Robert Pickton: Serial Killer Found Guilty

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Verdicts:
Guilty of all six counts of 2nd-degree murders of
Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Georgina Papin, Brenda Wolfe, Marnie
Frey,and Andrea Joesbury. He will receive concurrent life sentences.

The only question remaining is the possibility of parole, though the number
of convictions may make Pickton's parole, in effect, impossible.

These verdicts seal Pickton's place in history as Canada's most prolific serial killer.

The crown wanted first-degree murder convictions, but instead received
2nd-degree. They're probably disappointed, and the jury apparently
didn't think that the evidence presented warranted a first-degree
verdict.

COMMENTARY: In effect, six 2nd-degree convicitons is the
same as if the crown gotten its wish: parole is astronomically
unlikely. 

(updating tags to reflect the names of the women Pickton has been convicted of murdering) 

Update:
The possibility remains of a trial for the remaining twenty counts of
murder. Family members will no doubt want such a trial.

Update: Orato's Trisha Baptie,
a former sex worker who has also been covering this trial for
NowPublic, is giving a great interview on CBC right now. She's really
emotional about the outcome, and keeping it really articulate and
clear. CBC is also interviewing Pauline Vankoll,
whom Pickton once tried to pick up. The interviewer seems somehow
surprised that Pickton didn't appear to be as malicious as he was.
(Should come as no surprise that he appeared normal, or he'd not have
gotten away with these crimes for so long)
Vankoll is saying that encounters with men such as Pickton are only some of the risks in the life of a sex worker.

Update: The talking heads are going over possible appeal scenarios, and CBC cut to coverage of a ceremony being held by the victims: candles lit for the six victims for whom Pickton was sentenced, and for the women in the other 20 counts.
[This is very moving: these are women whom society-at-large didn't give a sh*t about until this guy was in the news for killing them; had he not been caught, we'd never even know these women's names]

They're trying to find batteries for the portable music player with which to play a song commemorating the victims; I hear laughter and tears at the same time. Wait, they sorted it out. The music is playing as these people stand in a circle holding candles, in tears, surrounded by a phalanx of TV cameras and photographers.
Reading out the names of the murdered women: Sereena Abotsway, Georgina Papin, Mona Wilson, Brenda Wolfe, Andrea Joesbury, Marnie Frey, Jacqueline McDonell, Dianne Rock, Heather Bottomley, Jennifer Furminger, Patricia Johnson, Helen Hallmark, Tanya Holyk, Heather Chinnock, Sherry Irving, Inga Hall, Sarah de Vries, Cynthia Feliks, Tiffany Drew, Angela Jardine, Diana Melnick, Debra Jones, Wendy Crawford, Kerry Koski, Andrea Borhaven, Cara Ellis, and one woman as yet unidentified. [Spellchecked via Wikipedia]

EARLIER: The jury is expected to deliver its verdict in the trial of Robert William Pickton, accused of murdering twenty-six women and hiding their remains on his property outside of Vancouver. We'll be updating this article live. Though the range of evidence against Pickton has been ponderous, the defense insists that the evidence presented does not link up to positively convict. This is a very, very emotional case, tapping into human nature, how we see our neighbors, how women are treated, the Downtown East Side residents' relationship to the rest of the city, and even British Columbia's image of itself. The vicitms' families will settle for nothing less than a conviction of first-degree murder, though any number of verdicts are possible.

Update: the media is assembling outside the courtroom; the reading fo the verdict will be delayed until everyone's ready, evidently. (I'm at work, watching this on CBC and Global)

Additional coverage from Barry Artiste and mbaumgartner.