(Winnipeg) The family of one of four women who died at the hands of an accused serial killer said they were shocked Monday to hear him admit to the killings before his trial began.
They warned that the fight was far from over.
“This man killed four of our women and he will be held responsible,” Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Morgan Harris, told reporters outside court.
“It’s about justice for my cousin, and we’re going to get it.” »
Jeremy Skibicki, 37, previously pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 deaths of Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran and a fourth unidentified woman. Native leaders named her Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
Skibicki, his feet shackled, sat silently in the prisoner’s box as his lawyers told Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal that their client had killed the four women but needed to be declared not criminally responsible due to unspecified mental disorder.
Skibicki’s confession comes in a case that has already seen twists and turns.
Jurors were selected in late April, but last week, before they began hearing evidence, Skibicki’s lawyers renewed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the jury and hear the case himself.
They argued that significant pretrial publicity could impact the jury’s ability to return an impartial verdict.
They also presented a poll they had commissioned suggesting more than half of Manitobans surveyed did not believe it would be acceptable to find Skibicki not criminally responsible.
The judge rejected the defense’s offer.
After the defense formally announced Monday its intention to seek a verdict of not criminally responsible, prosecutors shifted gears and agreed to a judge-alone trial, citing the complexities of that type of defense.
“Concluding this case before a jury poses certain challenges,” said prosecutor Christian Vanderhooft. We are no longer concerned with proving that the accused committed these offenses, but rather with whether he or she is criminally responsible. »
The judge agreed to the reelection, saying the question of Skibicki’s mental capacity and intent would now be the focus of the trial.
Judge Joyal is scheduled to call the jurors back Wednesday to formally dismiss them before beginning to hear the evidence.
A finding of not criminally responsible means that a defendant was incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of an act due to a mental disorder. The person is held in a hospital until a review board determines they no longer pose a threat to the public.
Skibicki’s attorney, Leonard Tailleur, said the defense plans to call an expert to talk about the not criminally responsible defense.
“We are ready to face all eventualities… we are ready to go,” he told reporters.
Me Vanderhooft told the court the Crown had received a copy of the defense’s expert report and was considering bringing in its own expert to refute the findings.
A difficult trial ahead
Skibicki’s lawyers will likely face an uphill battle, a law professor said.
“This is not a case in which there is only one victim, at any given time. This is a situation involving four victims over a likely longer period of time,” said Brandon Trask, assistant professor of law at the University of Manitoba.
“I expect a number of experts will be called in.” »
The Crown said it intends to present evidence demonstrating a pattern of conduct. Skibicki was also accused of violence against other women.
In 2019, a woman obtained a protection order against him, alleging that he repeatedly stalked and sexually assaulted her while she slept.
The murder case dates back to the spring of 2022, when the partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a trash can and in a municipal dump. Police said they believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were at another private site outside the city, known as the Prairie Green Landfill.
Buffalo Woman’s location is unknown.
Nationwide protests took place after police said they would not search the Prairie Green landfill for Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, citing the complexity of such a search and concerns about safety given the presence of toxic materials.
The decision sparked calls for governments and organizations to address the ongoing problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Last month, the federal and Manitoba governments committed a total of $40 million to excavate the site.