B.C. judge denies status for victims' families in Pickton evidence application

A Supreme Court judge has dismissed applications by relatives of Robert Pickton's victims to intervene in court proceedings over the RCMP's plans to destroy evidence from the investigation into the serial killer.

A Supreme Court judge has dismissed applications by relatives of Robert Pickton's victims to intervene in court proceedings over the RCMP's plans to destroy evidence from the investigation into the serial killer.

But Justice Frits Verhoeven says the families are to be notified of any RCMP applications to dispose of evidence and the court may grant them "a limited right of audience, if deemed necessary and appropriate."

Lawyer Jason Gratl, who represents the victims' relatives, says his clients are "not unhappy" with Monday's decision, and the right to be notified and heard when appropriate is "sufficient" for their purposes.

Gratl's clients are involved in nine lawsuits against the late killer and his brother, David Pickton.

The applicants had claimed the pending lawsuits gave them a direct interest in the outcome of the proceedings, in which the RCMP is applying for directions from the court about procedures for evidence destruction.

Pickton, who died in May after being attacked in a Quebec prison, was convicted in 2007 on six counts of second-degree murder but is suspected of killing many more women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Justice for Girls, an advocacy group that opposes the destruction of evidence, withdrew their own application for intervener status before the start of the proceedings.