The BC Supreme Court says it has jurisdiction to order the disposal of thousands of pieces of evidence seized from Robert Pickton’s pig farm decades ago, whether or not they were used in the murder trial.

The Court says in a ruling issued online on Wednesday The RCMP may request to dispose of approximately 15,000 pieces of evidence collected from the search of Pickton’s Port Coquitlam property, including “items determined to belong to the victims.”

Last year, police asked the court for directions to allow them to dispose of the mountain of evidence gathered in the case against Pickton, who was convicted of murdering six women and died in May after being attacked in prison.

The court ruling says that “only a small portion” of the items were used in the trial and the court has jurisdiction to allow the items to be removed.

However, some family members of the victims contested the removal because they have a pending civil suit against the estate of Pickton and his brother, David Pickton, and want to ensure that the evidence they need to prove their case does not are dispersed or destroyed.

The court rejected their request to intervene in July this year, and the court has now ruled that it has the authority to order the removal of evidence, regardless of whether it was used at Pickton’s trial or not.

The ruling says police plan to “bring a series of applications” for court orders to allow them to dispose of the evidence as they are “legally required to dispose of the property” as it is no longer required in any criminal investigation or proceeding.

The earlier court ruling says the RCMP agreed to allow some of the plaintiffs in the civil cases “limited participation” in the removal request process by agreeing to notify them if police identify “ownership or ownership interest in the items ” for which he applies. destroy.