An agreement has been reached with the City of Vancouver and the provincial and federal governments to pay $50,000 to each of 13 families who had a relative killed by Robert Pickton, says Jason Gratl, the lawyer representing the children of the victims of the B.C. serial killer.


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(Canadian Press)



Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of dozens more.


The civil suit was launched last May by the children of four women whose remains and DNA were found on Pickton's Port Coquitlam farm after his arrest in 2002. Other families have since joined the civil action.


The lawsuit claimed police and the Crown failed to warn women in the Downtown Eastside that a serial killer may have been on the loose and raised concerns about the way police eventually told the missing women's families that their cases were linked to Pickton.


Not all of the families are happy with the settlement, but Gratl said 11 of 13 families have agreed to the terms.


More to come