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Pig farmer serial killer appeals 6 counts

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 26 (UPI) -- A Canadian appeals court ruling upholding a British Columbia pig farmer's six murder convictions will be appealed to the Supreme Court, his lawyer said Friday.

In Vancouver, lawyer Gil McKinnon said he would soon be filing appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of Robert Pickton, 59, the Canwest News Service reported.

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Thursday, the British Columbia Court of Appeal 2-1 decision rejected a contention that the trial judge had erred in giving instructions to the jury for Pickton in December 2007, The Province newspaper reported.

McKinnon said because the ruling wasn't unanimous, he would appeal it.

Pickton was charged with 26 counts of second degree murder after Royal Canadian Mounted Police found the remains of young women scattered around his pig farm. His trial focused only on six victims and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison with no parole.

Pickton was arrested in 2002 and accused of preying on young prostitutes and drug addicts from Vancouver. More than 60 young women went missing from the area before Pickton's arrest, and the RCMP investigation is ongoing, the Globe and Mail reported.

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At the time of Pickton's conviction, the provincial attorney general said there was no point in taking the 20 other murder charges to trial as it wouldn't affect the sentence, although some of the missing women's families are lobbying to have the cases heard, the newspapers said.

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