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On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women
Verteran investigative journalist Stevie Cameron first began following the story of missing women in 1998, when the odd newspaper piece appeared chronicling the disappearances of drug-addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. It was not until February 2002 that pig farmer Robert William Pickton would be arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, on six counts of second-degree murder. These counts were appealed and in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its conclusion. The guilty verdict was upheld, and finally this unprecedented tale of true crime could be told.
Covering the case of one of North America's most prolific serial killers gave Stevie Cameron access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police - and not in the transcripts of their interviews with Pickton - such as from Pickton's long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him. Cameron uncovers what was behind law enforcement's refusal to believe that a serial killer was at work.
Covering the case of one of North America's most prolific serial killers gave Stevie Cameron access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police - and not in the transcripts of their interviews with Pickton - such as from Pickton's long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him. Cameron uncovers what was behind law enforcement's refusal to believe that a serial killer was at work.
768 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2010
554 people are currently reading
6779 people want to read
About the author
Stevie Cameron
11 books24 followersStephanie Graham "Stevie" Cameron was a Canadian investigative journalist and author. She worked for various newspapers such as the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. She hosted a newsmagazine television show The Fifth Estate on CBC-TV in the 1990s. She was also an author of non-fiction books, including one from 1994 about former prime minister Brian Mulroney called On the Take. In 2013, she was honoured with membership into the Order of Canada. She died in Toronto on August 31, 2024.
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July 5, 2020
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In this chilling, yet sensational piece of true crime, Stevie Cameron takes the reader into the world of Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton and the numerous women who went missing on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside primarily in the 1990s. Cameron presents the reader with detailed analysis of events and the police investigation into the case surrounding one of Canada’s—and North America’s—most notorious serial killers. Willie Pickton grew up in a household where hard work was not a foreign concept. The Picktons bought farm land around Port Coquitlam, British Columbia and opened a piggery, which also included many animals they slaughtered themselves and sold to local butchers. An introvert most of his early life, Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton was quiet, which differed greatly from his brother, Dave. As the two grew older, their hard work paid off, as the farm’s notoriety and size grew, eventually falling into Dave’s hands, as he held Willie’s portion in trust, as per a complicated will left by their parents upon their deaths. While Dave was always the one getting into mischief and interacting with some sketchy characters, Willie had a streak of his own, but always came across as unassuming. He enjoyed travelling down to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where he would dole out money, drugs, and advice to some of the women who strolled the streets. He was known among the prostitutes of the area, sometimes going so far as to invite them back to his farm for some fun. Cameron explores this from both angles, speaking of the street lifestyle of these women who made their living on the Downtown Eastside and some of the interactions that Pickton had with a number of them, sometimes seeking to feed their addictions and on other occasions to ‘taste their wares’, for lack of a better word. While the Pickton brothers continued to make a name for themselves in and around Port Coquitlam, there were issues on the streets, as more and more women simply disappeared from the Downtown Eastside without a trace. Missing persons reports escalated, but the Vancouver Police did little, all but completely ignoring the statistics as they cited that prostitutes tended to be nomadic and were likely just trying to flee their families. Cameron delves into the lives of these women, giving them faces and backstories throughout the early part of the book, while also pointing out the ineptitude of the Vancouver Police when it came to what was going on. When local reporters began shining a light on things, the police had no choice but to take a second look at some of the trends, all of which ended up showing that there was something going on here, as over forty women had disappeared off the streets between the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
Working on a tip related to a gun violation, police agreed to make their way to the Pickton Pig Farm, where they wanted to meet Willie, who had become a person of interest in this still-evolving case. Pickton’s name had come up as one of the ‘bad dates’ among many of the prostitutes, one who was always willing to ply women with drugs and money to come ‘party’ with Dave and others back on the farm. When police served a warrant, they discovered more than the guns that were not registered, locating evidence that would tie Pickton to two of the missing women and opening the investigation into what would become one of Canada’s most horrendous crime scenes ever. With enough to take Pickton into custody, Vancouver Police and RCMP officers began sifting through the massive farm land, looking for anything that might implicate the pig farmer in something sinister. While Pickton feigned shock and disbelief, he sat in long interviews with police and listened, never quite substantiating the evidence or theories presented to him. As Cameron explores, he would go for hours being obstinate and agreeing only to fringe thoughts and ideas, leaving the door open for interpretation. At the farm, evidence was piling up, as personal effects, blood, bones, and eventually body parts, turned up all over the place, turning the Pickton Farm into Canada’s largest crime scene with over 200 000 pieces of DNA evidence by the time things went to trial.
Speaking of the judicial side of events, while Pickton was first charged with two counts of first-degree murder, further evidence upped the counts to twenty-seven by the time things reached a trial. Pickton tried to find loopholes throughout, but a tricky piece of investigative work by the police saw the man admit to the possibility of up to forty-nine victims, all from the Downtown Eastside. In a speedy last handful of chapters, Cameron explores the legal and judicial side of events, travelling through the court system and how the players did their best to give these missing (and murdered) women faces and validation for lives cut short, though the judge whittled things down to six victims, worried that the plethora of evidence would overwhelm a jury. In a clipped narrative, Cameron presents the trial and its outcome that saw the jury agree on charges. Things made their way up to the Supreme Court of Canada before finally ending all appeals, thereby releasing the publication order and paving the way for Stevie Cameron to present this book to readers, where they could match fact with fictional accounts in what is likely one of North America’s most horrific and large-scale serial killings in history. A sensational book that does not miss any detail in its depiction, Stevie Cameron is to be praised for all her hard work and dedication. Recommended to those who enjoy depictions of true crime, as well as the reader who enjoys learning about some of Canada’s more horrific events in history.
I chose this as a buddy read with a true crime friend of mine and must say that I was throughly impressed. While I remember hearing of Pickton and his pig farm, I knew little about it until I read this book. Stevie Cameron offers the reader a detailed exploration of all sides of this case, from a slowly evolving biography of Willie Pickton through to backstories on many of the women from the Downtown Eastside. Yes, they were all prostitutes and many delved into the world of drugs, but Cameron gives them faces and argues throughout that these women had families and were sometimes driven to the life because of their pasts. This is more than a modern Jack the Ripper ‘kill the whore’ story, as Cameron pulls the reader in and makes them care for the victim, while also paving the way to clues about how and why Willie Pickton would be responsible. This omnipotent narrative also shows how Vancouver Police dropped the ball and ignored much of what was going on, stifling the few who had ideas or found themselves on a mission to document these missing and exploited women. Cameron uses her power of the pen to slowly and methodically explore the narrative that tied in the Pickton visits to the Downtown Eastside to many of the goings-on and the mounting number of missing women. A piece of forewarning to readers, while the narrative does not delve into the specific explanations of any slaying, save one from an account by a victim who got away, the details and exploration of the Pickton Farm is such that gruesome does not describe it. Tying that to the physical description of the dirty and slovenly Willie Pickton and the reader will likely have chills or at least a pain in the stomach throughout most of the latter chapters of this book. Cameron lays out the facts in a clear manner and keeps the reader wanting to know more as they forge ahead. With well-paced chapters, the story builds throughout, never letting the reader down, even if some might bemoan an excess of backstory and not enough killing narrative. In my humble opinion, I felt that Cameron could have used a great deal more time on the judicial aspect of the case, though I concede that this would have meant paring down some of the backstory (which I felt was essential) or creating a massive tome (with the only other alternative being a two-volume work). I am torn here, as I did learn so much, but wanted some of the courtroom banter and witness testimony summarised effectively for my own reading and understanding. On a much smaller point, Cameron needed to better organise how she divided the book into parts, as she chose three with this publication but used titles that did not clearly delineate the different aspects of the backstory, investigation, and coming to justice. This is minor and does not take away from the reader’s enjoyment whatsoever. Likely one of those books that will resonance for me long into the future, much praise to Stevie Cameron for the way she presented such a horrific subject. It does put much into perspective and only adds to the drama that is coming to the surface in Canada around the Highway of Tears, as well as missing and murdered women.
Kudos, Madam Cameron, for a sensational depiction of events and surely one of the better pieces of true crime writing out there. I was hooked and cannot wait to read more of your work, though I am pleased that it is not true crime (as I need a shower and a break for a while)!
This books fulfills Topic #4: Loser in the Equinox #11 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
In this chilling, yet sensational piece of true crime, Stevie Cameron takes the reader into the world of Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton and the numerous women who went missing on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside primarily in the 1990s. Cameron presents the reader with detailed analysis of events and the police investigation into the case surrounding one of Canada’s—and North America’s—most notorious serial killers. Willie Pickton grew up in a household where hard work was not a foreign concept. The Picktons bought farm land around Port Coquitlam, British Columbia and opened a piggery, which also included many animals they slaughtered themselves and sold to local butchers. An introvert most of his early life, Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton was quiet, which differed greatly from his brother, Dave. As the two grew older, their hard work paid off, as the farm’s notoriety and size grew, eventually falling into Dave’s hands, as he held Willie’s portion in trust, as per a complicated will left by their parents upon their deaths. While Dave was always the one getting into mischief and interacting with some sketchy characters, Willie had a streak of his own, but always came across as unassuming. He enjoyed travelling down to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where he would dole out money, drugs, and advice to some of the women who strolled the streets. He was known among the prostitutes of the area, sometimes going so far as to invite them back to his farm for some fun. Cameron explores this from both angles, speaking of the street lifestyle of these women who made their living on the Downtown Eastside and some of the interactions that Pickton had with a number of them, sometimes seeking to feed their addictions and on other occasions to ‘taste their wares’, for lack of a better word. While the Pickton brothers continued to make a name for themselves in and around Port Coquitlam, there were issues on the streets, as more and more women simply disappeared from the Downtown Eastside without a trace. Missing persons reports escalated, but the Vancouver Police did little, all but completely ignoring the statistics as they cited that prostitutes tended to be nomadic and were likely just trying to flee their families. Cameron delves into the lives of these women, giving them faces and backstories throughout the early part of the book, while also pointing out the ineptitude of the Vancouver Police when it came to what was going on. When local reporters began shining a light on things, the police had no choice but to take a second look at some of the trends, all of which ended up showing that there was something going on here, as over forty women had disappeared off the streets between the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
Working on a tip related to a gun violation, police agreed to make their way to the Pickton Pig Farm, where they wanted to meet Willie, who had become a person of interest in this still-evolving case. Pickton’s name had come up as one of the ‘bad dates’ among many of the prostitutes, one who was always willing to ply women with drugs and money to come ‘party’ with Dave and others back on the farm. When police served a warrant, they discovered more than the guns that were not registered, locating evidence that would tie Pickton to two of the missing women and opening the investigation into what would become one of Canada’s most horrendous crime scenes ever. With enough to take Pickton into custody, Vancouver Police and RCMP officers began sifting through the massive farm land, looking for anything that might implicate the pig farmer in something sinister. While Pickton feigned shock and disbelief, he sat in long interviews with police and listened, never quite substantiating the evidence or theories presented to him. As Cameron explores, he would go for hours being obstinate and agreeing only to fringe thoughts and ideas, leaving the door open for interpretation. At the farm, evidence was piling up, as personal effects, blood, bones, and eventually body parts, turned up all over the place, turning the Pickton Farm into Canada’s largest crime scene with over 200 000 pieces of DNA evidence by the time things went to trial.
Speaking of the judicial side of events, while Pickton was first charged with two counts of first-degree murder, further evidence upped the counts to twenty-seven by the time things reached a trial. Pickton tried to find loopholes throughout, but a tricky piece of investigative work by the police saw the man admit to the possibility of up to forty-nine victims, all from the Downtown Eastside. In a speedy last handful of chapters, Cameron explores the legal and judicial side of events, travelling through the court system and how the players did their best to give these missing (and murdered) women faces and validation for lives cut short, though the judge whittled things down to six victims, worried that the plethora of evidence would overwhelm a jury. In a clipped narrative, Cameron presents the trial and its outcome that saw the jury agree on charges. Things made their way up to the Supreme Court of Canada before finally ending all appeals, thereby releasing the publication order and paving the way for Stevie Cameron to present this book to readers, where they could match fact with fictional accounts in what is likely one of North America’s most horrific and large-scale serial killings in history. A sensational book that does not miss any detail in its depiction, Stevie Cameron is to be praised for all her hard work and dedication. Recommended to those who enjoy depictions of true crime, as well as the reader who enjoys learning about some of Canada’s more horrific events in history.
I chose this as a buddy read with a true crime friend of mine and must say that I was throughly impressed. While I remember hearing of Pickton and his pig farm, I knew little about it until I read this book. Stevie Cameron offers the reader a detailed exploration of all sides of this case, from a slowly evolving biography of Willie Pickton through to backstories on many of the women from the Downtown Eastside. Yes, they were all prostitutes and many delved into the world of drugs, but Cameron gives them faces and argues throughout that these women had families and were sometimes driven to the life because of their pasts. This is more than a modern Jack the Ripper ‘kill the whore’ story, as Cameron pulls the reader in and makes them care for the victim, while also paving the way to clues about how and why Willie Pickton would be responsible. This omnipotent narrative also shows how Vancouver Police dropped the ball and ignored much of what was going on, stifling the few who had ideas or found themselves on a mission to document these missing and exploited women. Cameron uses her power of the pen to slowly and methodically explore the narrative that tied in the Pickton visits to the Downtown Eastside to many of the goings-on and the mounting number of missing women. A piece of forewarning to readers, while the narrative does not delve into the specific explanations of any slaying, save one from an account by a victim who got away, the details and exploration of the Pickton Farm is such that gruesome does not describe it. Tying that to the physical description of the dirty and slovenly Willie Pickton and the reader will likely have chills or at least a pain in the stomach throughout most of the latter chapters of this book. Cameron lays out the facts in a clear manner and keeps the reader wanting to know more as they forge ahead. With well-paced chapters, the story builds throughout, never letting the reader down, even if some might bemoan an excess of backstory and not enough killing narrative. In my humble opinion, I felt that Cameron could have used a great deal more time on the judicial aspect of the case, though I concede that this would have meant paring down some of the backstory (which I felt was essential) or creating a massive tome (with the only other alternative being a two-volume work). I am torn here, as I did learn so much, but wanted some of the courtroom banter and witness testimony summarised effectively for my own reading and understanding. On a much smaller point, Cameron needed to better organise how she divided the book into parts, as she chose three with this publication but used titles that did not clearly delineate the different aspects of the backstory, investigation, and coming to justice. This is minor and does not take away from the reader’s enjoyment whatsoever. Likely one of those books that will resonance for me long into the future, much praise to Stevie Cameron for the way she presented such a horrific subject. It does put much into perspective and only adds to the drama that is coming to the surface in Canada around the Highway of Tears, as well as missing and murdered women.
Kudos, Madam Cameron, for a sensational depiction of events and surely one of the better pieces of true crime writing out there. I was hooked and cannot wait to read more of your work, though I am pleased that it is not true crime (as I need a shower and a break for a while)!
This books fulfills Topic #4: Loser in the Equinox #11 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
September 6, 2024
Very comprehensive book about Robert Pickton and the missing and murdered women of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, B.C. A go-to book about this serial killer and the women involved.
Updates:
May 31, 2024 - Pickton is killed by another prisoner in a federal prison in Quebec. I must admit, I didn't grieve for this monster. Just desserts.
August 31, 2024 - on a sadder note, this journalist/author, Stevie Cameron, passed away in her home at 80 years of age. She has written many other nonfiction books as well, including On The Take: Crime, Corruption And Greed In The Mulroney Years, which I hope to read someday.
I was just talking about her and her book On the Farm with some friends while on a camping trip on August 30, a day before her death! Strange!
Updates:
May 31, 2024 - Pickton is killed by another prisoner in a federal prison in Quebec. I must admit, I didn't grieve for this monster. Just desserts.
August 31, 2024 - on a sadder note, this journalist/author, Stevie Cameron, passed away in her home at 80 years of age. She has written many other nonfiction books as well, including On The Take: Crime, Corruption And Greed In The Mulroney Years, which I hope to read someday.
I was just talking about her and her book On the Farm with some friends while on a camping trip on August 30, a day before her death! Strange!
July 12, 2020
True Crime Commemoration # 29
Setting: 1990s Vancouver 🇨🇦
Setting: 1990s Vancouver 🇨🇦
August 8, 2012
This book was tough going but extremely well researched. I respected the author’s choices in what to include & what to omit, it could easily have been just a litany of gore and depravity - it’s far better than that. I’ll admit to putting off reading this deeply disturbing story of Canada’s most prolific serial killer - knowing it would just fuel my anger & sense of frustration with Vancouver’s Police Department and politicians. For years this city was well aware that women were disappearing from its ‘East Side’ skid row area; bottom-line it just wasn’t a priority. Vancouver is infamous for having the poorest & the wealthiest people sharing the same postal code. I happen to fall into the latter category and on a personal level witnessed a full out, no expense spared 2-year investigation play out in the tony “West Side’ where the victim was both wealthy & socially connected. Had a fraction of that level of effort been directed at solving these missing women cases countless women’s lives could have been saved. Along with many other Canadians I feel a sense of shame for how we marginalized these women and their families.
October 20, 2015
Though I believe this is one of the most important stories in Canadian history and highlights a major injustice to a neglected segment of our society, I was not a huge fan of the book overall. I felt the author started out strong and really drew me into the landscape and history of the Pickton's and the surrounding community. However, once the author gets into the sequence of missing women, it seems as though she was bogged down by the scale of Pickton's murders and defaulted to a very academic, sterile style of writing. The book is just far too long with much of the information repeated over and over and too much emphasis on random details that had no bearing on the story (ie. architectural history of a particular court house or entire career path of various Crown Prosecutors).
I'd give it a 4/5 for relevance and 2/5 for structure and style, for a 3/5 overall.
I'd give it a 4/5 for relevance and 2/5 for structure and style, for a 3/5 overall.
September 25, 2021
While reading my previous read—The Shadow of Death: The Hunt for the Connecticut River Valley Killer by Philip E. Ginsburg I thought of the Canadian killer Robert Pickton and that began my search for a book about those murders and my purchased of this e-boot—It being unavailable as an e-book to borrow from my local library.
I had heard about Robert Pickton on the news years ago, but knew very little other than some of the most disturbing details of the dismemberment of the bodies on a pig farm and the mixture of victims’ bodies mixed in with ground pork for resale.
Learning about Robert Pickton’s upbringing is shocking and sad. I could feel sad for the child he was, but not for the man he became and the choices he made. He is one of three children. As a toddler he was called Robbie and later referred to as Willie. His birth had been a difficult one, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
His family raised pigs and he and his brother had to do work on the farm as young children and went to school dirty and smelling bad.
His older sister Linda was treated better by his mother. She was bought new dresses and attended social events. The same rules did not apply for the boys. Willie and his brother David rarely played with other kids.
Their mother was quite a strange character and when Willie’s older brother David hit a young man along the highway one night instead of having her son face what he had done she tried to cover it up and rolled the injured young man’s body into the ditch where he later died from drowning.
The author of this book, Stevie Cameron is a reporter. In 1998 she started following stories of the disappearance of the drug addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
It wasn’t until 2002 that Pickton was arrested and it took till 2008 before he was found guilty. It was a massive search of the Pickton property to find the tiniest bit of bones and blood, for DNA to identity the many victims.
The author goes into lots of detail about the police involvement or should I say lack of involvement. Their lack of caring about these missing women is horrible. These women were simply thought of as disposable. The police attitude was one of “they were just junkies and hookers” and they weren’t wasting their time on finding out what happened to them.
The author gives a summary of each women’s background and how they ended up addicted to drugs. This made for such heartbreaking stories, making these women so much more real to me. It also brings to the foreground that becoming drug addicted can happen to anyone’s child whether we want to believe it or not. For some of these women their drug use had started innocently enough by a boyfriend introducing them to heroin and from there it was all downhill.
Some information in this book is often repeated. This is a large book, well detailed, but not in a gory sensationalized way. There’s just enough detail to be able to imagine the horror of the rest.
I had heard about Robert Pickton on the news years ago, but knew very little other than some of the most disturbing details of the dismemberment of the bodies on a pig farm and the mixture of victims’ bodies mixed in with ground pork for resale.
Learning about Robert Pickton’s upbringing is shocking and sad. I could feel sad for the child he was, but not for the man he became and the choices he made. He is one of three children. As a toddler he was called Robbie and later referred to as Willie. His birth had been a difficult one, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
His family raised pigs and he and his brother had to do work on the farm as young children and went to school dirty and smelling bad.
His older sister Linda was treated better by his mother. She was bought new dresses and attended social events. The same rules did not apply for the boys. Willie and his brother David rarely played with other kids.
Their mother was quite a strange character and when Willie’s older brother David hit a young man along the highway one night instead of having her son face what he had done she tried to cover it up and rolled the injured young man’s body into the ditch where he later died from drowning.
The author of this book, Stevie Cameron is a reporter. In 1998 she started following stories of the disappearance of the drug addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
It wasn’t until 2002 that Pickton was arrested and it took till 2008 before he was found guilty. It was a massive search of the Pickton property to find the tiniest bit of bones and blood, for DNA to identity the many victims.
The author goes into lots of detail about the police involvement or should I say lack of involvement. Their lack of caring about these missing women is horrible. These women were simply thought of as disposable. The police attitude was one of “they were just junkies and hookers” and they weren’t wasting their time on finding out what happened to them.
The author gives a summary of each women’s background and how they ended up addicted to drugs. This made for such heartbreaking stories, making these women so much more real to me. It also brings to the foreground that becoming drug addicted can happen to anyone’s child whether we want to believe it or not. For some of these women their drug use had started innocently enough by a boyfriend introducing them to heroin and from there it was all downhill.
Some information in this book is often repeated. This is a large book, well detailed, but not in a gory sensationalized way. There’s just enough detail to be able to imagine the horror of the rest.
April 7, 2013
This book takes you through the stories of the missing women and their families alongside Robert Picktons up bringing and family history to the full investigation and hearing that took place. Really unsettling how long this went on for. This story will be remembered in Canadian history forever
October 11, 2023
3.5 stars. If you’re looking for THE definitive book on Willie Pickton, this is the one, the detail is immense, no stone left unturned. However as someone who merely has a passing interest in the case 700+ pages became a bit of a struggle.
April 25, 2022
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
Narration 5/5
April 8, 2023
After reading several Michael Slade fiction books on crime in Canada and the RCMP, I decided to tackle a true crime Canadian book. William Pickton was probably the most prolific serial killer of all time. Didn't know much about this case, it seemed to get little coverage here in the U.S. It took me longer to read than most books. It is long, very well researched and written and covers everything about the case. Had to frequently take breaks and read other things because the horrific suffering and trauma of real human beings and their families was hard to take at times. In some crime books I've been bored during the courtroom portions, but Cameron managed to keep that portion interesting. I would give it five stars, but I have a hard time giving a true crime book five stars. Of added interest was the differences in judicial proceedings in Canada versus here in the States. If you're a true crime book reader this is a must-read if you can stand the grief.
August 20, 2011
"On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women","Stevie Cameron"
"This is a long, thorough investigative report on how the Picton crimes were solved, but more importantly how the case was mismanaged. for years.The reported deserves a lot of credit for not concentrating on the gory, sensational aspects of the crimes any more than necessary, but mainly how the police, especially the Vancouver police department bungled not only through ignorance, but deliberately ignoring events and reports that would have solved it much earlier and saved the lives of many unfortunate women. Most of the women had families who loved them despite their addictions and way of life on the streets. In some cases the police seemed to avoid missing person reports: telling one family their daughter was in rehab and didn't want contact, another case they said a woman had gone on road trip to Mexico, and another had moved to Montreal. They had no evidence to back any of this up, so it appears they were lying to avoid a search.
On staff was a man who had invented software for geographical profiling, and he was marginalized within the force and downgraded for his belief that a serial killer was at work. Families who reported missing loved ones were often treated very rudely.The only woman who escaped very badly wounded, and had cut Picton's throat to get away landed in hospital with handcuff still attached to wrist. The key was found in Picton's pocket in the next hospital room where he was also a patient. The courts refused to take her testimony because she was an addict, so Picton was free to continue his killings. Also a woman living on farm had actually witnessed a murder, but it took a very long time before her testimony was taken and believed.
Hopefully this book will be studied by person's on panels to judge how and why the investigation went so wrong, sadly leading to many more deaths."
"This is a long, thorough investigative report on how the Picton crimes were solved, but more importantly how the case was mismanaged. for years.The reported deserves a lot of credit for not concentrating on the gory, sensational aspects of the crimes any more than necessary, but mainly how the police, especially the Vancouver police department bungled not only through ignorance, but deliberately ignoring events and reports that would have solved it much earlier and saved the lives of many unfortunate women. Most of the women had families who loved them despite their addictions and way of life on the streets. In some cases the police seemed to avoid missing person reports: telling one family their daughter was in rehab and didn't want contact, another case they said a woman had gone on road trip to Mexico, and another had moved to Montreal. They had no evidence to back any of this up, so it appears they were lying to avoid a search.
On staff was a man who had invented software for geographical profiling, and he was marginalized within the force and downgraded for his belief that a serial killer was at work. Families who reported missing loved ones were often treated very rudely.The only woman who escaped very badly wounded, and had cut Picton's throat to get away landed in hospital with handcuff still attached to wrist. The key was found in Picton's pocket in the next hospital room where he was also a patient. The courts refused to take her testimony because she was an addict, so Picton was free to continue his killings. Also a woman living on farm had actually witnessed a murder, but it took a very long time before her testimony was taken and believed.
Hopefully this book will be studied by person's on panels to judge how and why the investigation went so wrong, sadly leading to many more deaths."
July 29, 2019
This is some disturbing shit. First there is the psychotic pig farmer who murdered and dismembered 49 street workers and put some remains in his freezers (ground up with pork for resale, plus a few heads, hands and feet) and then sent the rest to a rendering plant (whatever hadn’t been fed to the pigs). Then there was the complete indifference of the inept Vancouver police dept. regarding these missing women, and their unacceptable treatment of the worried families. AND then there was the judge’s decision to only try 6 of the 22 first degree murder charges because otherwise it would be too much for the jury. WTF is wrong with our society??! In the end, someone who confessed (on camera) to killing 49 women got convicted for the second degree murder of 6 women.
While all the forensic detail in the book makes for interesting reading, and the story is told in a coherent fashion, the book needed a better editor to weed out all the repetition. 100 pages could have easily been edited out without losing any of the story.
While all the forensic detail in the book makes for interesting reading, and the story is told in a coherent fashion, the book needed a better editor to weed out all the repetition. 100 pages could have easily been edited out without losing any of the story.
May 4, 2020
This book succeeds because, as much as he forms the axis point at which many lives collided, On The Farm is not about Pickton.
It is about the courageous and compassionate frontline workers in the DTES.
It is about a police force that systemically ignored the most vulnerable and treated them as disposable.
Most importantly, it is about the missing women and their friends and family.
While it is true that many of the details contained within are equally horrifying and infuriating, it is generally presented in a way so unlike the typical shock-and-horror true crime approach. Instead, Stevie Cameron's focus throughout is primarily on the missing women, their lives, and the investigations that brought their killer to justice.
There are a few brief moments in the final quarter that slip into a less compassionate tone, and the use of the word "tranny" as a non-quote descriptive term in an early chapter is particularly distasteful (though perhaps not shocking for a book published a decade ago). I also thought the trial was far too condensed (perhaps my law-student bias), but I suppose the book was getting long enough at that point anyway.
In any event, aside from minor quibbles and complaints (and two or three typos - impressive for a 700+ page book), On The Farm is nothing short of a masterpiece. The writing style is fantastic, and the level of research that went into this book is mind-boggling.
It is about the courageous and compassionate frontline workers in the DTES.
It is about a police force that systemically ignored the most vulnerable and treated them as disposable.
Most importantly, it is about the missing women and their friends and family.
While it is true that many of the details contained within are equally horrifying and infuriating, it is generally presented in a way so unlike the typical shock-and-horror true crime approach. Instead, Stevie Cameron's focus throughout is primarily on the missing women, their lives, and the investigations that brought their killer to justice.
There are a few brief moments in the final quarter that slip into a less compassionate tone, and the use of the word "tranny" as a non-quote descriptive term in an early chapter is particularly distasteful (though perhaps not shocking for a book published a decade ago). I also thought the trial was far too condensed (perhaps my law-student bias), but I suppose the book was getting long enough at that point anyway.
In any event, aside from minor quibbles and complaints (and two or three typos - impressive for a 700+ page book), On The Farm is nothing short of a masterpiece. The writing style is fantastic, and the level of research that went into this book is mind-boggling.
September 4, 2012
Forty nine drug-addicted prostitutes vanished from Canada's 'poorest post code', and despite numerous missing person's reports made the police were not interested in looking into how and why people's mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts were disappearing.
Rumours spread about 'The Farm' and the things that happened there. One name kept cropping up - Willie Pickton - but still nothing was done. Not until one of his friends needed money and sold him out to the police for having illegal guns on his property.
Stevie Cameron treats the troubled victims with the respect they deserve; whatever their personal choices, however they lived their lives, they were still human beings who were loved by friends and family. Stevie's writing reflects the compassion she feels for the subjects of her work, and I couldn't help but feel anger and resentment toward the police officers who hindered the attempt at starting an investigation at every turn. But there were also officers who went above and beyond, to do what was right by these women and their families...
Compelling, fascinating, filled with sadness and evoking feelings of disgust and pity, On the Farm is a brilliant account of the Pickton Farm killings; Stevie is ruthless in her portrayal of Willie Pickton and the life he led, while at the same time never dismissing the pain and terror the women and their families went through.
Brilliant, and very sad.
Rumours spread about 'The Farm' and the things that happened there. One name kept cropping up - Willie Pickton - but still nothing was done. Not until one of his friends needed money and sold him out to the police for having illegal guns on his property.
Stevie Cameron treats the troubled victims with the respect they deserve; whatever their personal choices, however they lived their lives, they were still human beings who were loved by friends and family. Stevie's writing reflects the compassion she feels for the subjects of her work, and I couldn't help but feel anger and resentment toward the police officers who hindered the attempt at starting an investigation at every turn. But there were also officers who went above and beyond, to do what was right by these women and their families...
Compelling, fascinating, filled with sadness and evoking feelings of disgust and pity, On the Farm is a brilliant account of the Pickton Farm killings; Stevie is ruthless in her portrayal of Willie Pickton and the life he led, while at the same time never dismissing the pain and terror the women and their families went through.
Brilliant, and very sad.
December 31, 2018
This book has a lot of good detail, but really needed some editing. While I can respect that Cameron put years into this book and learned so, so many details, her editor should have been sharper about letting some of them go. Do I really need to know how one of the attorneys met his wife? Because the timeline meanders a bit, some pieces of information or witness statements are shared three times, in just as much detail. While it was important to humanize the victims, the stories also all blended together at times, making it hard to feel as connected to them by the halfway point of this very long book. I skimmed more than I like to in a book, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything crucial to the narrative.
I read this because it was recommended as source material for the Willie Pickton episodes of Last Podcast on The Left. I began it on a long plane ride home, put it down for a month and a half, and finished it in a marathon at the end of December, to squeeze one more book in before the end of 2018. (Though if I'd been smart, I would have left just a little to finish for an easy first completion of 2019!)
I read this because it was recommended as source material for the Willie Pickton episodes of Last Podcast on The Left. I began it on a long plane ride home, put it down for a month and a half, and finished it in a marathon at the end of December, to squeeze one more book in before the end of 2018. (Though if I'd been smart, I would have left just a little to finish for an easy first completion of 2019!)
August 18, 2024
Such a horrifying and yet fascinating read. It’s hard to believe one man could take away so many lives and get away with it for so long.
July 1, 2024
This was emotional.
It was really well written.
I may never eat ground meat again.
It was really well written.
I may never eat ground meat again.
May 14, 2022
4.5 stars
Whew. This was a tough book to read, as one might expect. Cameron so skillfully takes you into Pickton's bleak, grimy, filthy, disgusting world that I found myself needing to take a break from time to time.
This exhaustive, thorough account of Pickton's origins and his crimes was heartwrenching but always interesting. I can't even imagine what the author went through writing it. She does an amazing job of bringing the victims back to life, showing that they were women who were loved by many, and who are missed. She shows the humanity and community of a neighbourhood often written off as "Canada's poorest." The people who work there, the support and camaraderie--the women who vanished were so much more than sex workers, drug addicts and runaways. They had children. They WERE someone's children. What Pickton did to them--and infuriatingly, got away with for so many years--was evil in the extreme.
It saddens me that we no longer mention these crimes, or talk about these women. In the US, there are still endless documentaries and blogs about the Green River Killer, but Pickton--who murdered 49 women and brutally assaulted at least one other--is rarely spoken of. And how in the hell did he get away with second-degree murder charges? Whoever heard of a SERIAL KILLER being charged with SECOND-degree murder? How much more intentional can you get? I still don't understand this.
Cameron also does a fantastic job explaining the politics of the RCMP and, most especially, the Vancouver Police Department, and the seething resentment many of his colleagues had for an especially bright, talented detective. If only his own people had listened to him, Pickton would have been stopped years earlier.
The author details the exhaustive work done by the forensics team on the Pickton farm, and paints a vivid picture of how dangerous and horrific the work was, but also the humanity and spirit of those who spent days, months, and years sifting through unimaginable muck, searching for fragments of bone. The memorial service they had for the women moved me to tears. For the first time, I really understood how heroic my forensic anthropologist friend and the rest of the team had been.
I did wonder how Cameron got away with using so much of other reporters' writing in the book, but in the acknowledgements, it's clear they were active contributors and voluntarily participated in the work.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys true crime, but be forewarned--you have a long, bleak road ahead. Let's remember these women, who were taken from their families much too soon.
Whew. This was a tough book to read, as one might expect. Cameron so skillfully takes you into Pickton's bleak, grimy, filthy, disgusting world that I found myself needing to take a break from time to time.
This exhaustive, thorough account of Pickton's origins and his crimes was heartwrenching but always interesting. I can't even imagine what the author went through writing it. She does an amazing job of bringing the victims back to life, showing that they were women who were loved by many, and who are missed. She shows the humanity and community of a neighbourhood often written off as "Canada's poorest." The people who work there, the support and camaraderie--the women who vanished were so much more than sex workers, drug addicts and runaways. They had children. They WERE someone's children. What Pickton did to them--and infuriatingly, got away with for so many years--was evil in the extreme.
It saddens me that we no longer mention these crimes, or talk about these women. In the US, there are still endless documentaries and blogs about the Green River Killer, but Pickton--who murdered 49 women and brutally assaulted at least one other--is rarely spoken of. And how in the hell did he get away with second-degree murder charges? Whoever heard of a SERIAL KILLER being charged with SECOND-degree murder? How much more intentional can you get? I still don't understand this.
Cameron also does a fantastic job explaining the politics of the RCMP and, most especially, the Vancouver Police Department, and the seething resentment many of his colleagues had for an especially bright, talented detective. If only his own people had listened to him, Pickton would have been stopped years earlier.
The author details the exhaustive work done by the forensics team on the Pickton farm, and paints a vivid picture of how dangerous and horrific the work was, but also the humanity and spirit of those who spent days, months, and years sifting through unimaginable muck, searching for fragments of bone. The memorial service they had for the women moved me to tears. For the first time, I really understood how heroic my forensic anthropologist friend and the rest of the team had been.
I did wonder how Cameron got away with using so much of other reporters' writing in the book, but in the acknowledgements, it's clear they were active contributors and voluntarily participated in the work.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys true crime, but be forewarned--you have a long, bleak road ahead. Let's remember these women, who were taken from their families much too soon.
April 11, 2019
4.5 Stars!
One of the many pleasures of reading is stumbling upon an unknown author, of an unknown book on an unknown subject, so that everything about it is fresh and comes with little to no baggage or expectations and so you are free to discover and form your own opinions as you go along.
This book sheds light on the horrendous crimes of Robert William Pickton, Canada’s worst serial killer, believed to have murdered between 6 and 49 women. What this book does not do is reflect well on the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), the court of British Columbia or the judicial system of Canada. The police force at the time comes across like a deeply ignorant boys club who had forged a culture of shallow, sexist and lazy policing. Steered by a weak, clueless leadership and bullying Neanderthals deeply suspicious of progressive technology.
Most of the victims fall into a depressingly familiar pattern, abusive homes, neglectful parents, adoption, early death of one or more parent, foster homes, falling in with a bad boyfriend who introduces them to hard drugs and pimps them out. Cameron humanises the women, making them more than just murdered, junkie prostitutes. She makes an effort to show that they were more than that, showing us that they were someone’s mother, daughter or sister and more than just the problems that they had gotten into or found themselves in.
There are many strange and genuinely unbelievable aspects surrounding the law enforcements and the workings of the law and the decisions made by those in power in here that confuse, bewilder and madden. I am just a reader and I found it upsetting to read, so god knows how that must have felt for the family of the victims.
For a long time the VPD repeatedly and strongly denied the possibility of there being a serial killer in Vancouver. Not only were they wrong, but at one stage there were actually at least two active serial killers in the area murdering prostitutes. Since the VPD were so disdainful of the victims and reluctant to do their job, the desperate and ever growing numbers of family members of the victims had to go to the media instead, who took a far greater interest.
One of the more bizarre aspects of the investigation is that they had the services of Kim Rossmo, he had become the first ever Canadian to obtain a PhD in criminology and had also developed a type of geographic profiling software, which soon resulted in him being recognised and sought out throughout the world. Not just in North America and Europe, but as far away as Singapore and Australia. He was paid to train and lecture to many other forces throughout the world. He had told the VPD that he believed a serial killer was on the loose and that the police should warn the public, but instead of taking his advice, they took umbrage at him for trying to tell them how to do their job and eventually sacked him. This is a man who was lauded globally for his expertise and yet within his own parochial unit he was bullied, victimised and eventually sacked by his own force at a time when he was needed most?...
In spite of the serial killer being caught at one point, literally red handed and covered in blood, in 1997 after one woman narrowly survived after being stabbed repeatedly. He still managed to wriggle out of it, due to being able to afford an expensive lawyer and of course due to the ineptitude and disinterest of the VPD. It appeared that they were so invested in self-sabotaging a member of their own investigation that there was little time and effort left to put towards doing the job that they were paid for. Ultimately the VPD’s inactions and campaign against Kim Rossmo and their failure to take his professional advice, resulted in many more needless deaths, all in it was quite a high price to pay in order to try and prove some petty point.
What prevailed over the following four years after the attempted murder in 1997 was nothing short of a breath taking lesson in utter incompetence and ineptitude. A force that was under staffed, over worked and clearly incapable of doing its job properly, which resulted in the needless deaths of many more women. It emerged that if someone went missing from the Downtown Eastside, their case was not fully investigated, which begs the question if the Vancouver police weren’t doing their job, then what exactly were they doing?...“I’m an aggressive, white, middle-class woman and I couldn’t make myself heard. It makes you wonder how many other women have gone missing and their relatives just gave up.” said one family member of one of the many victims.
“Don’t worry, she is probably off partying” the officer on the other end of the phone told one concerned family member of another victim. One of the receptionists told her, “just junkies and hookers; don’t waste our time.” This was the attitude, in spite of the fact that no less than 13 women had gone missing from the exact same area during the previous year?...Clearly missing women working as prostitutes, most with drug problems didn’t count as proper people in the eyes of the law.
Even though Pickton almost murdered a woman in 1997 and he had a large remote property with pigs (known to eat human remains) no one up in the higher echelons of the system believed that his property might be worth investigating further?...In fact it took until Feb 2002 for the VPD to search the premises and even then that was for unlicensed guns on information given to them by an informant. They literally stumbled upon the evidence by accident.
We learn all about Pickton’s farm. As well as operating as a remote slaughterhouse, the farm became a chop shop in the early 80s, in cahoots with biker gangs and other low-level criminals. The brothers also staged their own illegal cockfights on the premises, which proved to be incredibly lucrative. They eventually went onto open up their own bar/club of sorts, Piggy’s Palace, which on one occasion held 1700 people until it was shut down by the fire marshal and eventually closed down for good by the authorities.
Even when the forensic team were discovering the gristly remains on the property the incompetence and mismanagement continued at the most important levels. In spite of the team highlighting their concern about human remains possibly being repackaged and sold as meat to the members of the public back in Jan 2001 it took the relevant authorities until March 2004 before they issued a health warning. This in spite of there being serious risks of Hep C, HIV and other nasty viruses to consider.
Again the incompetence and crass insensitivity of the relevant authorities was in play during the court room too, one example is in the case of Marilyn Kraft, when it was revealed to her that parts of her step daughter’s body had turned up in hamburger patties and the dreadful way in which this was presented to her and the lack of pre-warning or help afterwards is disgusting. She was not the only family member of the victims treated in such a way. And the incompetence of the law was not finished either.
Like most books like this it elicits a conflicting sense of emotions, which of course makes them so popular and compelling. On one hand the details can be incredibly graphic and disturbing, with remains being divided into “mechanical” and “biological”, and talk of bone pits and bones being disarticulated don’t always make for comfortable reading, then there are some of the other terms like Adipocere: the brown fatty, wax like substance that forms on dead animal tissues in response to moisture. And then there is talk of remains containing DNA-rich pulp. You get the picture.
So overall this was a pretty fascinating read, Cameron has turned a fairly complicated case into a clearly presented piece of work that makes for really immersive reading. At just over 700 pages long this is a bit of a door stop, but at no point does it drag or feel over written and that in itself is testament to the quality of the writing.
May 6, 2014
“On the Farm" gives readers an inside look at the people whose lives were affected by the Pickton murders. Robert “Willie" Pickton was convicted of 6 murders, accused in dozens of others and suspected of having killed almost fifty women. The book does a good job of filling in the blanks left by the publication ban placed over the proceedings but doesn't give readers familiar with the case any further insight into the man who could be Canada's most prolific serial killer.
Stevie Cameron takes great pains in introducing her readers to the victims - a process I found painful to read. I had hoped that “On the Farm" might illuminate more of the dark corners in Pickton himself and render the monster in more detail and not focus so much on the backgrounds of the women he killed. Frankly, I found these details rather boring and didn't need to have the women fleshed out. Media covergae leading up to the original trual made it clear that Pickton had preyed on the drug addicted prostitutes haunting Vancouver's Downtown East Side, using hundreds of pages to illustrate their inherent worth was unnecessary. Any murdered human being, no matter their sex, circumstances or occupation, is a tragedy plain and simple. More focus on the bunglings and infighting of so-called law enforcement officials would have made for a more sensational read.
Still, I did read the whole book even though it wasn't the page turner I expected. I just wish I hadn't paid for it - save your money and borrow “On the Farm" from someone who hasn't already fed it to their pigs.
Stevie Cameron takes great pains in introducing her readers to the victims - a process I found painful to read. I had hoped that “On the Farm" might illuminate more of the dark corners in Pickton himself and render the monster in more detail and not focus so much on the backgrounds of the women he killed. Frankly, I found these details rather boring and didn't need to have the women fleshed out. Media covergae leading up to the original trual made it clear that Pickton had preyed on the drug addicted prostitutes haunting Vancouver's Downtown East Side, using hundreds of pages to illustrate their inherent worth was unnecessary. Any murdered human being, no matter their sex, circumstances or occupation, is a tragedy plain and simple. More focus on the bunglings and infighting of so-called law enforcement officials would have made for a more sensational read.
Still, I did read the whole book even though it wasn't the page turner I expected. I just wish I hadn't paid for it - save your money and borrow “On the Farm" from someone who hasn't already fed it to their pigs.
December 22, 2020
On the Farm by Stevie Cameron tells the haunting and unbelievable tale of Canadian serial killer, Robert William Pickton and the tragic story of his victims including Sereena Abotsway, Mona Lee Wilson and Brenda Ann Wolfe. Based in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Robert Pickton was a pig farmer who used money that he had inherited to lure in and brutally murder women, most of whom were sex workers struggling with drug addiction. Though Pickton was convicted of the second-degree murders of six women and the deaths of twenty additional women, he claimed that he hard murdered at least 40 women. Following the case for over a decade and using courthouse reports, interview transcripts, news reports and first hadn't reports, Cameron organizes the extensive and gruesome details of this serial killer's background and deadly impact.
On the Farm is by far one of my favourite pieces of true crime literature of all time. As a Canadian, this story is one that has haunted and perplexed our nation. The book is well-written, logically organized and engaging from cover to cover, making this harrowing, very detailed and nuanced story easier to follow. The book was quite long, however, many of those pages were used to unpack the background stories on the women in the story and portray their humanity and dynamism.
On the Farm is by far one of my favourite pieces of true crime literature of all time. As a Canadian, this story is one that has haunted and perplexed our nation. The book is well-written, logically organized and engaging from cover to cover, making this harrowing, very detailed and nuanced story easier to follow. The book was quite long, however, many of those pages were used to unpack the background stories on the women in the story and portray their humanity and dynamism.
January 27, 2020
If you want to learn everything about Robert "Willie" Pickton and the horrible things he did, this book got you covered. 700 pages and never a dull moment. Heart breaking and maddening. People like this guy will make you think that the death penalty is actually a pretty good idea. Crazy guy, crazy story. But anyway, this is a great book. Super research, well written and hard to put down. So, with 700 pages, you may be in for staying up WAY past your bedtime on this one.
June 27, 2021
A timely and important read for today. Everyone should read this.
I would like to think we have grown as a society so that Indigenous women are not forgotten and that women of all walks of life deserve to be treated with dignity. There are many important lessons in this book and yet I am still left with so many questions.
💔 truly heartbreaking.
I would like to think we have grown as a society so that Indigenous women are not forgotten and that women of all walks of life deserve to be treated with dignity. There are many important lessons in this book and yet I am still left with so many questions.
💔 truly heartbreaking.
January 1, 2024
I appreciate focusing on the missing and murdered women's lives, often I feel like those stories go unnoticed. I feel though, that this book could have benefited from being more streamlined. There was a lot of information that was not pertinent to the story and or was repetitive that could have been edited out.
June 5, 2018
While parts of this were compelling, it was too long and gave too much detail, particularly into the police decisions and approaches. The cast of characters is enormous and it leads to tons of repetition and just grinding out of the facts. This was 700 pages that should have been 400.
June 24, 2024
Wow, I am at a loss for words. This was a heartbreaking book but I am forever glad that I took the time to read it.
If you are interested in learning more about Robert Pickton and the terrible crimes he committed, this book covers it all. Stevie Cameron is an incredibly knowledgeable author and I am truly impressed at how much she fit into this book. It covers Pickton’s childhood, the missing women, the investigation, and the jury. Cameron put a lot of effort into saying the names of the victims and learning as much as possible about them which is so important. They were not just drug addicts and/or prostitutes, they were determined and hardworking mothers, sisters, and/or cousins. Not a single victim deserved what happened to them.
Robert Pickton died on May 31, 2024 due to an assault from another inmate. And all I have to say to that is, karma’s a bitch, you should have known better.
If you are interested in learning more about Robert Pickton and the terrible crimes he committed, this book covers it all. Stevie Cameron is an incredibly knowledgeable author and I am truly impressed at how much she fit into this book. It covers Pickton’s childhood, the missing women, the investigation, and the jury. Cameron put a lot of effort into saying the names of the victims and learning as much as possible about them which is so important. They were not just drug addicts and/or prostitutes, they were determined and hardworking mothers, sisters, and/or cousins. Not a single victim deserved what happened to them.
Robert Pickton died on May 31, 2024 due to an assault from another inmate. And all I have to say to that is, karma’s a bitch, you should have known better.
January 18, 2025
Holy crow this book took me a long time to finish. A very lengthy and indepth read, but one of my favourite books of this nature. The author did a really good job at capturing a ton of information.
Had to take many breaks in the early parts of the book because it was so gruesome I’d feel sick reading it- TW for everything you’d expect- it’s intense.
Had to take many breaks in the early parts of the book because it was so gruesome I’d feel sick reading it- TW for everything you’d expect- it’s intense.
February 28, 2025
This book is huge, but engaging the whole way through. I really respect the way the women's stories were told and that they weren't just treated like victims; they were a full part of this account.
May 26, 2025
4.25 stars!
November 21, 2023
This was a great true crime story. I appreciate that the author dedicated much of the book to telling each victim’s story so thoroughly. The police force’s incompetency in this case is astounding.
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