Closing arguments to be heard in Winnipeg trial of admitted serial killer

June 10, 2024 Canuck

Lawyers are expected to give closing arguments today in the trial of a Winnipeg man who has admitted to killing four women.

Jeremy Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings.

His lawyers admit he killed the women but say Skibicki should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

Crown prosecutors say the killings were racially motivated and Skibicki preyed on the Indigenous women at homeless shelters.

The month-long trial has heard graphic details of how Skibicki assaulted the women, strangled or drowned them and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.

A forensic psychiatrist testified for the defence that Skibicki was suffering from schizophrenia, while a court-appointed expert said Skibicki didn’t have a major mental health disorder.

Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, called by the Crown, said he believes Skibicki was driven to kill the women because of his perverse sexual interests and knew what he was doing was wrong

Skibicki, 37, is charged in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and an unidentified woman an Indigenous grassroots community has named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

The killings came to light after the partial remains of Contois were found in a garbage bin in Skibicki’s neighbourhood in May 2022. More of her remains were discovered at a city-run landfill the following month.

The remains of Harris and Myran are believed to be at a different landfill. It is not known where Buffalo Woman’s remains are located.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2024.

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