Pig farmer's 6-murder appeal set for 2009

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 3 (UPI) -- Canadian prosecutors and defense attorneys for the British Columbia pig farmer convicted of killing six women agreed Monday his appeal will begin in March 2009.

Robert Pickton, 58, was convicted in Vancouver in December of six counts of second-degree murder and dismemberment of six female drug and sex trade workers on his farm and sentenced to six life terms with no eligibility of parole for at least 25 years, the Canwest News Service reported.

Crown counsel spokesman Stan Lowe said a deal was struck that requires court approval that his appeal would begin in Vancouver March 30, 2009.

Pickton is also accused of murdering another 20 women, and B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal created an uproar last week among those women's families when he said Pickton wouldn't go on trial for those if the appeal on the initial six was overturned, the report said.

Oppal explained his decision by saying another lengthy trial wouldn't be in the public interest if Pickton was already locked away until his early 80s, the report said.