Judge culls evidence in Canada serial murder case

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sep 11 (Reuters) Jurors in the trial of accused Canadian serial killer Robert ''Willie'' Pickton were told to ignore testimony about some of the human bones that prosecutors have used as evidence.

Witnesses had testified about a woman's half-skull found along a river in Mission, British Columbia, in 1995 that was linked to bones found later on Pickton's ramshackle pig and topsoil farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam.

The woman is called ''Jane Doe'' in court records because her real name was never determined.

Justice James Williams told the jury yesterday to disregard what they had heard about Jane Doe. He did not explain why he made the ruling and asked jurors not to speculate.

The media cannot report the legal reasons for the decision until the end of the trial, expected later this year.

Pickton was charged with Jane Doe's death, but the charge was dismissed before this trial began on six of the 26 murder counts he still faces. The skulls of three of the 26 women were found on the farm, according to police.

Pickton's lawyers are now presenting the defense case. They have acknowledged the bones of six women in addition to Jane Doe's were founded on the farm, but have denied that Pickton was responsible for their deaths.

REUTERS TB RN0427