NEW WESTMINSTER -- A euphoric Greg Garley cheered after getting the answer he'd been waiting for years -- Robert Pickton killed his foster sister Mona Wilson.
"We knew it. We knew that he was guilty. And now the province knows it. Now the whole world knows it," Garley told the The Canadian Press.
Rick Frey, left, father of victim Marnie Frey, and stepmother Lynn, centre, along with other unidentified family members take part in a prayer circle outside the B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, B.C. after Robert Pickton was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder.
Garley said his whole family is ecstatic at the convictions.
He and other family members filed into court shaking Sunday after word that a verdict was coming down.
Some of them fled in tears minutes later at news he was found guilty of killing Wilson and five others from Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside.
They gathered around a Christmas tree hung with 26 lace angels that had been erected sometime Friday night.
The angels represent the 20 women Pickton has been accused of killing and the six he has been found guilty of murdering -- Georgina Papin, Marnie Frey, Brenda Wolfe, Sereena Abotsway and Andrea Joesbury.
Unidentified family members take part in a prayer circle outside the B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, B.C. today after Robert Pickton was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder.
No one knew who put the tree there.
As a crush of reporters and photographers filled the courtyard, family members gathered in a circle for a candle-light vigil, wiping tears from their eyes and embracing one another.
Elaine Allen worked at a women's centre in the downtown and knew many of the 26 women.
She said they were so long overlooked and forgotten by society, but now are "starting to have their day of justice."
She read out a poem:
"She's just a junky, people say
"She's nothing, nobody sees her.
"She's a missing, lost and forgot girl.
"And today everybody sees her.
"She is found in an unmarked hole in the ground."
The group then played a song written for the women by award-winning Victoria poet Susan Musgrave.
The only dark spot for many was that Pickton was not found guilty of first-degree murder.
Jurors convicted him on the lesser second-degree, and while the conviction still means he'll serve a life sentence, it opens the door for Pickton to be eligible for parole after 10 years.
Pickton won't be sentenced until Tuesday.
Murray Watson, who was a friend of another woman Pickton is accused of killing, said the verdict was overwhelming.
Tensions were high at the courthouse as families and reporters waited through nearly 10 days of deliberations for a verdict.
The Crown's evidence was among the most grisly ever aired in a Canadian courtroom and families struggled as they listened to the evidence offered by the Crown.
Yet many family members and friends of the women endured the horrific testimony in order to be present at the trial.
The courtroom was full Sunday when the jury returned with its verdict.
The only empty seats in the courtroom were those reserved for Pickton's family. Those seats have remained vacant throughout the 11-month trial.
"At a moment like this your heart just goes out to the families," said Kim Kerr, director of the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association.
He said he didn't know the women personally but he recognized them from the neighbourhood.
"I hope this brings some closure to the families of these six women, but...." Kerr said, trailing off.
He called the verdict "interesting," adding that he expected guilty verdicts.
Pickton is scheduled to go on trial for the remaining 20 counts of murder at a later date but many are wondering whether the second trial will go ahead, given Sunday's surprising verdict.
The Canadian Press
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