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Robert Pickton is shown in his cell after his arrest in 2002 in animage taken from video released by B.C. Courts. (Canadian Press) A former sex worker says that almost two years before RobertPickton's arrest, she found herself sitting in a vehicle next tothe serial killer, who admitted to her he had killed women on hisfarm but when she reported the encounter to police, she wasdismissed. The sex worker was testifying Thursday at a public inquiry into thePickton investigation, where the Vancouver Police Departmentimmediately attempted to cast doubt on much of what she said,including her claim that Pickton confessed to killing sex workersand burying them on his property in Port Coquitlam. A lawyer for the force said there were no records of the call thewoman said she made to police and argued it never happened. The woman, who testified anonymously and sat in the witness boxwearing large dark sunglasses, told the inquiry she turned tostreet prostitution for about six months in 2000 to support heraddiction to crack cocaine and heroin. She said sometime in the fall of 2000, she was working the streetin Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, several kilometressouth of the notorious Downtown Eastside. A grey cube van approached her and she got inside, where sheencountered a man who propositioned her to come to a biker party athis farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C., the woman testified. Heard warning She told the inquiry she declined the offer because she had heard awarning at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre not to get into avehicle with a man offering to bring women to Port Coquitlam. "So when I had the conversation with Mr. Pickton, he had said, 'Doyou want to go out to the biker party,' and I said, 'No,' and hesaid, 'Why not?' and I said, 'Because I know what you're doing outthere -- these women are missing,"' the woman told the inquiry. "And he said, 'Yes, all of them are on my property, I killedthem."' The woman said she demanded to get out of the van and threatened togo to associates in the "criminal side of life" if he didn't lether go. She said she jumped out of the moving vehicle, which thensped away. She later phoned the police, she told the inquiry. "I reported it," she said. "I said, 'I've just gotten out of a man's car who's admitted to meto killing the women.' ... And they said, 'Basically, we don'tbelieve your story, and we're doing the best we can on keeping aneye on him."' Sean Hern, a lawyer for the Vancouver police, attempted to castdoubt on the woman's story, telling the inquiry his departmentcould not locate any records connected to such a call. "I can tell you that [the woman's] name has been searched in orderto identify any incident," said Hern. "I can only assume that if that call occurred and I'll argue andsuggest it didn't it must not have generated an incidentreport." Hern noted the woman referred to contacting "the task force," buthe said the RCMP-led joint missing women investigation known asProject Evenhanded wasn't launched until the following year. However, the woman never said she talked to the RCMP andacknowledged she didn't know which police department she reachedafter dialling 911. Hern neglected to mention the Vancouver policedepartment's own missing women review team was still up and runningin the fall of 2000. In recovery since 2000 The woman, who is 38, said she entered rehab in December 2000 andhas been clean ever since. She later went to school and is nowemployed, she said. The inquiry is examining why the Vancouver police and the RCMPfailed to catch Pickton as he was murdering sex workers in the late1990s and early 2000s. The inquiry has heard Pickton was well-known among women workingthe streets of Vancouver, and the former sex worker who testifiedThursday said she heard rumours about a pig farmer during herhalf-year in prostitution. "Through a group of women in the women's centre, they sat me downand told me what was happening with these women and where they hadgone," she said. "They said, 'No matter what, don't go out there,' and I rememberedthat." Bonnie Fournier, a street nurse who worked in a mobile van in theDowntown Eastside in the 1990s, said she, too, was familiar withPickton. "I dealt with people who were injured by Willie Pickton, but theywouldn't go to the police," said Fournier. "Why? Because theydidn't trust them." Pickton was arrested in February 2002. He was eventually convicted of six counts of second-degree murder. The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his property. He oncetold an undercover police officer that he killed 49. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China GSM Module , GPS GSM Tracker for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Edge Wireless Modem.
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