(L to R) Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an image representing 'Buffalo Woman'. Photo illustration: APTN News
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Please read with care.
In a surprise move, the man accused of murdering four Indigenous women in Winnipeg and disposing of their bodies now admits he committed the crimes.
Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft announced the major development in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench trial of Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki Monday.
“At this point, the accused is now admitting that he killed all four women,” the prosecutor told Chief Judge Glenn Joyal.
There was no visible reaction from family members of victims Rebecca Stacey Contois, 24, Marcedes Myran, 26, Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and an unidentified victim in her 20s gifted the spirit name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe or Buffalo Woman.
Skibicki, who showed no emotion in the prisoner’s box, had originally pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 2022 murders.
His lawyer Leonard Tailleur confirmed Skibicki was now admitting to committing the crimes “unlawfully.” He asked the court to find him not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder – a plea known as NCR.
Outside court, Harris’s cousin Melissa Robinson was beaming as she addressed reporters.
“Really good news, right?” she said of Skibicki’s admission. “We’re super ecstatic. [It’s] exactly what we wanted.”
The long-awaited trial is scheduled to run until June 6.
It was supposed to determine similar fact evidence in a closed hearing on Monday and Tuesday before the jury began hearing evidence on Wednesday.
But Vanderhooft has now agreed to drop the jury.
The Winnipeg Police Service alleged Skibicki sexually assaulted and killed the women, had sex with their bodies – pathologically known as necrophilia – and dumped their remains in the garbage near his home.
The partial remains of Contois, a member of Crane River First Nation in northern Manitoba, were discovered in a garbage bin in the city’s North Kildonan neighbourhood on May 16, 2022, police said.
Additional remains were located following a police search of Winnipeg’s Brady Road landfill.
Police suspect the remains of Myran, Harris and Buffalo Woman are in the Prairie Green landfill outside Winnipeg – a privately owned facility that collects some city waste. But they refused to conduct a search.
Court heard Harris was killed on or about May 1, 2022, while Myran was killed on or about May 4, 2022. Buffalo Woman, whom police have said is Indigenous, was killed on or about March 15, 2022.
The Crown has said the victims were living in Winnipeg homeless shelters when they met Skibicki. Myran and Harris were from Long Plain First Nation, located about an hour west of Winnipeg.
“It’s been all about justice for my cousin and we’re going to get it,” Robinson told reporters. “We’re going to get it, and we’re going to get [it for] all four.
“Honestly, I really don’t have any words. [His admission] was kind of a shock. But we’re so happy; our whole family is so happy.”
Some members of Harris’s family wore traditional First Nations ribbon skirts and ribbons shirts to court and carried eagle feathers and eagle fans, which represent truth.
The Crown’s move to toss the jury comes after successfully defeating two defence motions for a judge-alone trial.
Vanderhooft told court he received a phone call from Tailleur the night before giving notice of the surprise admission.
“We are no longer concerned with proving the accused has committed these offences, but rather whether he is criminally responsible,” said Crown attorney said.
He noted the arguments around NCR were complex.
The Crown must now prove Skibicki had the intent and mentally capability to commit the crimes to convict him of four counts of murder.
Both sides have announced they plan to call psychiatric experts to the stand.
Robinson said Harris’s family isn’t worried.
“The doctor they’ve got to claim that he’s [not criminally responsible] is from the [United Kingdom], so that goes to show, why couldn’t you get a doctor here in Canada or in the [United] States to state that?” she told reporters. “You had to go that far away to find someone to say you’re not guilty?”
She also said they’re fine proceeding without a jury.
“We’re OK with it,” she said. “Convincing 12 [people] versus our judge? Either way, we were pretty confident. We sat down many times with the Crown; they explained everything to us ahead of time, so either way we were confident.
“As you sit in the courtroom you see [the judge is] having no patience with the defence, whatsoever,” she added. “This man has [admitted he] killed four of our women, and he will be held responsible.”
A verdict of NCR means a mental disorder made it impossible for the accused to understand the nature and quality of what he did, and whether it was morally wrong.
Tailleur suggested his client’s plea would expedite the trial.
“It’s a matter to ensure that justice is done one way or the other, right?” he told reporters afterwards. “That’s what we are concerned with.”
Meanwhile, Joyal said he’d like to thank the jurors in person Wednesday before discharging them.
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.
