[JURIST] Robert Pickton [profile], accused of the deadliest string of serial killings in Canadian history, was sentenced by a British Columbia judge Tuesday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. The sentence was the maximum authorized by Canadian law for second-degree murder. Pickton was convicted [JURIST report] Sunday in connection with the deaths of six women [CBC backgrounder] lured from Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside to his pig farm in the 1990s. He remains charged with the killings of 20 other women. Pickton's defense lawyer had sought leniency and parole eligibility in 10 to 20 years, but Judge James Williams rejected that option, saying that Pickton had shown no remorse for his actions.

Pickton's second trial on the outstanding charges could begin early next year, although BC Attorney General Wally Oppal has said that no official decision on whether to proceed with that had been made. Pickton was arrested in 2002 and his imprisonment since then will be counted as time already served. AFP has more. CBC News has local coverage.