Pickton said friend involved in women's deaths, witness says
This story includes disturbing details
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 | 5:19 PM PT
CBC News
A friend of Robert William Pickton testified Wednesday that he told her he didn't kill any of the missing women, but that another friend of theirs was responsible for some of their deaths.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Marilyn Sandford, Gina Houston elaborated on a phone call she made to Pickton in December 2001 and a conversation they had in a car in February 2002.
Houston had already told the jury Tuesday that during the phone call, she heard a fight in the background.
She said that Pickton sounded upset, and was telling people to "stop that."
But she confirmed Wednesday that she also heard a woman screaming, and that Pickton shouted "stop it, not here."
Houston said the phone line went dead and she was worried about what was happening on the farm, so she sent her husband, Ross Contois, to investigate.
She said when he came back he "seemed a little off," and had what looked like a human bite mark on his calf.
Houston had already testified that she asked Pickton during a conversation in a car in February whether a woman named Mona was involved in the scuffle, and Pickton said she was.
Mona Wilson is among the six women Pickton is standing trial for killing.
Sandford asked Houston to elaborate on the conversation. "You said to him (Pickton), 'I know you didn't kill her so why don't we go straight to your lawyer tomorrow and I'll tell them what I heard on the phone that night,"' the defence lawyer said.
"Yes," answered Houston.
"Mr. Pickton explicitly said to you that day, the 20th of February, 'I did not kill Mona,' didn't he?" asked Sandford.
"Yes," said Houston.
"You asked him, 'Did you kill any of them?' and he answered 'No,'" said Sandford.
"That's correct," said Houston.
The witness testified that Pickton told her during the car conversation that Dinah Taylor "was responsible" for some of the killings. She said that she and Pickton called Taylor from the car.
The jury has already heard that Taylor, a sex trade worker and friend of Pickton's, was arrested in connection to the murders but never charged.
Houston said she and Pickton called Taylor from his car that night and talked with her.
"Willy told me that she would do the right thing when she came back," Houston testified. "He said she would take responsibility for what she said she would take responsibility for."
"Did he say anything else?" asked Sandford.
"She was responsible for three or four," said Houston.
On Tuesday, Houston testified that Pickton told her there were several bodies on his pig farm, then suggested they both commit suicide.
Pickton has been charged in the deaths of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Marnie Frey and Georgina Papin, all women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside between 1997 and 2001.
Pickton is accused in the deaths of 26 women in total. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Another trial on the 20 other charges will be held later.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
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