UPDATE (Feb.22): The publisher of the book, Outskirts Press, says it has ceased publishing Pickton: In His Own Words.
It says it’s also asking Amazon to stop selling the book.
The company’s spokesperson would not tell Global News when the company received the transcript, when the decision to stop publishing the book was made or whether public pressure played a role in this decision.
A new self-published book claims to tell the story of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton “in his own words.”
Pickton: In His Own Words is a 144-page book published by Outskirts Press, a Colorado-based self-publishing company. The book is available for purchase on Amazon as well as the Barnes & Noble website.
The back cover of the book, authored by Michael Chilldres, reads:
Former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal — who led an extensive public inquiry into murdered and missing women in the province, mainly focused on Pickton — expressed dismay at the book’s publication.
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“It’s unfortunate that in this province we don’t have a law against a person profiting from his or her crimes, but that’s the way it is,” he said.
“We need to look forward to some legislation that would prevent something like this from happening in the future.”
The provincial government says they are appealing to Amazon to stop selling the book.
“We are taking this very seriously and investigating every means available to ensure that the families involved are protected from further harm and that Robert Pickton will not profit in any way from this book,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris in a statement.
“It is not right that a person who has caused so much harm and hurt so many people could profit from his behaviour.”
WATCH: Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale on government’s response to Robert Pickton publishing a book
A petition has also been started to ask Amazon to stop selling the book.
Pickton was arrested in 2002, setting off an exhaustive search for human remains on his farm in Port Coquitlam.
Investigators found the remains or DNA of 33 women.
Pickton was eventually convicted of six counts of second-degree murder, and prosecutors then stayed another 20 murder charges because the serial killer had already received the maximum sentence under the law. A 27th murder charge involving a woman referred to only as Jane Doe, whose remains were found on the property, was dropped.
No charges were ever laid in the deaths of six other women, whose remains or DNA were found on the farm.
Last year, a 631-page e-book purportedly written by convicted killer Paul Bernardo was sold on Amazon but it later vanished from the online retailer’s website.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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