Toronto: One of Canada's most infamous serial killers, Robert Pickton, who was convicted in 2007 of killing drug addicts and prostitutes and butchering their remains at his pig farm, has released a book proclaiming his innocence.
The book, published on January 29 and available through the online retailer Amazon.com Inc, is listed as a personal memoir by Pickton, 66, who is serving a life sentence at a prison in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Calling himself "the fall guy" on the book's jacket, Pickton notes he is accused of murdering "between 6 and 49 women" and is finally telling his story.
News of the book's existence immediately sparked outrage across Canada, and negative reviews of the book piled up on Amazon's website, with many urging publisher Outskirts Press and Amazon to withdraw the book.
"We are taking this very seriously and investigating every means available to ensure that the families involved are protected from further harm and that Robert Pickton will not profit in any way from this book," B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris said in a statement emailed on Monday.
Morris said the government was also appealing to Amazon to stop selling the book.
Amazon could not be immediately reached for comment.
Pickton was convicted of killing six women whose partial remains were found on his ramshackle property near Vancouver. Government prosecutors dropped charges for an additional 20 murders after he was sentenced to life in prison.
The victims were among more than 60 women who disappeared from Vancouver`s poor, drug-infested Downtown Eastside neighborhood over more than a decade until Pickton`s arrest in early 2002.
