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.”

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)

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.

The ruling delivered Thursday was a summary of the full decision, Joyal said. The full 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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