Robert Pickton will first be tried on six counts of murder after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday that the 26 first-degree murder charges against him be split into two parts.

Justice James Williams said trying all 26 murder counts at once would impose an unreasonable burden on the jury because of the anticipated length of the trial, the volume and nature of the evidence, and the complexity of the legal tasks.

Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey. (Clockwise from top-left)
(CBC)

Williams said the prosecution could still seek a separate trial or trials for Pickton on the other 20 murder counts. The victims disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside over several years.

He said severing the counts will maximize the chances that the case will proceed properly without a mistrial.

The six counts the judge said should be tried together are the murders of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.

This is an artist's drawing of accused serial killer Robert Pickton as he appeared in court in Port Coquitlam, B.C., on Jan. 9, 2003.
(Jane Wolsak/Canadian Press)

Frey's mother, Lynn, told CBC she was pleased with the ruling. 

"Knowing that Marnie hopefully will be one of the first six in January, I feel like getting on the bridge and screaming," Frey said. "I'm very happy."

Williams said the evidence in the six cases is "materially different" from the other cases.

Crown ponders next move

Geoffrey Gaul, a spokesman for the Crown, said his office will have to consider its next move.

"Which should go first? Should we go to trial with those six counts or should we look at the other 20 and should we proceed on those 20 or should we proceed on a number of those 20?

"Those are discretionary calls that the prosecution will make."

The defence had raised concerns that a 26-count trial could take up to two years, be too complex and possibly lead to a mistrial.

But Kate Gibson of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Women in Need Safe House Society said some family members are likely to be angry at the decision.

"What about the other 20?" she asked.

"Do they become less significant? Does it send a message that they are less significant and therefore don't count?"

Police descended on pig farm

Pickton was arrested in February 2002 after the RCMP descended on his pig farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam.

Pickton was originally charged with 15 counts of first-degree murder, but another 12 charges were laid in May 2005. One of the charges was later thrown out.

His trial began in January, but the voir dire phase of the trial, in which lawyers argue over what evidence will be admissible, is still continuing.

Jury selection is scheduled for December 2006.  It's expected 3,500 people will be called for jury duty, up susbstantially from an average of about 500 in other murder cases.

B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said that Wednesday's decision should make the process of finding members of the public who could serve as jurors easier.

With files from the Canadian Press