Serial killer Robert Pickton has died after he was assaulted in prison earlier this month, Quebec provincial police and Correctional Service Canada say.

The correctional service says Pickton, an inmate at Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec, died on Friday at the age of 74.

It says in a statement that Pickton’s next of kin have been notified as well as victims who had registered to be told.

It says an investigation is underway into the May 19 assault that involved another inmate.

Quebec provincial police spokesman Frédéric Deshaies says Pickton died “in the last few hours.” 

He says police continue to investigate the assault that led to Pickton’s death, and the 51-year-old suspect is in custody.