Pickton never confessed to 6 murders
Updated Mon. Nov. 19 2007 5:50 PM ET

The Canadian Press

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. -- Robert Pickton didn't admit to killing women
and witnesses who suggest otherwise are liars who leave the Crown with
a failed case, his lawyers argued Monday.


Adrian Brooks opened the last phase of the marathon trial, beginning
the defence's final statement by urging jurors to keep and open mind
and reject the Crown's most damning allegations.


Brooks said the Crown has misinterpreted what Pickton said during two
interviews -- one with police officers and another with an undercover
cop placed in his cell.


"This is nothing like a confession, it is not a confession at all,''
said Brooks, part of a large team of lawyers handling Pickton's
defence.


During the trial, court heard Pickton indicated to the undercover
officer that he planned to commit one more murder to make it an even
50.


Court also heard Pickton told police interrogators he got "sloppy''
and planned to "shut it down.''


Pickton is currently on trial for killing six women from Vancouver's
drug-infested Downtown Eastside. He will stand trial at a later date
on a further 20 charges.


Brooks urged jurors to closely scrutinize the credibility of some
Crown witnesses who he said have no trouble lying.


"Some people can tell a lie and it just doesn't bother them at all,''
he said.


He used a PowerPoint presentation to summarize what the defence
believes are crucial problems with the testimony given by so-called
"key civilians'' -- people who worked or socialized with Pickton.


Brooks zeroed in on Scott Chubb, Andrew Bellwood and Lynn Ellingsen,
three witnesses who played a crucial role in the Crown's case because
of their damaging testimony.


Chubb testified Pickton once told him a good way to kill a junkie was
to inject her with windshield washer or radiator fluid.


Andrew Bellwood told the trial Pickton told him how he handcuffed
women from behind, killed and butchered them, then fed them to his
pigs.


Ellingsen testified she once walked into Pickton's slaughterhouse and
saw him butchering a woman hanging from a hook.


Brooks said it is crucial that jurors to assess their credibility,
including their backgrounds, whether they lied to police, whether
their evidence changed over time, their demeanour on the stand and
whether they lied to the jury.


He noted all were drug addicts and had criminal records.


Chubb was the man who initially brought police on to the Pickton's pig
farm property after telling police there were illegal guns there.


The subsequent police search turned up some illegal firearms but was
quickly abandoned when police found evidence connected to women who
had been reported missing over a period of several years.


"Look at his (Chubb) criminal background and see if that doesn't give
you a clear idea of him,'' said Brooks, standing in front of the jury,
referring occasionally to notes and going through key points on the
PowerPoint.


Brooks noted one key moment in Chubb's testimony when he denied making
a call to police to express worry about being a witness at the trial.


Chubb was forced to admit the call when a tape of it was played in
court.


"Sometimes, somebody can look you straight in the eye and lie and
that's Scott Chubb.


Brooks said Chubb's story about Pickton telling him a good way to kill
junkies was to inject them with windshield washer fluid was an affront
to common sense.


He said another forensic expert had said much, much more fluid than
was in the syringe police found in Pickton's trailer would be needed
to be toxic.


And Brooks reminded the jury that Chubb had almost forgot to mention
the syringe story during his testimony until the Crown lawyer paused
and asked him again him if had anything else to say.


"That's like an actor forgetting his lines,'' said Brooks.


Bellwood had a similar history of lying, Brooks said.


Bellwood testified that Pickton would handcuff women from behind on
his bed, strangle them with a wire he got from beneath his mattress,
take them to the adjacent pig slaughterhouse and dismember them.


But Brooks said Bellwood told several lies on the stand, including
that he had left a drug rehabilitation centre "on the road to
recovery'' when in fact he continued to use drugs.


Brooks pointed to other instances when Bellwood was in court facing
some charges and lied to the provincial court judge about his
employment and drug use.


He said the jurors are entitled to ignore all the evidence of Chubb
and Bellwood if they believe they are lying under oath.


The defence said Bellwood's story didn't make sense because he
testified that he ate a meal of pork chops with Pickton after the
accused had just told him the gruesome story.


And sex-trade workers, especially street-wise ones who are often
paranoid about their surroundings, would never allow a man to handcuff
them from behind, he said.


"You would do more than scratch your head,'' Brooks said to the jury
if they had heard such a story. "You'd say, `What kind of a
conversation is going on here?'''


"And you'd never eat pork chops,'' Brooks said indignantly. "It makes
no sense.''


Brooks said the defence will raise questions about Pickton's friends,
including Ellingsen, Pat Casanova and Dinah Taylor.


All three were arrested but never charged in the case.


The Crown and defence were scheduled to spend a day and a half each
delivering their final arguments but Brooks indicated Monday he may go
longer.


The jury is supposed to begin deliberations next Monday.


Outside the courtroom, the daughter of one of the women Pickton is
accused of murdering said the trial now entering its final phase has
made the past year "hell.''


"I've been going through so much pain and stuff, it's unbelievable,''
Brittney Frey said as an aboriginal drummer chanted behind her.


"They've been telling us it's going to come to an end and now finally
it's just coming to an end . . . I'm happy.''


Many of the women Pickton is accused of killing were aboriginal.


Activists from the Downtown Eastside were among those who lined up to
get a seat in the tiny suburban courtroom for the beginning of final
summations.


They say the neighbourhood hasn't improved despite the spotlight the
trial has shone on it.


Kim Kerr, who runs the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, said
he personally knew some of the women Pickton is accused of killing.


"It's a mistake if people believe the trial that's going on now means
that the women on the Downtown Eastside don't continue to be abused,''
Kerr said.


Skundaal, a Haida woman who uses only one name, said she wanted to
show support for the families of the women killed and for those that
are still being hurt.


"A lot of women are still being attacked,'' she said. "It has not
stopped at all. Women are still being violated.''


The start of Pickton's trial in January featured long lines of
spectators wanting to catch a glimpse of the man accused of being
Canada's worst serial killer.


But attendance dropped off sharply within weeks and the courtroom was
virtually empty, save for a handful of reporters, for most of the
trial.


On Monday, however, the lines were back and the courtroom filled.