Family wants new murder charge laid against Robert Pickton after remains returned

VANCOUVER – The family of a victim whose DNA was found on Robert Pickton’s farm in 2003 want a new murder charge laid against him.

Michele Pineault’s daughter Stephanie Lane was last seen in 1997 and her DNA was found on the Port Coquitlam farm.

The family says while the remains were found 12 years ago, they were placed in RCMP storage in 2010, and then transferred to storage facilities of the BC Coroners Service.

Pineault’s family was notified by the coroner in August, 2014, but did not receive details until September, 2014.

Pickton was never charged in her case and Pineault says she was told at the time that there wasn’t enough evidence.

“We went to meet with the coroner on Sept. 3,” she says, “and in conversation with them, was told over and over it was an oversight. The RCMP had the remains from 2003, when they were sifting through the farm, two pieces of our daughter’s vertebrae was found.”

The BC Coroners Service did issue a statement following the press conference saying in part:

The BC Coroners Service wishes to emphasize that the remains discussed in a Jan. 28, 2015, news conference by the mother of victim Stephanie Lane do not represent new evidence.

The remains returned to Ms. Lane’s family were fully known and identified as part of the original police investigation.

The remains were stored properly and securely, using facilities of the RCMP and the BC Coroners Service, from the time of their recovery until they were repatriated to Ms. Lane’s family in September 2014.

The sole issue is the unfortunate delay in returning the remains to the family of Ms. Lane, following completion of the criminal proceedings against Mr. Pickton. The BC Coroners Service regrets it cannot explain this delay as none of the current senior management team were in their positions at the time, and those who were involved are no longer employed by the BC Coroners Service.

The BC Coroners Service has apologized to the family of Ms. Lane, and does continue to extend its sincere apologies for any further stress caused them by the delay.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: The BC Coroners Service wishes to emphasize that the remains discussed in a Jan. 28, 2015, news conference by the mother of victim Stephanie Lane do not represent new evidence.</p><p>The remains returned to Ms. Lane's family were fully known and identified as part of the original police investigation.</p><p>The remains were stored properly and securely, using facilities of the RCMP and the BC Coroners Service, from the time of their recovery until they were repatriated to Ms. Lane's family in September 2014.</p><p>The sole issue is the unfortunate delay in returning the remains to the family of Ms. Lane, following completion of the criminal proceedings against Mr. Pickton. The BC Coroners Service regrets it cannot explain this delay as none of the current senior management team were in their positions at the time, and those who were involved are no longer employed by the BC Coroners Service.</p><p>The BC Coroners Service has apologized to the family of Ms. Lane, and does continue to extend its sincere apologies for any further stress caused them by the delay.

Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six-counts of second-degree murder, in the deaths of six women. Twenty other charges were stayed, and six other cases never resulted in charges.