A pig farmer has been convicted of the murder of six women in Canada.
But the jury convicted Robert 'Willie' Pickton of a lesser charge of second degree murder, not the first degree murder charge he originally faced. The verdict still carries a sentence of life in prison, but the lesser charge makes it easier to get parole.
The jury in New Westminster, British Columbia said it had no recommendations on sentencing, effectively leaving the decision up to the judge.
The verdict wraps up the first of two trials for Pickton, who is accused of killing a total of 26 Vancouver prostitutes. His second trial will deal with the remaining 20 murder charges.
Pickton, 58, lured the women to his farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam with money and drugs, killed them, and cut up the bodies and disposed of the remains using the pigs and a rendering plant.
Investigators found human remains on the farm, including severed skulls and feet. A woman who lived briefly in Pickton's trailer testified she saw him cutting up a body in the middle of the night.
