The women’s families will be questioned at the sentencing of the Winnipeg serial killer

WINNIPEG – Families and supporters of four Indigenous women who died at the hands of a serial killer are expected to speak to the man for the first time in a Winnipeg courtroom today.

A judge convicted Jeremy Skibicki last month of first-degree murder in 2022, bringing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada back into the spotlight.

If convicted of premeditated murder, the sentence is automatically life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the next 25 years.

During the sentencing hearing, the women’s families will have the opportunity to give their victim impact statements.

An Indigenous advocacy group is also expected to present a statement on behalf of the Indigenous community after travelling to various locations in Manitoba to hear the views of its members.

During the trial, it became known that Skibicki had deliberately attacked the women in homeless shelters, strangled or drowned them and then disposed of their remains in garbage cans.

The murders came to light when a man searching for scrap metal found the remains of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois in a dumpster in Skibicki’s neighborhood. Additional remains were discovered at a city landfill.

During a police interview, Skibicki admitted to killing Contois and the three other women: Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and an unidentified woman called Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (“buffalo woman”) by a grassroots indigenous community.

Skibicki told police that the murders were racially motivated and referred to the beliefs of white supremacists.

A defense attorney said in court that Skibicki admitted to the murders but was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible.

Judge Glenn Joyal of the Court of King’s Bench said he agreed with a psychiatrist who testified on behalf of the Crown that Skibicki had no mental disorder that impaired his ability to recognise that the killings were morally wrong.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 28, 2024.

The Canadian Press