Pig-farm killer conviction appeal

Police said Pickton butchered his victims and fed them to his pigs

Canadian prosecutors are to appeal the second-degree murder convictions of serial killer Robert Pickton.

He was given life last month for the second-degree murder of six Vancouver prostitutes whose bodies he fed to pigs on his farm.

British Columbia's attorney general said the murders were premeditated and Pickton should face the more serious charge of first-degree murder.

Pickton still faces murder charges over the deaths of 20 other women.

Attorney General Wally Oppal said on Monday that he wanted the British Columbia Court of Appeal to order a new trial on all 26 counts of first-degree murder.

'Butchered victims'

The jury in December acquitted Pickton of first-degree murder on the first six charges but found him guilty of second-degree murder - a lesser charge that means a murder has not been planned.

The judge had split the 26 murder charges into two trials because he thought it would have been to much of a burden on the jury to hold one big trial.

Most of Pickton's victims were prostitutes and drug addicts from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The prosecution said he had butchered his victims and fed the remains to pigs on his farm outside Vancouver.

Officers found dismembered remains and personal belongings when they raided his farm near Vancouver five years ago.

Mr Oppal said the trial judge, James Williams, erred by splitting the trial and by failing to instruct the jury that dismembering and disposing of the victims' remains was relevant to the issue of planning and deliberation.

The defence is also expected to file an appeal this week.

Police are investigating another 40 women missing from the region.