Chapter 3 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in the Case of Canadian Serial Killer Robert Pickton Leigh-Anne Cui But no one knew who she was. No one was reported missing who might be this victim […] The woman remained ‘Jane Doe’ and her skull would rest in a box in a police evidence locker for seven more years. (Stevie Cameron, 2011) Indigenous women belong to one of the most marginalized communities in Canadian society, and the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada is also disproportionately high compared to non-Indigenous women (Oppal, 2013). Indigenous women struggle with social and economic disadvantages, such as poverty, substance addiction, mental health issues, and racism. These factors make them more vulnerable to victimization (Ursel, 2001). A discussion of missing and murdered Indigenous women, using the case of Robert Pickton’s serial murders in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, will serve to examine how racism and sexism led to the extreme apathy of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). Subsequently, the proposal of an alternate universe in which a compassionate police force works without bias for every person may reveal how earlier acknowledged missing person reports may have prevented the deaths of numerous innocent women from the hands of a serial killer. Robert Pickton, “The Pig Farmer Killer” Robert William Pickton was a Canadian serial killer who was convicted of the second-degree murders of six women, although he was originally charged with 27 29 The Forensic Science Alternate Universe counts of first-degree murder (R v Pickton, 2010). He owned a pig farm in Port Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, British Columbia. Throughout the 1970s to 1980s, most of British Columbia’s sex workers and people suffering from homelessness and drug addiction were concentrated in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, as it was the only place where they were welcome and could afford to live (Cameron, 2011). This is where Pickton regularly visited in the early 1980s, to dump discarded animal parts at a rendering plant nearby. He was fascinated by the biker bars, clubhouses, and women, and began picking up sex workers and bringing them back to his pig farm. It was also during this time that women, many of whom were Indigenous, began to go missing. The first was Linda Grant, in 1984, followed by many more as the years went on (Cameron, 2011). By 1989, a group of the victims’ friends and families and advocates for sex workers had come together to lobby the police for investigation on the missing women, but without any effect. Vancouver police failed to initiate an investigation of any kind for the reports of the missing women. Police knew that an unusual number of women were going missing, but were uninterested in their disappearances because they were sex workers. Police do not prioritize searches for missing sex workers, especially if they are Indigenous, simply because their lives are not viewed to be as valuable as those of middle-class white women or men (Lee & Reid, 2018). Therefore police apathy, along with high victimization rates of Indigenous women and sex workers, contributed to the high body count on the Pickton farm. It was not until 2002 that police obtained a warrant to search Pickton’s property for firearm violations, where they found human remains and personal belongings of the missing women (Cameron, 2011). High Rates of Victimization among Indigenous Women and Sex Workers Vulnerability of Indigenous Women in Canada Victimization among Indigenous communities is extremely high in Canada, as Indigenous people, particularly women, are much more likely to suffer from domestic abuse, violence, and drug addiction. According to Brzozowski and colleagues (2006), simply being an Indigenous person significantly increases one’s likelihood of being vulnerable to violent crimes (3.5 times more likely than non- 30 Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: The Case of Robert Pickton Indigenous women). One explanation is the ‘trauma theory’, which states that the recent victimization of Indigenous peoples by the Canadian government (i.e., through residential schools, forced removal of children from their families, etc.) creates trauma that is passed down from generation to generation. This leads to increased social disorder in Indigenous communities (Ursel, 2001). These social disorders include domestic abuse, violence, drug and alcohol addiction, and suicide, which are all factors that contribute to one’s level of vulnerability (Ursel, 2001). A study by Cohen and colleagues (2009) compared cases of Indigenous and non-Indigenous missing persons in British Columbia. In the sample examined by the researchers, Indigenous persons were significantly overrepresented in missing person cases where foul play was not ruled out. Most Indigenous women studied in this sample were struggling with addiction (86.8 percent), and nearly one-third were dealing with homelessness. In addition, Indigenous people were reported missing to the police on average 590.9 days after they were last seen, compared to 249.1 days for non-Indigenous people (Cohen et al., 2009). Victimization is also highly under-reported among these marginalized groups. In the context of Canada’s colonial history, there exists a chronic strained relationship between the Indigenous peoples and authority, due to their marginalized status (Brzozowski et al., 2006). In a survey regarding police performance that was administered to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous respondents, it was found that Indigenous people were less likely to give police a good rating for actions such as treating people fairly, ensuring the safety of citizens, and responding promptly to calls (Brzozowski et al., 2006). This can be attributed to the fact that Indigenous people are more likely to experience discrimination from the police. The authors reviewed surveys regarding individuals’ perceptions of experiences of discrimination based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and sex (Brzozowski et al., 2006). Results indicated that Indigenous respondents reported more experiences of discrimination when dealing with the police compared to non-Indigenous respondents (7% higher). The nature of various surveys used to collect data on missing persons has not been inclusive of people of Aboriginal identity. For example, the Homicide Survey is a survey by Statistics Canada which collects police-reported data on types of homicide cases and characteristics of the victims and accused. A question to indicate whether one is of Aboriginal identity, however, had not been included in 31 The Forensic Science Alternate Universe the survey until 1997 (Statistics Canada, 2017). Before the implementation of this question, Aboriginal identity was largely indicated as ‘unknown’ for about half of all victims of homicide, meaning that the actual number of victims of Aboriginal identity is likely underreported by police services (Statistics Canada, 2017). Therefore, there exists a significant lack of awareness about Indigenous victimization, which may lead to discrimination from authority, institutional bias, and public indifference. Vulnerability of Sex Workers Sex workers have always been easy targets of serial killers due to their movement between police jurisdictions and unregulated areas, as well as the stigma associated with sex work (Lee & Reid, 2018). In the missing persons of BC comparison study by Cohen and colleagues (2009), more than three-quarters of missing Indigenous women in the sample were sex workers. FBI research has shown that the murders of sex workers can be hard to solve, based on the covert nature of their activities and daily interaction with numerous strangers. These factors, along with negative biases about their ‘risky lifestyle’, make it difficult to obtain any critical information related to their disappearance (Cohen et al., 2009). What Failed the Missing and Murdered Women: Institutional Bias and Police Apathy Pickton targeted those known as the “less dead”, referring to victims of murder whose cases are not investigated by the police and not covered by the media (Cameron, 2011). This is often because of their marginalized backgrounds. For example, individuals of racial and ethnic minorities, sex workers, and individuals suffering from mental health issues, poverty, and/or addiction (Oppal, 2013). The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) had a long history of apathy against murder cases involving prostitutes due to the stigma associated with sex work. As a result, missing sex workers were often seen as “throwaways” and police made no efforts to investigate (Cameron, 2011). Even when pressured by families of the missing women, Vancouver police often tried to come up with reasons not to investigate, such as a changed identity to run away and start a new life, a possible marriage, or even suicide (Cameron, 2011). 32 Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: The Case of Robert Pickton The Report of Missing Women Commission of Inquiry of 2013 lists multiple critical failures of the police. The failures identified in the report include poor report-taking and follow-up on reports of missing women, failure to adhere to Major Case Management guidelines and policies, and failure to consider and pursue investigative strategies (Oppal, 2013). An example of the above-listed failures was shown in the case of one of Pickton’s victims, Sandra Gail, in 1997. Gail fought for her life after Pickton handcuffed and stabbed her multiple times, and she was able to run away and get to a nearby emergency room, with the handcuff still attached to her wrist (Cameron, 2011). She informed investigators that Pickton had attacked her back at his pig farm in Coquitlam, BC, and Pickton, who was also being treated for stab wounds inflicted during the fight, was found with keys to the handcuffs by doctors at the hospital. After learning that Gail was a sex worker with a history of drug use, police declined to follow up on the case and chose not to pursue any criminal charges against Pickton (Lee & Reid, 2018). This example is just one of the many times the Vancouver Police Department failed to do anything about the missing women in the Downtown Eastside, simply because of their identity and occupation.