Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who took female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree near Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died after being assaulted in prison, authorities said Friday. He was 74.

The Correctional Service of Canada said in statement that Pickton, an inmate of Port-Cartier Institution in the province of Quebec, died in hospital following injuries in the May 19 assault involving another inmate. He was one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers and his case made international headlines.

A CANADIAN SERIAL KILLER WHO BROUGHT VICTIMS TO A PIG FARM IS HOSPITALIZED AFTER A PRISON ASSAULT

A 51-year-old inmate was in custody for the assault on Pickton, police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu said earlier this month.

Robert "Willie" Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007, with the maximum parole ineligibility period of 25 years, after being charged with the murders of 26 women.

Police began searching the Pickton farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam more than 22 years ago in what would be a years-long investigation into the disappearances of dozens of women from Vancouver’s seediest streets, sex workers and drug addicts abandoned on the margins of society.

The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on the farm. Pickton once bragged to an undercover police officer that he killed a total of 49 women.

During his trial, prosecution witness Andrew Bellwood said Pickton told him how he strangled his victims and fed their remains to his pigs. Health officials once issued a tainted meat advisory to neighbors who might have bought pork from Pickton’s farm, concerned the meat might have contained human remains.

Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Pickton, said Pickton’s death means she can finally move on from her sister’s murder.

"This is gonna bring healing for, I won’t say all families, I’ll just say most of the families," she said. "I’m like — wow, finally. I can actually move on and heal and I can put this behind me."

Vancouver police were criticized for not taking the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or drug users.

Canada's correctional service said it was conducting an investigation into the attack on Pickton.

"The investigation will examine all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the assault, including whether policies and protocols were followed," the service said in the statement. "We are mindful that this offender’s case has had a devastating impact on communities in British Columbia and across the country, including Indigenous peoples, victims and their families. Our thoughts are with them."

Pickton’s confirmed victims were six: Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Papin and Marnie Frey.

"Earlier today, I was made aware of the death of an inmate at Port-Cartier Institution," Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in statement. "At this time, my thoughts are with the families of the victims of this individual’s heinous crimes."

At the time of Pickton’s sentencing, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice James Williams said it was a "rare case that properly warrants the maximum period of parole ineligibility available to the court."

A moderate Republican senator finally broke her silence on former President Trump's conviction on Friday, lamenting the focus "Trump’s legal drama" takes away from President Biden's "indefensible record."

"These distractions have given the Biden campaign a free pass as the focus has shifted from Biden’s indefensible record and the damage his policies have done to Alaska and our nation’s economy, to Trump’s legal drama," wrote Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on X. "A Republican nominee without this baggage would have a clear path to victory."

The Republican, who frequently emerges as a detractor from her party in divisive matters, did not say whether she approved of the verdict or not. 

SOROS HEIR URGES DEMOCRATS TO HAMMER TRUMP AS 'CONVICTED FELON AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY'

The Alaska senator notably issued a last-minute endorsement of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination for president shortly before her campaign ended. 

Haley often pointed to Trump's legal troubles and the "chaos" she said follows him on the 2024 campaign trail, while similarly avoiding taking a position on whether the cases were right or wrong. 

SENATE DEMS IN BATTLEGROUND RACES CAREFUL TO WEIGH IN ON TRUMP VERDICT

"Yesterday, a New York jury found former president Trump guilty of falsifying business records," Murkowski wrote on Friday. "This is the first step in the legal process. The former president has the right to appeal and I fully expect him to exercise that right."

However, she said, "It is a shame that this election has focused on personalities and legal problems rather than a debate about policies that would lift up Americans."

SCHUMER URGES TRUMP ALLIES TO LET LEGAL PROCESS 'MOVE FORWARD' AFTER GUILTY VERDICT

Many of Murkowski's fellow Senate Republicans issued their responses to the verdict promptly, with most of them objecting to the outcome. Even Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is often on the same page as Murkowski, denounced Thursday's verdict. 

"It is fundamental to our American system of justice that the government prosecutes cases because of alleged criminal conduct regardless of who the defendant happens to be. In this case the opposite has happened. The district attorney, who campaigned on a promise to prosecute Donald Trump, brought these charges precisely because of who the defendant was rather than because of any specified criminal conduct," the lawmaker said in a statement. 

"The political underpinnings of this case further blur the lines between the judicial system and the electoral system, and this verdict likely will be the subject of a protracted appeals process," Collins said. 

'BOOM': DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT AS BIDEN WEIGHS REMAINING THREAT

Collins similarly did not back Trump for president in the GOP primary and admitted to voting for Haley. 

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has emerged as someone often in line with Murkowski and Collins on certain issues, but did not release his own statement on the Trump guilty verdict. 

Romney's office did not immediately provide comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. 

However, earlier this month, Romney claimed President Biden made a mistake by not pardoning Trump. "You may disagree with this, but had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him," he said in an interview on MSNBC. 

"I'd have pardoned President Trump. Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy," Romney explained.