A Canadian pig farmer was convicted on Sunday of the serial killings of six women whose bodies were butchered like animals in his farm’s slaughterhouse. But the jury convicted Robert ”Willie” Pickton of a lesser charge of second-degree murder, not the first-degree murder charge he originally faced.

Accused serial killer Robert Pickton described how he killed prostitutes after having sex with them and used his pigs to help dispose of the remains. Witness Andrew Bellwood testified that Pickton showed him handcuffs and play-acted as he described stroking their hair and telling them everything would be okay, ”it’s over now”.

Robert ”Willie” Pickton never fidgets in his seat. His hands betray a lifetime of toil and he is almost bald, with long strands of greying hair that seem slicked down with some sort of oil. He is an unremarkable man, thin and of average height, except that he is charged with murdering 26 women.