Butcher

by Gary C. King

His Goal: To Kill An "Even Fifty"
They called him "Uncle Willie." At night, Robert "Willie" Pickton visited the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The women he picked up never came back...

His Methods: Rape and Torture
For years, police built a long list of missing prostitutes, women at the edge of society. Some people claimed there was a serial killer. One detective lost his job for saying so. But investigators didn't have a single body...until someone found a skull sawed in half...

The Pig Farm Murders
On land that had made his family millions, on a squalid pig farm near a school, a condo development and a Starbucks, Robert Pickton ran a house of horrors for decades. Friends, neighbors and community leaders came and went, while Pickton committed debauchery, torture, and bloodletting rivaling the worst on record. What he did to his victims was unspeakable. What he did to the bodies was unimaginable. How he got away with it is the most shocking crime of all...

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Gary C. King is a freelance author and lecturer who has published more than 500 articles in true crime magazines in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is also the author of several true crime books including: Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer, Driven to Kill, Web of Deceit, Blind Rage, Savage Vengeance, An Early Grave, The Texas 7, Murder in Hollywood, Angels of Death, Stolen in the Night, Love, Lies, and Murder, An Almost Perfect Murder, Butcher, Rage, The Murder of Meredith Kercher, Crime Scene: True Stories of Crime and Detection, and Murder Most Foul: True Crime Stories of Murder and Mayhem.

Driven to Kill, the story of serial child killer Westley Allan Dodd's killing spree, was nominated for an Anthony Award in the Best True Crime Book category at Bouchercon 25.

Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer, details the bizarre case of Dayton Leroy Rogers, Oregon's worst serial killer. A German language edition of Blood Lust was published in 1995. Both Blood Lust and Driven to Kill were chosen as featured selections of Doubleday's True Crime Book Club.

King’s television appearances have included Entertainment Tonight, Larry King Live, Inside Edition, Court TV, MSNBC’s Headliners and Legends, E!, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Extra TV, and several other programs. He also frequently provides radio interviews and has given talks at libraries as well as organizations devoted to readers and writers interested in the genre of true crime.

After years of traditional publishing, King recently joined the growing ranks of indie authors.

Reviews

[LAURI CRUMLEY COATES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Count me among the many fans of Gary C. King. As an author, he meticulously researches the crimes he covers. I know that when I pick up one of his books, I will read more details than I will get anywhere else about the story. If you are a true crime junkie like me, you want to understand what the killer was thinking, and what makes him or her behave the way they do. Not that knowing the background of the killer gives him any excuse, of course; but as a student of psychology, I find it truly fascinating.

At any given time in the country, it is believed that there are numerous serial killers at work, many unknown, their crimes yet connected or possibly discovered. The tale of "Butcher" illustrates this point well. The crimes had been occuring for years, and while police felt sure that they were connected, it took quite a while for it all to come together.

King makes a point of including much information about the actual court case, photos, transcripts, etc. I feel that I have personally been in court for the cases he covers, and I can always count on one of his books to be the most thorough and detailed for information on the crime. I heartily recommend you add him to your must read list if you appreciate detail and in depth study of the criminal mind, law enforcement techniques, and victimology.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed many books by this author but I wouldn't include this one among his best work. Particularly troublesome is the "Interrogation" section; the killer stonewalls while being questioned by police and no information is collected, yet the section goes on for ten tiresome chapters.

[Nat PlainJanetheBookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it’s no On the Farm by Stevie Cameron, but over all it was a good read. I actually really enjoyed the inclusion of his interrogation and some court stuff. I didn’t enjoy some of the authors dramatics, the horrific events are drama enough, it doesn’t need any extra.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished it last night (Nov.17) I could not stop reading and was really emerged in the story.

One thing I wasn't too happy about was that in the first few pages you get to know already what happened, when he was caught , (who did it) I always like my books to be in a chronological time order especially in this case cause I did not know anything about it. Besides that I really enjoyed this book. I felt for the victims, was really angry with the cops (and even shocked) and disgusted with that dirty little man. He reminded me of Ed Gein. All in all a page turner. Can't wait for Gary C. King's next book The Murder of Meredith Kercher. (a case I also do not know anything about)

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good reportage on the breaking of the Willie Pickton case, but they didn't wait for him to go to trial to take this one to press, so a lot could not be discussed in here. I would have been happier if the book could at least have discussed more about the missing women and talk a little about which cases seemed to relate to Pickton in some way. This was good as far as it went.

[Jeanie]

Interesting and haunting

This one took me longer to finish than most books in this genre do, mainly because of the unfathomable grotesque nature of the crimes. I had to take a lot of breaks in attempts to avoid nightmares from the story. Before reading this book I'd only heard of the case in passing, so I began the book unsure what to expect. I doubt knowing more in advance would have helped. This was clearly messed up individual. I was hoping for a more current update at the end of the book. I'm curious enough to search for more info just to see if justice was served for more of Pickton's victims.

My biggest complaint with the book that docked a star was the repetitive parts. There are a lot of places that repeat information almost verbatim before going into a new detail. Cleaning that up could have resulted in a shorter book with much better flow to read. Still, I found it to be well researched and informative. If you are not familiar with the case, I do recommend reading the book, but expect to need to look further for more i for on how things turned out as this was published several years ago before the second trial for twenty more victims. Also, this one is not recommended for the squeamish.

[Bill reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first known victim vanished in 1978 and was identified in 1989. Lillian O'Dare was a drug addict and prostitute, excuse me, "sex worker." It would not be until 2002 that the Vancouver police would finally admit to the existence of a serial killer who had been active for at least twenty years. A fluke tip with regards to illegal weapons led to a search warrant which uncovered much more than the guns. At twenty months and $70 million it would become the longest and most expensive case in Canada's history. Heads, legs, arms and other body parts were discovered on Robert "Willie" Pickton's pig farm in buckets and a freezer. The man had a thing for hookers and spent massive amounts on them as a well paying customer. The girls tolerated the pungent pig farmer for the cash and drugs that he would provide them with. The police tallied up sixty-five missing sex workers as the final count. Willie is incarcerated and I was astounded at the extent of the illicit sex and drug culture of Vancouver. Butcher is a graphic and disturbing read.

[Natalie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative read

First book I have read by this author but definitely will not be my last. Information was well put together and easy to follow, clearly setting out the details of the case

[Alicia Impink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but hard to follow the time line of events as it's told all over the place. Really wish it were a bit more linear or organized better.

[Joana Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Butcher
by Gary C. King
ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-1934-2
ISBN-10: 0-7860-1934-4

King’s accounts were clear and left no room for hiding facts or twisting the truth. Instead he presented the facts of the story, and a great deal of information as well, and let the readers come to their conclusions. As a result I could finally understand just how a killer like Pickton could hunt in the same grounds for over and decade and continue on with seeming impunity. I found myself becoming disgusted with the obvious disregard that law enforcement viewed the continued disappearances of Pickton’s victims and their bumbling attempts at investigation. Their interrogation was truly laughable and the way he was eventually caught was purely luck. Very saddening.

Despite enjoying the book there were enough flaws present that kept me from awarding it a four-star rating. The biggest detracting factor was the way the book started off. While I thought it was wonderful that King fleshed out the stories of Pickton’s victims, thus making them real and human for readers, the way in which their stories was strung together and presented was initially jarring and confusing. The time line that the author attempts to build during the first ten or so chapters comes off choppy and can make it difficult for the reader to keep everything in focus. Especially since there is some chronological jumping around. While discussing the victims, specifically the older ones that have not yet had charges brought against Pickton for, King makes comments and references facts and later events that those not entirely familiar with the case will find confusing.

Given the fact that the Canadian authorities did a spectacularly awful job interviewing and interrogating Pickton, I’m not entirely sure why the author felt the need to dedicate so many chapters to the interrogation. I felt it would have been much better for King to give the readers brief glimpses of the interrogations, for the sole purpose of viewing the authorities poor abilities, and then conveying the information discovered in the author’s own words. The authorities’ methods and attempts read like a badly written B-movie and there was just no saving that section. As a result it dragged the novel down and detracted from King’s otherwise wonderful writing.

I must confess that I was also disappointed with the photos included in this book. The book is billed as having “16 pages of disturbing photos” and yet there wasn’t anything truly disturbing about the photos provided. The courtroom sketches of Pickton were haunting, yes, and the photos of some of the victims was saddening, but there was nothing out and out disturbing about them. In fact, they were all photos that could have been safely used on the front cover of a newspaper and probably have been. Not what I would expect to see in a true crime novel that purports to have “disturbing” photos.

For the most part, I found King’s Butcher to be a well-written account of serial killer Robert “Willie” Pickton that not only chronicled his crimes, the events around and leading up to his capture, the actions of the blundering authorities, but also explained and answered just how and why Pickton was able to continue his heinous acts unchecked for so long. I will likely be adding King’s other true crime novels to my reading list.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who may be just starting to read true crime - Gary C. King is one of the best. Before putting stock into any reviews you may read, read one of his books for yourself and that will be proof enough. Not only has he written many books, each one of his books that I've read have been very well researched, very well detailed, and he goes the extra mile. Butcher turned out to be no different and I'm not disappointed in the least.
I'm shocked that I didn't hear about this man, this case, before picking this book up. These murders occured over a span of decades in Vancouver and this man, Robert Pickton, has to be among the worst serial killers I've ever read about.
A lot of the time, with this kind of book, I enjoy reading about the victims and the murderer's past, everything leading up to the crime and the crime itself and I'll get a little bored by the time the court proceedings come along. This has never happened, as far as my memory allows with a King book and it didn't happen with this one.
Reading about the interrogation between police and Pickton was absolutely baffling. This had to be one of the high points of the book.
There are a few minor qualms I have - three times (that I noticed) King did repeat something he already told the reader, In all fairness I do have to point out that each time the repeat did go hand in hand with what was being talked about - it wasn't just shoved in for no reason and both times it was a relatively minor point. It just could have not gone in and been fine IMO.
There was one point, near the beginning of the book, around page 75 where King told about a comment from an employee at a Vancouver rendering plant where Pickton was known to take pig remains to be disposed of. Apparently one of the employyes who has contact with Pickton commented on his using his bare hands to manuever the barrels containing said remains. Obviously, this disgusted this man, hence his comment. Around page 75 King writes that another employee at the same plant "echoed" the comments of the first employee. The only problem is the "echoed" comments were again told to the reader and it was, word for word, the same exact comment as told by the first employee. it's obvious King got confused somewhere along the lines. Again, nothing big and certainly nothing that would take away from the book but something worth mentioning.

[Danie Tanaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was more into the background of Robert "Willie" Pickton than other books that focused exclusively on the background on his victims. As a person interested in the whole story I was really surprised that this was the only book that reported from rumor, fact, or whatever any information about the actual Serial Killer's background. Usually when you read a book on serial murder and true crime, you get a sense of who this person was or why they became what they did. I have yet to encounter another book on these events that dig into the past of the killer himself most interestingly which is pretty standard. We all want to know "why" even when there is no why. Some people are just born predators to the rest of us. So that's why I give this book five stars. Do I know the information is accurate? Well, there is no other source to turn to right now that says any different. But this book does honor the victims and gives them their due coverage. I won't say he in the least slighted these victims, these women this monster chose because they were easy pickings. Showing him to be a monster and despicable coward to the end who preyed on these psychologically sick and marginalized by society females, to scared to take on any one healthy or stronger than him. His crimes are the most demented and disgusting I've ever heard of. As a United States Citizen I oppose the death penalty. But what he did and got away with for probably far longer than anyone knows, I wonder why I oppose it. Especially upon reading an article that his siblings are actually SUING the police for destroying their farm. I think that very act shows callousness on both the sister and brother. How do you have the nerve to do that after what your brother did while the two you say you had no idea? Instead of making a 'profit' give to the city to memorialize the victims you callous people.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This case really tests ones mind. You go through many emotions. The main emotion I had is anger. I seldom condemn a police department but here it is justified. The RCMP should hang their heads. Years before this case broke they knew something was wrong. So many women just vanished of the streets. The pleas of family and friends of the missing went unheeded. Because these women were "Street Women". (how I HATE that term), not one person in authority gave a damn. To cover their ineptness they say how they worked so hard to get them justice. That is crap. There were too many chances for them to put a stop to it. They ignored the warnings and the calls went unheard. How dare they swear to protect and serve then turn their backs on the vulnerable ones.

I will probably have more to review about this later but for now I just want to scream.

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fucking freak. I've been on a true crime kick lately, and this dude has taken the cake so far. Robert Pickton is one sick puppy. A greasy, disgusting, millionaire pig farmer with a low IQ who lives like white trash and gives everyone money and drugs to keep being able to kill prostitutes and butcher them up and feed them to pigs. Fuuuuuuck.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the first five chapters or so, there was a lot of repetition, like the author had spent a lot of time between the chapters without going back and reading over them. But after it hit its stride, it just flies to the end.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The PAcific Northwest is a hotbed for serial killers, so I had heard the new stories when this case started breaking, but even that didn't prepare me for the details included in this book. This is an individual that is truly depraved, even more so than the Green River Killer. I enjoyed this book to the end that it gave a good insight into the mind of someone so sick. There was a bit of slow part in the middle about jailhouse interviews where it got a little repetitive, but the rest was enough to overcome that.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary C. King did an outstanding job in this book. Impressive writing with great detail, easy to follow. The way the police in this story are portrayed, reminds me of police in my town. I know of a couple of women that don't live their lives right and when they face serious problems, police don't want to help them, they just give a lecture or the run-around. Robert Pickton is one sick individual, with a shocking method of getting rid of the bodies. Anyone that likes to read true crime books about serial killers should read this one , you won't be disappointed.

[Karl Hardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read.

Great read.

This book as well as many others written by Gary C. King is very informative as well as captivating. Although it seems the investigation itself has left many openings without closure to the crimes committed. Mr King does a great job tying everything together. If you enjoy the true crime genre, then I would definitely recommend reading this book.

[Steve Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this book really left me hoping that someone else puts out a book on this case. Pretty average as far as true-crime goes ,seems that the writing itself kind of kept it from being a really good read. So-so decent overall .

[Tera (TheBookishAbyss) · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most horribly written books I have ever read.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually do not read many books like this. Wow! What a sick f**k!! My heart breaks for the women and their families. May Willie rot in Hell!!

[Lesli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish the book. Was written terribly. Facts and information were repeated throughout the book and it got tiring.