Notorious serial killer Robert Pickton has been hospitalized with critical injuries after a vicious prison attack in Quebec.
A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, the province’s police service, said the 74-year-old Pickton was assaulted by a 51-year-old inmate at around 5:15 p.m. ET on Sunday and airlifted to a Québec City hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The Correctional Service Canada (CSC) confirmed with CityNews that Pickton was the victim of a “major assault,” though the circumstances and his current condition are unknown.
“We can confirm that inmate Robert Pickton was involved in a major assault on May 19. This assault did not involve any of our staff,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “The safety and security of institutions is paramount, and an investigation into what occurred is currently underway.”
In a news release issued on Monday, the CSC said that the Sûreté du Québec is investigating the incident but did not name Pickton as the victim.
“The assailant was identified, and the appropriate actions have been taken,” the news release states. “In order to improve practices aimed at preventing this type of incident, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take the appropriate measures.”
Port-Cartier Institution is a maximum-security federal prison located about 600 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Pickton, who is 74, is serving a life sentence after his 2007 conviction for the murder of six women.
He was arrested in 2002 during a major investigation centering on the disappearance of dozens of vulnerable women, mostly from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
He was originally charged with 27 killings but 21 of the counts were stayed and never made it to trial.
The DNA of an additional six women was later found on his Port Coquitlam property.
Pickton was recently in the headlines as he became eligible to apply for day parole on February 22, prompting outrage from victims’ families and politicians like MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
“Most of these women and their families will never receive the justice they deserve,” said the Conservative MP for South Surrey-White Rock. “Monsters like him should only leave prison in a body bag.”
CityNews has reached out Corrections Services Canada for confirmation, along with Pickton’s Edmonton-based lawyer Ian Runkle.
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With files from Lucas Casaletto