VANCOUVER - People across Canada are urging the Crown in British Columbia to proceed with a second trial on the 20 additional murder counts facing convicted serial killer Robert Pickton.
Pam Eyre, a plumber and resident of Ottawa, posted the petition on the Internet on New Year's Day and by late Thursday it already had more than 400 signatures.
Eyre said she is hoping the petition will draw several thousand signatures and persuade authorities to proceed with the remaining 20 first-degree murder counts against Pickton.
In December, a jury found the former pig farmer guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without being eligible to apply for parole for 25 years, minus the six years he has already spent in custody.
Eyre said she rejects comments she has heard or read in some circles that proceeding with a second trial would be pointless because the sentence would not change and the trial would be very costly.
She has also heard that some people want Port Coquitlam to be remembered for Terry Fox, the famous Marathon of Hope runner, and not Pickton.
"That one particularly angered me because it's really a question of justice," said Eyre.
"And they didn't consider money when they charged him originally. They didn't split the trial because of money and they shouldn't use those in any way as the deciding factors."
The judge at the Pickton trial decided in 2005 to separate the 26 charges into two trials.
The criminal justice branch of the Attorney General's Ministry must make a decision whether to stay the remaining charges, which means not to proceed, or have Pickton tried on some or all of the remaining counts at a later date.
"My posting the petition at this time was a way to step up and say we can't tolerate it (a stay). To me it's not justice."
Crown spokesman Geoff Gaul said no decision has been made and the Crown is now proceeding as if there would be another trial.
"The decision hasn't been made," said Gaul. "The 20 counts are still active before the court. It's speculative to say whether they're going to be stayed or not."
The Crown's focus now is on "two fronts," he said.
"One is on the potential appeal and the second is the status of the other 20 and they are active before the B.C. Supreme Court."
Pickton was found guilty Dec. 9, meaning the defence must decide by next week whether it will appeal.
The decision whether to stay some or all of the 20 charges involves the same criteria the Crown uses when it decides whether to lay a charge, said Gaul.
The criminal justice branch must determine whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction and whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.
"We have to ensure that the prosecution is still viable on both fronts, evidentiary and public interest," said Gaul.
The online petition is at
