Safe to Drink Podcast Host (28:45)

What are Forever chemicals? And what if you discovered they were in your drinking water? This is the startling reality for residents of a New Hampshire town. Introducing Safe to Drink, a new four part podcast series investigating one of the largest contamination events in New Hampshire's history. It's produced by the Pulitzer Prize Finalist Document Team at New Hampshire Public Radio and hosted by me, Mara Hoplomisian, MHPR's climate change reporter. We take you inside a community that learns its water is contaminated with PFAS Forever chemicals, likely from a nearby Saint Gobain plant. While officials say the water is safe for most people, one resident digs deeper and uncovers a troubling history. Don't miss out. Follow Safe to Drink on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. All four episodes are out now.

Canadian True Crime Narrator (29:46)

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Canadian True Crime Narrator (31:10)

1999 had been ushered in with more disappearances. First was 22 year old Jacqueline McDonnell, who was born in Toronto but grew up in the Kootenays, a quiet mountainous region in southeastern British Columbia known for its small communities. Jacqueline was intelligent and well read, but she dropped out of high school when she became pregnant at age 18. She was said to have been a very attentive mother, but she got together with a man who had substance use disorder and she began using drugs herself. Jacqueline's daughter ended up living with her mother and she moved to the downtown east side. Jacqueline was a regular at the Wish Drop in Centre where she was described as bright and articulate with a small town friendliness. Just a few months later she vanished aged 22. Jacqueline MacDonald's blood would be found on handcuffs along with Robert Pickton's DNA in the headboard of his bed. Her DNA would also be found on an earring with other jewellery in his closet. When 31 year old Brenda Wolf disappeared from the downtown Eastside, she was working as a waitress and bouncer at the Balmoral Hotel where she was widely known as a strong, quiet presence. Brenda was a member of Kkvishtaha First Nation, the eldest of five children who grew up between Lethbridge and Calgary in Alberta in a family marked by instability. She spent much of her childhood living with her father's family while her mother struggled with toxic use of alcohol. Years later it came to light that Brenda had experienced sexual abuse during that time. Despite this, Brenda was known for her strength and creativity. She was a school badminton champion and later trained as a hairdresser, completing her certificate in 1991. At around that time, Brenda entered a common law relationship and became a mother to two daughters. While pregnant with her first daughter, she entered rehabilitation for substance use disorder. After moving to Vancouver in 96, her relationship became abusive. Brenda eventually fled to a shelter. For a time, Brenda lived in the metro Vancouver area, supporting her children and herself through social supports and sex work. According to her sister, Brenda was deeply compassionate and thoughtful and she loved fiercely. Her daughters were her greatest source of joy and she was known to love country music, jazz and dancing. But in early 99, she began using drugs again to dull her pain. She lost her housing and her daughters were placed in foster care. Brenda ended up on the downtown Eastside at Wish Drop In Centre. She was well liked, known as kind, soft spoken and someone who stood up for what is right and defended women when they were in trouble. Brenda Wolfe was last seen outside the Balmoral Hotel aged 31. All that remained of her would be found in a pig trough behind the slaughterhouse on the Picton farm. Half of her jawbone with five of her teeth. Brenda's DNA would also be found on a jacket in Robert Pickton's closet and on keys hidden in the loft of the farm workshop. Years later, one of Brenda's daughters would speak publicly about the harm caused by how her mother was portrayed after she disappeared. She asked for truth, dignity and respect, not just for her mother, but for all the women that were lost. Back at the farm. Andrew Bellwood had been chased off. Robert Pickton did not get the reaction he was looking looking for when he demonstrated what he was doing to sex workers. But Lyn Ellingson was allowed to stay, continuing to live in the mobile trailer with Robert. It was a transactional arrangement. Like many of these people, she was introduced to him by his gal pal, Gina Houston. They'd both been staying at a women's shelter after escaping violent relationships. Why 31 year old Gina didn't seek help from her pig farmer bestie is unclear. But the women bonded quickly and used drugs together. Lyn Ellingson would later testify that she'd been a star athlete in high school and won many trophies. But she got pregnant and gave birth to a baby three weeks after graduating. She couldn't cope with it and soon she was engaging in hazardous use of drugs and alcohol. Lin left her son with her parents by the time she met Gina Houston at the Women's Shelter in 1999, Lyn Ellingson was in a very tight spot. She was in her late 20s. She'd just left a violent relationship with nowhere else to go. She had no job and she owed $14,000 after a crash that resulted in a dangerous driving conviction. According to a court document, Gina Houston had an idea. She had a friend called Willy, a really nice guy who would be able to help. She took Lin over to the Picton farm and sure enough, Willy offered her some work so she could try to pay some of her debt down. That went well, and Lynn continued coming to the farm to do odd jobs, then stay behind for the free drugs and parties. After a while, Willy invited her to move into the spare bedroom of his mobile trailer home in exchange for cleaning it and a few other jobs. So Lynn Ellingson lived on the Picton farm for much of 1999. Willie paid for her alcohol, groceries, cigarettes and drugs, and gave her money from time to time. She would later testify there were a lot of people coming and going from the farm during this time. Lin also got used to the weekend butcher sessions. Willy and his associate Pat Casanova would go to the auctions to purchase animals, then spend Saturday and Sunday nights slaughtering them and butchering them for the week ahead. She described Pat Casanova as a competent butcher, just like Willie was. Some of the meat would go to their clients and other meat would be reserved for the famous barbecue pork they served at Piggy's Palace. But Lyn Ellingson was starting to become suspicious of Robert Picton. One day, according to on the Farm by Stevie Cameron, she summoned the courage to talk to his younger brother, David. She told him she wanted to ask him about rumours she'd heard human body parts and the freezer. She didn't mention Willie by name. David casually told her sure, and suggested they chat in the mobile trailer home. Once they walked inside, Lynn says David pushed her up against the wall and slapped her. She ran down the hallway into her room, but David followed her. She grabbed a vase with flowers in it and throw through it, smashing a window in the trailer. David casually walked away. The message had been received. The rumours were off limits after that. Willie warned Lin to stay inside the trailer as much as possible and out of his younger brother's way because David wanted her gone. Lyn Ellingson would later testify that one night Willie had to drive into the Metro Vancouver area to run an errand and asked her to go along, promising to give her money for drugs. Willie asked Lin if she minded if he picked up a girl. She told him she was fine with that. They drove around for a while, then stopped and a woman approached the passenger window. Willy asked her if she wanted to come back to the farm. The woman had seen Lin in the car and asked her if she was also going back to the farm. Lin told her yes. Clearly feeling a degree of safety, the woman got into the pickup truck. Linh would describe her as having long black hair, bangs and what she called chipmunk cheeks. Indigenous in appearance. Willy made a stop to purchase some crack cocaine and the two women smoked it together in the truck. As he drove to the farm. Lynn didn't see anyone else around when they arrived. The three of them went into Willy's trailer where she and the woman used more drugs. At some point, Willy asked who's going first. The woman with the long dark hair volunteered and went with him into his room. Lin went back to her own room and used more crack cocaine. Lin would testify that sometime later she heard a noise. Something sharp and sudden, like a scream. She went over to the kitchen window and could see a bright light coming from the slaughterhouse and barn. She assumed Robert was in his bedroom and yelled down the hallway for him but got no response. She was the only one in the mobile trailer. Linh walked over to the slaughterhouse to check it out. The closer she got, she started to notice an awful smell. Something overpowering. She pushed open the doors and saw something hanging from a chain right next to a table that had some several knives laid out on it. She saw Willie standing nearby, covered in blood, making the same motions he always did when butchering pigs, pulling entrails out of the carcass and placing them into a garbage can at the end of the table. Linh realised it was a human body hanging upside down. The toes were about at her eye level and she noticed red nail polish. She didn't see the woman's face, but she could see long black hair laid out on the table, pulled back like a horsetail. It was the indigenous woman they'd picked up earlier that night. Linh would later testify that she was high on crack cocaine, but she wasn't hallucinating. This all happened in a split second second. But Willy suddenly noticed her, grabbed her and pulled her further inside the barn. He made her look at the woman's body hanging on a chain. He told her that if she ever said anything to anyone, quote, you will be right beside her. Lynn would testify. She promised to stay quiet about what she'd Seen, she was terrified. She told Willy she only came over looking for money for more drugs. He handed her $100 and called her a cab. Linh claimed she spent the next few days getting high, then returned to the farm to pack her belongings. Her time at the Picton farm was over. It was around this time that Georgina Pappin vanished from the downtown east side. Aged 34, she had long, thick black hair and high cheekbones. Georgina Pappin was the fourth of nine children in a large, complicated family shaped by intergenerational trauma and poverty. Her family was Enoch Cree Nation from the Edmonton, Alberta area. Like so many Indigenous families, Georgina and her siblings were separated early in life, some placed in foster care and others sent to residential school. Despite this, the siblings made many attempts to stay close. Georgina was described as rambunctious and special. Among her many talents was drawing and singing. The siblings were eventually reunited in the same foster home, but the damage of those early years stayed with them. Georgina was abused in care and she ran away at age 12. By 14, she was in Las Vegas engaging in survival sex work. Her first child was born there. She left that child with the father's family. When she returned to Canada, Georgina engaged in hazardous substance use and drifted in and out of custody. During one stint after a robbery, she volunteered to help other incarcerated Indigenous women reconnect with their culture. She was known as Creative, a traditional dancer and beadworker who was warm and deeply connected to her Cree identity. She loved powwows, jewellery, the colour red and making bannock. Georgina had six more children and would be described as a loving and very involved mother. But she was plagued by the pain of her past. When her drug use escalated and her children were taken into care, she moved to the downtown east side. But she remained connected to her family. In March of 99, Georgina phoned her younger sister and asked to celebrate her birthday with her. That celebration never happened. The last confirmed sighting of Georgina Pappin was at a downtown Vancouver hotel that same month. She'd complained of chest pains and was diagnosed with pneumonia and substance use disorder. She spent a few days in hospital, but then she left abruptly, abandoning her IV pole in a bathroom. She was 34, 4 years old. Lyn Ellingson would indicate that Georgina Pappin was the Indigenous woman with the long dark hair and chipmunk cheeks, but she couldn't remember the exact date that this happened. The only thing that can be confirmed is that Georgina Pappin's hand bones would be later discovered under a platform in the slaughterhouse and Barnett A former long term employee of the Picton family would also report that he saw Georgina Pappin with Robert Picton in his pickup truck near a strip mall in Port Coquitlam. That employee's name was Scott Chubb. But like Lyn Ellingson, he couldn't remember the date or even the year. This came up repeatedly. Many of the people who witnessed things on the farm were using drugs, which made them more vulnerable to manipulation and also less able to recall events and details clearly and reliably. Scott Chubb had spent a lot of time on the Picton farm over the years, too. He didn't live there, but he'd been a truck driver for David Picton's demolition business and had also worked as security detail at Piggy's Palace. He knew about Robert Willie Picton's butchering skills. He also knew about the knife attack with Wendy. Everybody did. He'd heard the rumours. He was starting to suspect that Willie might have something to do with those missing sex workers from the downtown east side. But right now, Scott Chubb was broke. He dropped into the farm and asked Willie if he had any work. As they worked together to remove nails out of old wooden floorboards, Scott mentioned hearing that Lyn Ellingson had been evicted from the farm. What happened? Willy told him that Lyn had been blackmailing him and it was costing him a lot of money. Over $10,000 so far. In fact, Willie had a proposition for him. $1,000 to hurt Lyn Ellingson. He had just the method. Willy mentioned that he or someone he knew had taken a syringe of antifreeze or window washer fluid and had injected somebody with it. And they died right away. Willy described it as a good way to kill junkies because the police would think they'd just overdosed on heroin. They'd see the needle tracks and decide an autopsy wasn't needed. They're just junkies, right? Scott Chubb would testify that he needed the money, but that wasn't the job for him. The conversation stuck with him, though. So too did the fact that he'd seen several illegal firearms on the farm. In the laundry room of Robert's mobile trailer, he specifically remembered seeing a.44 Magnum handgun, a Mac 10 fully automatic pistol and a.38 calibre Browning semi automatic pistol. Willie actually let him borrow the Browning and even threw in some free ammunition. But scottchubb wouldn't be coming forward just yet. Lynn Ellingson remained utterly terrified. She stayed away from the Picton farm, but she did tell some of her friends and acquaintances, what she'd seen there that night. People talk. And eventually, bits and pieces of information made their way to the police. The main piece coming through, Ross Caldwell, a local bouncer and associate of Robert Picton. According to the final report for the missing women inquiry, Russ Caldwell had a history of drug use and some criminal background and was in custody at the RCMP Coquitlam detachment. On a separate matter, he happened to mention to police that a woman told him she'd walked in on Robert Willie Picton in his barn when he was, quote, skinning a woman like a pig. She told him that she didn't know human fat was yellow and she assumed the body had been put through the meat grinder. After that, Ross Caldwell also said that Willy had told him directly that if he ever, ever needed to dispose of a body, it could be done without a trace. He told the police that he believed Willie Picton was responsible for several of the missing sex workers from the downtown eastside. The RCMP had some discussion about what to do with this tip. It was consistent with what Bill Hiscox had told them, that Willy spoke of disposing bodies at the farm, including in his meat grinder. They interviewed Ross Caldwell several more times and gleaned some other pieces of information. Ross Caldwell had seen handcuffs between the mattresses when he was in Robert Pickton's trailer. He'd seen a hollowed out wall in that trailer where Robert hid illegal firearms. That it was well known that Robert had been holding illegal cock fights on his property every single week. In addition, another associate of Robert Pickton's had told him that human bodies had been put in large barrels that were shipped to a depot to be made into fertiliser. Ross Caldwell also told them he'd eaten dinner with Robert Pickton himself and believed the meat he'd been served was definitely not pig meat or any other color kind of meat he'd eaten before. It was incredibly disturbing yet bizarre information. So much so that the RCMP didn't know what to make of it. Ross Caldwell was a known drug user and they doubted that what he said was credible. Also, it was basically hearsay. But then another woman came forward to report. Report that she too had heard about a body hanging in a barn at the pig farm and that the murder had been committed by a man named Willie. This woman's name was Leah, and she showed up to a different RCMP detachment. She said Lyn Ellingson was her friend and she told her that she saw Willie gutting a woman that she believed he was responsible for killing sex workers and that someone Lynn knew had seen a woman's legs in one of defreezes. Leah also told the RCMP that Lyn Ellingson told her she'd seen women's IDs, earrings and other items, and that Willy hid illegal firearms in a compartment behind the wall. She also knew that Willy had been paying Lynn hush money to keep her quiet about what she'd say seen in the barn. Just to situate things geographically, the Picton farm was located out in port Coquitlam, about 40 minutes drive east of Vancouver, in an area under RCMP jurisdiction. Whereas the downtown Eastside and the missing women were under the jurisdiction of the Vancouver Police Department. And while there was some communication between agencies, it wasn't nearly enough to be meaningful. By this stage, Corporal Mike Connor, out at the Coquitlam rcmp, was leading the small investigation into Robert Picton, sparked by the Ross Caldwell tip. And they'd heard that Lyn Ellingson's former boyfriend, also an associate of Robert Pickton, had been telling others that Lyn was extorting money from Picton in return for staying quiet about what she'd seen on the farm. This former boyfriend's name is Ron Menard. And for context, he's the same one Lyn fled to the women's shelter to escape from, where she met Gina Houston. Almost everyone had some connection to the farm. Across several interviews with the RCMP during the summer of 99, Ron Menard confirmed that Robert Willie Pickton had been paying Lyn $500 a month, but he wouldn't say why. He also recalled Lin telling him she'd picked up a sex worker with Willy, and she, quote, couldn't believe how we finished her off like we did. But in another interview with RCMP investigators, Ron Menard denied hearing this. It turned out he was also the source of the comment about someone seeing body parts in the freezer. When asked about it, he told the RCMP he didn't see any body parts himself. Lin had told him it was Pat Casanova, Willie's butchering and barbecue pork partner, who saw them. Investigators concluded that Ron Menard knew more than he was admitting and may have been shielding others. They interviewed Pat Casanova, who insisted he hadn't seen any body parts in the freezers. The Filipino butcher told the police it wouldn't surprise him if Willie used sex workers, but he had no knowledge of it himself. This would later prove to be quite the lie. Pat Casanova also acknowledged that Willy was very worried that the police were talking to his friends about the missing women. It was all hearsay so far, but largely consistent hearsay. Investigators needed to speak directly to the source, Lynne Ellingson. They heard she was staying at a low rent hotel. During this time, there'd been intermittent surveillance operations happening with Robert Picton with several different law enforcement teams. The RCMP Coquitlam Detachment had already tried to install surveillance cameras to watch the farm, but the unusual layout of the property made it difficult. There were small surveillance operations by the RCMP Special O Unit and the Vancouver PD Strike Force, but low funding and resource constraints meant these operations were sporadic and inconsistent. But another pivotal moment happened the same month that the RCMP were investigating the Ross Caldwell tip. One surveillance team observed Robert Picton delivering 45 gallon drums to the West Coast Reduction Rendering plant before driving into the downtown Eastside. But then the surveillance team somehow lost track of him. This is relevant because, as you'll recall, the Ross Caldwell tip included several pieces of information that suggested human remains were being disposed of in barrels at a depot. Two weeks later, the surveillance team tailed Robert Pickton again as he stopped in at West Coast Reduction. Instead of thinking to investigate the contents of his barrels, they watched him dump his waste into the slurry, then followed him again as he drove into the downtown Eastside. Once again, they lost him. Even so, the police could have asked Management of West Coast Reduction to give them a heads up when he returned, but no such action was taken. The later inquiry would find that a dedicated surveillance strategy during that time period would likely have brought the investigation to a conclusion and saved many more lives.

Safe to Drink Podcast Host (59:08)

What are forever chemicals? And what if you discovered they were in your drinking water? This is the startling reality for residents of a New Hampshire town introducing Safe to Drink, a new four part podcast series investigating one of the largest contamination events in New Hampshire's history. It's produced by the Pulitzer Prize Finalist Document Team at New Hampshire Public Radio and hosted by me, Mara Hoplamazian, MHPR's climate change reporter. We take you inside a community that learns its water is contaminated with PFAS Forever chemicals, likely from a nearby Saint Gobain plant. While officials say the water is safe for most people, one resident digs deeper and uncovers a troubling history. Don't miss out. Follow Safe to Drink on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. All four episodes are out now.

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Canadian True Crime Narrator (61:21)

Out at Port Coquitlam. The RCMP also botched their interview of Lyn Ellingson. Corporal Mike Connor had planned a cautious approach because they didn't want to spook her or have her pass on sensitive information to Robert Pickton that could compromise other parts of the investigation, like the fact that she reportedly mentioned not knowing human fat was yellow. But the officers assigned to the interview strayed from the agreed approach and disclosed sensitive details they'd been told to hold back. According to the later inquiry, Lyn Ellingson flat out denied any knowledge of a homicide at the farm. She did confirm that Robert Pickton paid her money, but said it was for expenses. She denied anything related to extortion or hush payments. Officers tried again a few weeks later, but the damage was done. Lin grew agitated and repeated her denials. No further meaningful progress was made after that. The local investigative team was fractured. They didn't know whether to believe Lyn Ellingson's denials or Russ Caldwell's insistence about what she had told him. Some officers decided they were both right, and perhaps Lin might have hallucinated seeing that body. Corporal Connor went to visit a local butcher who confirmed that pig fat was white, not yellow. The butcher even asked this wouldn't be about Willie Picton, would it? Corporal Connor was taken aback, but there's no further information about this. What the police did know was that Lyn Ellingson was clearly very afraid of the Picton brothers. But they also wondered if she was denying these things because she didn't want to incriminate herself. Other officers thought she might be too crazy to believe the information that suggested Lynne was extorting Robert Pickton in exchange for keeping quiet. Should have alerted police to the fact that she had something over him, according to the later inquiry. And it was potential motive for not telling the truth to the police. And as it turned out, Lynne actually was extorting Robert Pickton. She was terrified of him. But her need for drug money outweighed that. The RCMP should have taken steps to apply for a search warrant of the the Picton property. Police were already long aware of the Picton Brothers association with the Hell's Angels, the illegal chop shop and weekly cock fights. Now they were hearing from multiple sources about illegal firearms and hiding places. That alone would have been enough to at least apply for a search warrant of Robert Pickton's mobile trailer without even needing to use the information about what was rumoured to be in the freezers, what might have happened in the slaughterhouse and barn and the reports of bloody clothes and women's ID on the farm. A draft had been started for a search warrant application, but the RCMP felt they still didn't have enough evidence. The later inquiry would conclude these repeated failures derailed the investigation into Robert Pickton at a critical moment. Corporal Connor was transferred to another area that month. Another mistake. That's when the Robert Pickton investigation started fizzling out. The decision to interview Robert Pickton himself as part of this investigation seems to have been an afterthought. The RCMP had been thinking about it, but they didn't actually start taking any action until at least a month after Lyn Ellingson's last interview. And it didn't go well. Two RCMP officers attempted to interview Robert Pickton at his farm, but he wasn't home. They phoned and left a message. Robert called back and said he was busy, but he promised to call back soon to arrange a meeting to clear the air. Another week went by. They phoned him again and asked him to come to the office. The 50 year old pig farmer said no. He wanted them to go to the farm. When they said no, he told them to call his younger brother because there's a lot of hot air around and it involves all of us. The RCMP dropped Robert and started trying to contact David instead. When they finally reached him, David Picton told them it wasn't a good time because he was taking advantage of the good weather and working late. He told them to try again when it was rainy. The fact that the police agreed to this and backed off would later be described as astonishing, to say the least. A month had gone by the rcmp tried several more times to reach Robert Pickton by phone, but he didn't return any of their calls. And then it was the holiday season and in that time more women vanished from the downtown east side. Wendy Crawford grew up moving between Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon in a family that struggled to make ends meet. She spent much of her teenage years in the Vancouver area and began to use drugs as a way to cope with ongoing physical pain. Wendy lived with several serious health conditions including diabetes and Crohn's disease, a debilitating inflammatory bowel disorder that causes chronic pain and fatigue. She was also diagnosed with schizophrenia and required regular medication. Despite these challenges, Wendy had a daughter and a son that she raised on her own. Living in a mobile home in Chilliwack, a city about an hour and a half drive from Vancouver. She did the best she could for her kids under difficult circumstances and always stayed in regular contact with her family, especially her sister. As Wendy's children grew older and became adults, she occasionally travelled to Vancouver's downtown Eastside to earn extra money. That's where she was last seen in late 99. She was 43 years old. Wendy Crawford's partial leg bone would be found in some manure in the piggery. The bone segment had a distinctive shape like it had been whittled or carved by human hands. Two days after Christmas, 28 year old Jennifer Lynn Ferminger disappeared. She was reportedly born in Thunder Bay, Ontario to indigenous parents. Jennifer was one of an estimated 20,000 indigenous children who survived what's now referred to as the sixties scoop. Taken from their family and placed with a white middle class family. It was one of several government strategies along with the residential school system designed to accelerate the westernisation of indigenous children. Jennifer was adopted by a family in St Catharines, Ontario, some 15 hours drive away from her family roots. Growing up she was known for her bright curiosity. She was an avid reader, a storyteller and someone who embraced the outdoors. She reportedly loved to go fly fishing with her family members. Her mother would describe her as a talented artist who loved to sing. But Jennifer reportedly struggled with questions about her indigenous identity, which was common for survivors of the sixties scoop. They often faced a multitude of challenges and long term impacts ranging from a loss of heritage, connection and cultural identity to low self esteem. Many adopted children didn't learn about their true heritage until later in life and many reported physical, emotional and sexual abuse from the families they were placed with. In the case of Jennifer Ferminger, there's no reports of this but when she was 18 years old, she left home in search of answers about who she really was. Somehow she ended up in British Columbia, living on the downtown Eastside. She gave birth to a son and was seen on various street corners engaging in survival sex work. But one day, Jennifer Firminger just wasn't there. She was 28 years old. Her blood would be found on multiple objects at the Picton farm, including a leather jacket in Robert Pickton's office, a hoodie in his laundry room, and on three places on an electric reciprocating saw in the slaughterhouse. Five women had disappeared from the Downtown Eastside in 1999, which was a huge decrease from the 11 women who vanished the the year before that. Many have later speculated that it might have been because Robert Pickton realised he was under surveillance. He was known to be intensely paranoid. But the women on the downtown east side did not believe for a second that the threat had lessened. They were still on high alert. Over New Year's, the Picton brothers put on one of their loud parties at Piggy's Palace. The city had tried in vain to have them shut down for several years for being completely unlicensed and illegal. So on New year's Eve of 1999, Robert was thrilled to be at Piggy's palace, getting away with it yet again. He would describe it as a big, beautiful party. People were having a grand time. It was the best time they ever had. And so much money was donated for kids, so, so much. He also described the police showing up as, quote, the biggest bust I've ever seen. There were 50 or 60 cars of cops. It seems these may have been the words of some someone steeped in narcissism and grandiosity, not reality. It was actually the fire marshals that shut Piggy's palace down that night for good. A court order warned that any future public events would trigger their arrests and regulators moved to strip the not for profit status from their small charity that was supposedly collecting the donations and passing them on. Piggy's palace was officially done. About a week later. In early January of 2000, one of the RCMP officers who'd been trying to contact Robert Pickton for an interview managed to speak with his associate, Gina Houston. By this point, Gina was the woman who enticed sex workers to go back to the Picton farm, targeting the women who were the most down on their luck and desperate. Gina promised the RCMP she would bring Robert into the office. About two weeks later, the police did not push back on this. They took no further action. This included preparing for a potential interview because they didn't think it would actually happen. So when Gina Houston rocked up to the office with Robert Pickton on the arranged date, the RCMP were caught off guard. Robert refused to speak to them without Gina there. They accepted that without question she was disruptive and intervened on his behalf. When they asked a question he didn't want to answer, he used her as a security blanket. Despite the seriousness of the investigation and the months of lead time, this interview was unplanned, unfocused and poorly handled. The investigators did not ask Robert any hard questions or appropriate follow up questions. For example, he was asked about the knife attack on Wendy more than three years earlier. He admitted that he was in possession of handcuffs, but wasn't asked any other questions about that. He also complained that the police still hadn't given him back the clothes they seized from him at the hospital. The RCMP did not know at the time that there was DNA from two missing women on those clothes and boots sitting in evidence storage because they hadn't been tested yet. This failed interview fell far below basic policing standards and had a devastating impact on the RCMP's small investigation into Robert Picton. According to the later inquiry, the investigation was almost dead after that. A few months later, one of the officers from the failed interviews with Lyn Ellingson decided to drop in on Willie as a kind of social call. This officer would later state that, quote, I had a real problem getting my head around the fact that somebody would want to kill a human being and hang them up and skin them. So I just wanted to meet him. His superior said he didn't see a problem with it. So this RCMP officer went to the Picton farm, found Robert and told him he was still a person of interest. Robert responded by complaining that it was Lyn Ellingson and Ross Caldwell's fault. They'd used him and taken advantage of his generosity. He insisted he was willing to do whatever it takes to clear his name. This visit would have told him he was still on the police's radar and may have renewed the target on other people's backs without gaining any meaningful information in return. Tiffany Louise Drew grew up on Vancouver island, surrounded by a large extended family she was deeply connected to. She loved swimming, camping and played on a championship softball team as a kid. Her family remembers her as tiny, less than 5ft tall. But what she lacked in height, she made up for with fierce independence. Tiffany gave birth to her first child when she was 15 years old, followed by two more by the time she was 20. As a young adult, she began using heroin and her substance use escalated. She left her children with her aunt and drifted to the downtown Eastside. Even then, she stayed in regular contact with her family. Tiffany often spent time at the Wish drop in centre with friends, socialising and doing her makeup, a small ritual that helped her maintain a sense of dignity and control. She was known to be immaculate about her appearance. By the year 2000, many of the sex workers on the downtown Eastside had developed a buddy system where they would look out for each other to keep safe. In March, Tiffany's buddy noticed her absence. Within hours, Tiffany Drew was 24 years old. Her DNA would be found on the Picton farm on a syringe filled with windshield wiper fluid. Meanwhile, at the Vancouver Police Department, Project Amelia had been dissolved. Detective Constable Laura Maschena had heard consistent, credible information pointing toward Robert Pickton, but didn't have the resources to pursue him properly. And because the women who were disappearing were marginalised, their cases didn't generate the kind of pressure that forces a department to act quickly and allocate the needed resources. In 2000, a new joint task force was created between key members of the Vancouver Police Department and the rcmp. Project Evenhanded. It was supposed to be a turning point. A better staffed interagency task force with a clear mandate determine whether a serial killer was responsible and evaluate all potential suspects. Leadership emphasised the need to avoid tunnel vision. So rather than prioritising the strongest existing suspect, Robert Picton, Project Evenhanded. Widened out. They spent months reviewing all the files and cross referencing, re examining the entire landscape of potential offenders connected to the downtown Eastside. But just like Project Amelia, this task force was affected by broader issues and administrative failures that plagued the Vancouver PD and the Missing Persons Office. Data had been entered inconsistently or not at all. There was inconsistent record keeping. The systems were archaic and disorganised. Understaffed officers were juggling multiple roles with inadequate supervision. Divisions weren't communicating to each other. Investigation was slow and there was almost no follow up on any leads. The later inquiry would find that project, even handed, failed to effectively coordinate with the Coquitlam rcmp, who had their own history with Picton. After investigating that Ross Caldwell tip, better information sharing could have made the significance of the file clearer. But Robert Picton was just one name among hundreds. By this point, geographic profiler Kim Rossmo was no longer with the vpd. After facing growing internal resistance, he'd been effectively pushed out. First reassigned to a role with no meaningful duties, and then his contract wasn't renewed. A public legal fight followed, which would reveal that as early as 1998 he had warned senior leadership that a serial predator was likely targeting women from the downtown Eastside and that those warnings were dismissed internally. While the department publicly downplayed the possibility, Rossmo took his skills and passion to a research role in Washington, D.C. as women continue to disappear in Vancouver, This series wraps up next week. We'll meet Robert Pickton's new female associate, the hostile and threatening Dinah Taylor, as his world begins to slowly close in. But when the police finally arrive at the pig farm with that search warrant, it won't be because they're looking for missing women or following leads from Project Even Handed. It would take the quick thinking instincts of a rookie RCMP officer to reveal the full horrors of what had been hidden on that farm for years. That's all coming up in Part four in a week. For the full list of resources, sources, research, studies and anything else you want to know about the podcast, see the show notes or visit canadiantruechrime ca we donate monthly to those facing injustice. Proceeds from this series are going to the Wish Drop in Centre Society, supporting street based sex workers on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside since 1984. Special thanks to Danielle Paradis for family outreach and additional research. Audio editing was by Crosby Audio and Eric Crosby voiced the disclaimer. Our senior producer is Lindsay Eldridge and Carol Weinberg is our script consultant. Research writing, narration and sound design was by me and the theme songs were composed by Way we talk of dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime episode. See you then.

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