On the Farm cover art

On the Farm

Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women

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On the Farm

By: Stevie Cameron
Narrated by: Erin Moon
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About this listen

Verteran investigative journalist Stevie Cameron first began following the story of missing women in 1998, when the odd newspaper piece appeared chronicling the disappearances of drug-addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. It was not until February 2002 that pig farmer Robert William Pickton would be arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, on six counts of second-degree murder. These counts were appealed and in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its conclusion. The guilty verdict was upheld, and finally this unprecedented tale of true crime could be told.

Covering the case of one of North America's most prolific serial killers gave Stevie Cameron access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police—and not in the transcripts of their interviews with Pickton—such as from Pickton's long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him. Cameron uncovers what was behind law enforcement's refusal to believe that a serial killer was at work.

©2010 Stevie Cameron (P)2022 Vintage Canada Murder True Crime Exciting Scary

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Critic reviews

National Bestseller

2011, Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction

2011, British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

2011, Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

“Rich with detail. . . . Should you buy this book and read it? Definitely.”—Neil Boyd, The Globe and Mail

"Stevie Cameron, who brought the art of political investigative journalism in Canada to new heights over the last three decades, has distinguished herself and her profession once again… [On the Farm] will surely remain a classic for generations of crime readers to come."—Winnipeg Free Press

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The story was gripping from start to finish. It went into so much depth and covered the personal lives of these lovely women who lost their lives to such a monster.
These women were no less deserving of a life than you or I. Because their lives didn't follow the norm, they were treated so badly, not only by Pickton, but by the police and justice system.
The story telling was great and the lady reading it gave a perfect performance. Giving the right amount of passion and empathy.
Listen to this and I'm sure you'll feel the same way as me.

Amazing

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I am surprised this story hasn't been one that I knew very much about being fro the UK. I first heard about Picton on a Crime Junkie podcast and did some further research from there.
This book goes into amazing detail about Picton and his family and farm. It covers the failures of the Vancouver Police and the RCMP and it examines how their internal politics and bias led to criminal incompetence and the total denial of a serial killer picking off women of the East Side.
This is an astonishing story and one which charts and reflects our society's lack of interest in marginalised drug addicted women.
Picton"s crimes are horribly brazen, hideously brutal and, if he werent so methodical, he would be considered crazed. He is clearly a sociopath without a conscious, a type of mission orientated serial killer targeting specific women either because he felt, correctly, that they were easy prey or that society would not miss them.
As another reviewer mentions there are parts of this book that are too long, too in-depth, and yes it's goes off into tangents perhaps unnecessarily but overall this can be forgiven for the important parts that are also covered in depth.
I loved how the author told in detail how the foresics were recovered and archeological dig was carried out and the lengths the police went to, to gather all the evidence. it's just a shame the money wasn't spent on saving these women from drugs before hand rather than convicting their killer (over £100 Millon was spent on the trial and collection of evidence).
A fascinating but truly gruesome read. And yes it is strongly suspected that Picton sold ground human flesh as meat to local people for several years before he was caught.
Also I loved the narrator, great voice and pitch.

Disturbing even for a true crime regular

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Enjoyed the story and the narrator’s voice. Everything was so detailed that it didn’t take much to imagine yourself being in the victims shoes. 25+ hours of listening. Well worth it

Encapsulating.

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Absolutely amazing, so interesting and so incredibly heartbreaking. The book delves into the lives of the women who tragically disappeared in a way that shows respect for them, something I find is a rarity in true crime. I cannot recommend this book enough and the narrator was utterly captivating.

Incredible book

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I've never heard such a massive true crime story in such meticulous detail. excellent

the detail is astonishing

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It was exhaustive and repetitive ad nauseam but at the same time informative and fair. I liked the most how respectful the author was to both the victims and their families and the killer himself. if you are after sensational, gory details this is not a book for you as there are only the necessary details of the murders and the circumstances.

Very respectful account

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Overall, this was a great listen. The story was jaw dropping and fascinating at times and it kept me hooked.
However, it was very long and could have been shortened considerably as the author went into detail about literally everything.
Not only the lives of the victims ( quite rightly) but also going back 2 or 3 generations in their families. Not necessary for the listener. I can see it was an attempt to give a fully rounded human face to the victims. It was a bit overdone though.
In the trial section, full biographies were provided for the defence and prosecution counsel, which again, was unnecessary. It really began to grate when I had to listen to the colour and style of all the outfits worn in court!
However, all that being said, the strength of the story overcame this, and it will remain with me for a long time.
Patience needed, but worth it I think.

A great listen

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an enormous amount of research and work was put in to this crucial work.
not only in to the history of each 'missing' woman but their friends and family and co-workers too.
mention too of the many 'unsung' people who worked to support the reporting, investigating, charging, and legal processes, such as the people who staffed the canteen at the courts etc. many, many people working together to try and bring justice to and for these 'missing' women.
the narrator was amazing. a long story to narrate with some very, very difficult incidents, thoughts, feelings, and descriptions to speak of. very gently handled and professionally done which, i feel, shows great respect to the 'missing' women.
the story, and the way it was narrated, had me thinking of and visualizing the 'missing' women - saying out loud how sorry i am for their experiences; seeing and hearing their pain, hurt, and sadness, and the pain, hurt, and sadness that their loved ones and the people that knew them experience.
stories like this need to be told (sensitively, with permissions) so that people can see what can happen to the people around them, and so enable them to show and/or offer love, comfort, and support to those that need it; and, if not stop incidents like this happening, then, at a bare minimum, reduce the amount of incidents that happen and the horrendous amount of hurt, pain, anger, anguish, sadness, and grief that surrounds each and every one.

everyone should be aware of this story

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Good book was very informative equal measures heartbreaking, angering and hopeful. The dialogue is great and i love how the barrator uses accents to identify all the main characters speech. HOWEVER i really really struggled to get into the book due to the constantly shifting timelines. One minute we’re in 1998 the next we’re in 2000 then back to 1997 then suddenly whoops its 2001 again! Very difficult to keep track of names and people and events because theres no cohesive timeline to the story makes its slightly un engaging its impossible to really immerse yourself in one storyline if they keep flipping backwards and forwards. Additionally although i love the detail the book goes into when talking about the lives of the missing women and those who knew willy i feel as though there is a large chunk of information surrounding the parentage and history of aunts and uncles of each one that could be left out as it just makes the story feel weighty and stops it from flowing properly.

Very Interesting but almost impossible to engage in

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Harrowing. I chose this audiobook for its length. More story for the money. However the cons of that is that the immersion into the sickness of one person and their filthy surroundings becomes more profound. Despite so many details, I felt what was missing was an expert opinion about the profile of the killer in medical terms. It is possible to piece that together from everything that was said, however. The book was trying to balance the procedural horror with personal accounts of the victims. These mostly contained the word “beautiful” which the narrator elongated into beeeeeuuuuutiful. Whilst I appreciated the wish to give these women their personhood, I felt that superficial terms about their looks was not the way to do it. Women too often are categorised by physical terms. On the one hand there is the need to create a counterbalance of the person before and after in the deteriorated state through addiction and violence, but I felt that the frequent use of the word couldn’t provide the balance to the suffering. That said the author gave more details about personal lives which had nothing to do with looks. I guess I just think that in a book descriptive words rather than subjective words are more helpful. Hindsight is 20/20 but it seems to me that the most obvious killer from day one is the one who was finally finally convicted. The grief of the families and impact and residue on society is beyond comprehension. Recently the killer was himself killed by fellow prisoners after serving less than 20 years. That is some kind of what goes around comes around. It’s a good book with excellent detail about all of the unfolding and backstory. Extraordinary effort on the part of the author. A masterpiece which is a sympathetic testament to the lives lost. My nitpicking isn’t something that anyone else listening may be bothered by at all. I do recommend this book if you want to know everything about a huge investigation.

Very detailed. Unique. Truly unbelievable

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