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Killer's victims might have been eaten

Officials were investigating whether human remains made their way into pork processed for human consumption at a pig farm owned by a suspected serial killer.

Robert William Pickton, 54, was arrested in February 2002 and has been charged with 15 counts of murder for killings spanning 20 years.

The remains of 22 women have been found at Pickton's pig farm east of Vancouver, Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigators said. In all, Pickton is suspected in 31 killings, authorities said.

None of the meat from Pickton's farm was sold in stores or widely distributed, authorities said on Wednesday. But Pickton often gave friends and associates frozen pork products, Dr Perry Kendall, the health officer for British Columbia, said on Wednesday.

Kendall said Pickton's unlicensed slaughter facility was very unsanitary.

"It's very disturbing to think about, but [there is] the possibility of some cross-contamination," he said. "But the degree of it or when or how much we really don't know."

Later Wednesday, police Corporal Cate Galliford refused at a news conference to use the word "remains" to describe the potentially contaminated meat.

She said the meat may have been contaminated with human DNA.

Officials at the British Columbia Center for Disease Control said the risk to those who ate the pork is remote because pork must always be well-cooked, a process that destroys most infectious agents.

"There's a very low risk of any human disease being transmitted in that fashion," Kendall said. However, he said he wanted to ensure that any remaining products are not consumed.

A formal investigation by Kendall, the CDC and officials at Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was launched last Friday.

"It's disgusting," said Lynn Frey, who learned earlier this year that her daughter Marnie's DNA had been found at Pickton's farm. "It's absolutely insane. How many people have eaten something from that farm?"

Police said they would file more charges against Pickton, who is not expected to stand trial until late this year or early next year.
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