There will be no second trial for Robert William Pickton on 20 additional murder counts if he is denied an appeal of his convictions for the murders of six women, British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal says.

Robert William Pickton, shown in a court sketch made during his trial, was sentenced in December to life in prison for six counts of second-degree murder.
(CBC)

Oppal said the decision is based on the public interest.

There would be no purpose in proceeding if Pickton loses his appeal because the former pig farmer would already be serving the maximum sentence of life with no parole for 25 years and is unlikely ever to get out of jail, Oppal said.

Oppal's comments came after family members of the dead women told CBC News on Monday that they had already received the information through B.C.'s victim services program, but were advised not to make the information public.

Some of the relatives of the women Pickton is accused of killing are upset at the possibility that he would not actually be tried in their deaths.

Pickton, a Port Coquitlam pig farmer, was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 26 women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Pickton was tried for slaying six of the 26 women and was convicted in December of second-degree murder on all six counts after an 11-month trial.

He was found guilty of killing Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Marnie Frey, Georgina Papin and Brenda Wolfe.

He was to be tried on the 20 remaining counts at a later date.

Relative says decision was anticipated

Lori Ellis, the sister-in-law of Carol Ellis, one of the dead women, said she believes the likelihood that there will be no second trial is related to what it would cost.

Estimates have pegged the cost of a second trial at as much as $100 million.

Another relative isn't surprised by the decision.

"We anticipated back then that they would not go on with a second trial if he was convicted on the first," Lilliane Beaudoin said.

Beaudoin is the sister of Diane Rock, a Welland, Ont., woman who Pickton is charged with murdering.

With files from the Canadian Press