‘Justice was served today’: Jeremy Skibicki found guilty of 1st-degree murder in deaths of 4 women in Winnipeg

July 11, 2024 Canuck

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Serial killer Jeremy Skibicki has been convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of four women in Winnipeg.

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal delivered the decision Thursday morning in Winnipeg after hearing weeks of evidence in the high-profile trial, which took place in May and early June.

Skibicki now faces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The courtroom gallery erupted in cheers and claps when Joyal issued the decision, in which he said the murders were planned and deliberate and caused an “undeniable and profound impact” on Manitoba’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike.

It was apparent from Skibicki’s confession to police that he was a man of “purely expressed racist views,” Joyal said.

In his preamble to the ruling, Joyal said the facts of the case are “mercilessly graphic” as well as “jarring and numbing.”

This police photograph of Jeremy Skibicki was taken while he was in custody. He was arrested in 2022 and admitted to killing four women over a two-month period. (Manitoba Court of King’s Bench)

Skibicki, 37, had previously confessed to police that he killed Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24 — all from First Nations in Manitoba — as well as an unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community leaders. Police have said they believe she was Indigenous and in her 20s.

Contois was a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River. Harris and Myran were both members of Long Plain First Nation.

All four women were killed in Winnipeg between mid-March and mid-May of 2022.

Skibicki’s defence team argued at trial that he should be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Joyal rejected that argument and said he afforded little weight to the evidence of Dr. Sohom Das, a forensic psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, who assessed Skibicki after the killings and testified for the defence.

Das testified that he believed Skibicki was driven by delusions linked to schizophrenia and hearing voices that made him believe he was on a mission from God, which prevented him from realizing his actions were morally wrong.

Joyal expressed concerned about Das’s professionalism but found the evidence of Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, a forensic psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution, to be reliable and credible.

The Crown established that Skibicki had the state of mind for murder, Joyal said, underscoring the sexual assaults and unlawful confinement also committed against the women.

Chaimowitz testified he believed Skibicki made up his delusions and was motivated by racism and homicidal necrophilia, or arousal to having sex with people he’s killed. Skibicki preyed on vulnerable Indigenous women at homeless shelters, the Crown said during the trial.

Joyal said that even if he had found a mental disorder existed, Skibicki should have known the killings were wrong, not only from a legal perspective but also from a moral perspective.

WATCH | Winnipeg serial killer seen with victim at shelter before she died:

Winnipeg serial killer seen with victim at shelter before she died

2 months ago

Duration 3:40

Surveillance video shown as evidence at Jeremy Skibicki’s first-degree murder trial shows him having a meal with Morgan Harris at a Winnipeg shelter before she died. Harris was one of the four women Skibicki later admitted to killing. His lawyers argue he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.

The courtroom, which has about 100 seats, was filled to capacity at 10 a.m., with more people standing off to the side and others waiting in the hall. Winnipeg police members and court staff were moved out of the gallery and into empty jury seats to try to make room for more family and supporters.

The trial took place in May and early June. The evidence presented included surveillance footage, DNA evidence, computer history, testimony from Skibicki’s ex-wife, and messages and letters he sent after the killings.

It also included a videotaped police confession from 2022, when Skibicki surprised police officers by suddenly admitting to killing all four women, performing sex acts on their bodies and disposing of their remains in garbage bins near his North Kildonan apartment.

Joyal said it would be artificial and disingenuous for the court not to acknowledge the grim reality of the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, but that could not play a part in his decision.

This matter had to remain a separate and discreet criminal trial, decided on the legal and factual issues and a dispassionate application of the law, he said.

Donna Bartlett, the grandmother of Marcedes Myran, waved a fist as she spoke to reporters outside the Law Courts Building.

“I was worried but I’m happy now. It’s been hard but it’s good,” she said.

“He got convicted of murder and I’m glad of that, I really am. Now the next step is [to] bring my girl home.”

The faces of three First Nations women are pictured side by side. — Left to right: Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Rebecca Contois. The identity of the fourth woman is not known, but she’s been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe by community leaders. (Submitted by Winnipeg Police Service and Darryl Contois)

While Contois’s partial remains were found in garbage bins near Skibicki’s apartment and at the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg, Harris’s and Myran’s remains haven’t been found but are believed to be at the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg.

A search of Prairie Green is to start in fall.

Jorden Myran, Marcedes’s sister, told reporters she is “flooded with emotions.”

“I’m extremely happy and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Justice was served today,” she said outside the courthouse while people whooped and cheered.

A banner of four Indigenous women's faces hangs on a railing outside of a building — A banner is displayed outside the Law Courts Building in Winnipeg on Thursday. (Prabjhot Singh Lotey/CBC)

She said she was filled with a “burst of energy” as the ruling was being read out and it became clear what the decision was going to be.

“I just felt super happy. I wanted to cry,” she said. “We fought for this for so long. He got what he deserved.”

Jorden said she stared at Skibicki, looking for any sort of emotion or reaction, but she could see none. Asked what that tells her, she said “that he’s guilty and he doesn’t care.”

She will have her chance to address Skibicki directly at the sentencing hearing — the date has not been set yet — where family members of the victims will be invited to read impact statements.

“I have a lot of thinking about what I’m going to say and emotionally preparing myself to stand up there and be able to speak,” Jorden said.

After that, the last bit of closure is to bring home her sister’s remains.

Jeremy Contois, Rebecca Contois’s older brother, described his mood as being a mix of relief and gratitude and a little bit of anxiety over having to relive the difficult details once more.

Some questions, though, may never be answered, he said.

“Just why. Why did he have to do it?”

Joyal said his statements on Thursday represented a summary of the full decision. The complete written judgment will be over 150 pages long and released next week.

Support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Immediate emotional assistance and crisis support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national hotline at 1-844-413-6649.

You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.

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‘Justice was served today’: Jeremy Skibicki found guilty of 1st-degree murder in deaths of 4 women in Winnipeg

Winnipeg serial killer seen with victim at shelter before she died

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