(Winnipeg) They were loving daughters, mothers and friends whose ambition and potential were extinguished by a “monster.”
Serial killer Jeremy Skibicki was sentenced Wednesday to four concurrent life sentences, with no chance of parole for 25 years, for the 2022 murders of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg.
Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said at a sentencing hearing that he was required by law to impose the automatic sentence after convicting Skibicki, 37, last month of four counts of first-degree murder.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KING’S BENCH/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Jeremy Skibicki
Relatives and supporters of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman who members of the Indigenous community have called Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, packed the courtroom as several victim impact statements were read.
Some wore sweaters featuring M’s smiling facesmy Myran and Contois. A large painted portrait of Marcedes Myran with a red handprint on his mouth was on display.
Elle Harris testified in court that she could not condense her mother’s loss into words on a piece of paper.
“Do you know how many times I had to listen to how my mother was murdered, in horrific detail?” asked Morgan Harris’ daughter.
“I was left with my confusion and my anger. I was left with no closure. I was left with trauma… I feel numb and hurt. And, ultimately, I was left without my mother to help me through it all,” she added.
Mr. Skibicki showed no emotion during the roughly 3 1/2-hour hearing. He sat in the prisoner’s box flanked by sheriffs and stared straight ahead without greeting family members who shared statements.
Testimonials
Cambria Harris, Morgan Harris’ eldest daughter, stood with her partner and looked directly at Jeremy Skibicki as she spoke.
Every moment that (Skibicki) spends in that courtroom breathing, free even in chains, is another moment that my mother is not.
Cambria Harris, eldest daughter of Morgan Harris
“While (Skibicki) can remain there, surrounded and protected, my mother continues to rest in a landfill, the very place where (Skibicki) put her,” she continued.
Cambria Harris argued that her mother, who had five children, was deprived of the opportunity to spend time with her youngest child and granddaughter.
The court heard Morgan Harris was also loved by many people who considered the street home, as the 39-year-old did at various times in her life.
Cambria Harris said her mother suffered from mental health issues and Jeremy Skibicki robbed her of any chance of getting the help she deserved.
She ended her statement by insulting Skibicki in a calm, raised voice, after which the podium erupted in cheers and applause.
Deep scars
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs testified in court that the killings left deep scars that will be felt for generations.
“The actions of this convicted murderer have underscored the need for justice and accountability,” Mr.me Merrick, holding back tears.
The trial heard that Jeremy Skibicki targeted women in homeless shelters, then strangled or drowned them before dumping their remains in trash cans in spring 2022.
The murders came to light when a man searching for scrap metal found the partial remains of Mme Contois, 24, in a dumpster in the Skibicki neighborhood. Other remains of his body were discovered in a city-run landfill.
Jeremy Contois read a statement on behalf of his sister Stephanie as she stood nearby.
In it, she describes the moment the police arrived at her home to tell her they had found her sister’s body, leaving her in the most agonizing shock she has ever felt.
“I can’t look at a trash can…it makes me nauseous,” she wrote.
White supremacy
During a police interview, Mr Skibicki admitted to killing Rebecca Contois and the three other women.
Jeremy Skibicki told police the killings were racially motivated and cited white supremacist beliefs.
At trial, a defense attorney testified that Skibicki admitted to the murders, but was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible.
The judge agreed with a psychiatrist who testified for the Crown that Skibicki did not have a mental disorder that affected his ability to know the killings were morally wrong.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Joyal asked if Skibicki had anything to say. “No,” he replied.
Digging for remains
In 2022, police said they believed M’s remainsmy Harris and Myran were taken to another landfill outside the city, but there would be no search. Police said too much time had passed and it would be too complex and dangerous.
Protests have been held across the country demanding a search of the Prairie Green landfill. The federal and Manitoba governments recently invested $40 million for the search, which is expected to begin later this year.
Judge Joyal acknowledged the “deep grief” each of the families had to endure. He thanked them for their courage and honesty.
The women’s families “deserved better than what can be achieved in a courtroom,” he added.
Outside the courthouse, M’s sisterme Myran said she appreciated Judge Joyal’s words, but added that the sentence would never be enough.
“What (Skibicki) did to these women, he deserves a lot more than what he got today,” Jorden Myran said.
Her grandmother, Donna Bartlett, called Skibicki an “evil monster.”
“He hurt this family, tore it apart, tore our souls into pieces. It will be there forever,” she lamented.