By Katherine Ramsland

(Continued)

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Others who had known these women before they disappeared also testified.  One had run a focus group attended by women from the streets, and the jury learned that in some cases, the women worked as prostitutes to feed their children, because welfare payments were insufficient.  Another witness was a friend of Georgina Papin, and she described how they had spent time baking and playing cards together, but then Georgina fell back into drug use and was soon gone.  Then a former prostitute and drug dealer told about her friend, Brenda Wolfe, who vanished in the spring of 2000.  Brenda had deteriorated to the point of not bathing or washing her clothes.  Before she disappeared, she was a mess, having lost about 50 pounds.

Pickton in court

But testimony about the victims was notably spare.  Thus far, their family members have not been called.  The next stage involved what Pickton might have done with the women after they died.

Jim Cress, a driver for a Vancouver rendering company, described how he had picked up two-to-five 45 gallon barrels of pork offal and burnt meat chunks from the Pickton farm, to take to West Coast Reduction.  Before 2002, customers could dump stuff at the plant themselves, unsupervised, and Cress had seen Pickton there once.  While this testimony is suggestive, given the statement Pickton made about victim disposal, it's not proof of anything sinister.

The trial continues.

by Katherine Ramsland

Robert Pickton: Full Coverage & Breaking News

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