynne Jones, Marnie Frey, Tiffany Drew, Kerry Koski, Sarah de Vries, Cynthia Feliks, Angela Jardine, Wendy Crawford, Diana Melnick, and one Jane Doe.

6. The sick way he disposed of his victims.

The police continued to bring in forensic investigators to dig up evidence for the trial. It was hard and expensive work that yielded truly horrific results: examiners believe Willy fed the bodies of his victims to his pigs, and ground up their remains along with the ground pig which he would then sell to the public.

7. His trial.

During the trial itself, one case of murder was dismissed due to lack of evidence. Of the remaining 26 cases, the judge divided them into a group of 6 and a group of 20. Ultimately, he would dismiss 20 of the murder charges. To be clear, the judge didn't do this because he thought Pickton was some kind of angel. He simply knew that if they tried all 26 cases it would take years for the proceedings to play out, and that to do so wouldn't be fair to a jury.

But some even more horrifying discoveries were revealed at Pickton's farm. According to the forensics team, while Pickton was originally charged with 27 murders, 80 unknown DNA sequences were found at the scene of the crime which could mean even more victims. They also discovered a gun with a dildo covering the barrel, along with night vision goggles and syringes filled with a mysterious blue fluid.

8. The now famous video.

9. The still missing women who were never found.

Pickton was found guilty on 6 counts of second degree in each case. The judge sentenced Pickton to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, though in his case the odds of it ever being granted are highly unlikely, even if he lives that long.

After his arrest and subsequent trial and sentencing, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry was formed to help search for and advocate on behalf of women in the area who are reported as missing. The dismissing of the 20 additional murder charges angered the public at large and led the government to form the commission in hopes no woman's life or death would ever be swept under the rug again.

Rebecca Jane Stokes is a sex, humor and lifestyle writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cat, Batman. She hosts the sex, love, and dating advice show, Becca After Dark on YourTango's Facebook Page every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:15 pm Eastern. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.