That was the refrain of the day as the trial of the worst mass murder in Canadian history got underway. Robert Pickton, the pig farmer accused of murdering several dozen women at his farm was first arrested on February 22, 2002. A day that unfortunately was an important date in my world because it was the day that Ms. Thang was born. There we were on the way to meet our new family member, yet the news on the radio was unbelieveable.
The trial - nearly 5 years in preparation - has long rumoured to be a horrific display of the most intensely depraved human being to be known in our times. And today, the first day of the trial proved that 'we ain't seen nothing yet'.
Quoting the CBC:
They found two five-gallon laundry buckets stacked inside each other.
The buckets contained the skulls, hands and partial feet of two of the missing
women, Abotsway and Andrea Joesbury.
Police later discovered both heads had bullet wounds. As well, Joesbury's personal belongings were found on the Pickton property.Prevett also told the jury that the skull, hands and feet of another missing woman, Mona Wilson, were discovered in a plastic garbage can.
He said 14 human hand bones were also found at the farm. One was identified as that of Georgina Papin, another of the six alleged victims. A tooth was also discovered, and identified as that of Marnie Frey, who had also gone missing.
That, unfortunately is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more stories regarding what was displayed in court today. It caused one family member to break down, running as fast as she could for the door when the details of her relative's demise became public.
He's been charged with 26 murders but he claims 49. Says he had hoped to finish off at a round number like 50, but he got sloppy.
Reader advisory. I understand this is not for the weak of heart, but it occurs to me that by censoring our delicate sensibilities here, we do ourselves harm.
We SHOULD be sickened. We SHOULD be revolted, disgusted, offended and horrified. But to block ourselves away and not listen to the difficult words and details is to allow those women who lost their lives to further fall into the silence. To cleanse our world of the true details is to give power to the man who took their lives, and to trivialize the brutality that these women endured.
If we continue to bury our own heads in the proverbial sand, we only cause greater damage to our own reality.
