Pickton victim suffered indignity by coroner, family says

The parents of a victim of serial killer Robert Pickton are demanding criminal charges in what they allege was a coverup by the B.C.Coroners Service, CBC News has learned.

MarnieFrey was one ofsix womenPicktonwas convicted of murdering on his suburban Vancouver pig farm. His 2007 trial heardhe killed the 24-year-old heroin addict and sex-trade worker 10years earlier in 1997. A section of Freys jawbone was the only part of her body recovered from the farm.

Three years after Picktons conviction, Frey's cremated remains were returned to her parents, Rick and Lynn Frey, in Campbell River.

Owen Court, the Metro Vancouver regional coroner at the time, told the Freysthat their daughter'sremains had been cremated. It is a violation of the Funeral Services Act to cremate remains without the permission of the family.

Court told the Freys that the remains had been placed into a cremation chamber and that he had personally supervised the cremation with Lawrence Little, the current funeral director of Aldergrove'sAlternatives Funeral and Cremation Services.

But when the Freys opened the urn with the help of Sandy Poelvoorde a funeral director in Campbell River they discovered the bones had not been burned, and hadbeen broken up to fit inside the urn.

It was just sloppy, saidRick. It was disrespectful.

These women were vulnerable throw-away womenfrom Day 1, saidLynn Frey.I think its a bloody coverup, the same as it was with the missing women."

2 separate investigations

As a result of their suspicions, the B.C. Coroners Service and Consumer Protection BC launched two separate investigations.

In a letter to the Freys, Lisa Lapointe, the B.C. Coroners Service chief coroner,apologizedto the Freys, saying the management of their daughters remains was not in accordance with standard procedures. Lapointe goes on to say she understood Court became involved in the handling of remains with the intention of assisting the families who had been affected by the tragic events surrounding the Vancouver Missing Women.

While his involvement was approved by the chief coroner in place at the time, Lapointe writes, despite the intentions of Mr. Court and other employees of the Coroners Service at the time, I do not believe this was the best course of action and is not a practice that will be undertaken in relation to any future cases.

In an email to CBC News, Court says he was saddened by [Lapointes] letter and that he has great difficulty with its content.

Court goes on to say he and every other member of the Coroners Service management team at the time, handled every aspect of this sensitive and tragic case with the utmost degree of integrity, professionalism and compassion.

He saidall actions and decisions relating to Freys case were well-documented and met the expectations of three chief coroners who had first-hand knowledge of the investigation.

Consumer Protection BC fined Little a total of $7,250:

• $750 for providing false or misleading information.
• $2,500 for obstructing, hinderingor interfering with an inspection.
• $4,000 for the cost of the investigation.

'I feel it's a desecration'

Little is appealing the penalty, saying he merely heated the remains "to facilitate proper processing."

"Now we are vindicated that what we were saying all along, and feared, is true, saidRick Frey.

I feel it's a desecration, saidPoelvoorde, adding she's shocked by the findings of the two reports.

"That's their daughter, and for the Freys to have her returned to them damaged like this is horrific.

The Freys want a criminal investigation since mishandling of human remains is an offence under the Criminal Codeand couldresult in five years in jail.

The Freys arent alone in their concern and anger over how the remains of their loved one was handled.

The family of Cara Ellis, another victim ofPickton, was told not to open her urn because it was a health hazard, since Ellishad AIDS and hepatitis C.

When Poelvoorde opened the urn at the request of Elliss family,she found a strange green substance.

That has prompted the Freys to ask for the handling of all the remains of Picktons victims to be investigated.