Admitted serial killer will be tried by judge; jury to be dismissed Skibicki to argue not criminally responsible By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 11:55 AM CDT Monday, May. 6, 2024 Last Modified: 3:08 PM CDT Monday, May. 6, 2024 Updates

A trial for a Winnipeg man accused of murdering four Indigenous women will now be heard by a judge, not a jury, a court heard Monday.

The development came three days after King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal ruled the trial of Jeremy Skibicki would be heard by a jury.

In a trial motion last week, Skibicki’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued extensive publicity in the case tainted the jury pool such that the only way he could receive a fair trial would be before a judge alone.

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth unidentified woman who was killed in March 2022. She has been named Buffalo Woman (Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe) by Indigenous leaders.

In Canada, the Crown must provide its consent before a murder trial can proceed before a judge alone.

Last Wednesday, the defence confirmed on the record Skibicki is admitting to the killings, and will be arguing he is not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.

With Skibicki’s admission he killed the four women, the Crown can now consent to him being tried by a judge alone, prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft told Joyal during a brief hearing Monday.

“If we were required to prove that the accused killed all four women, this would still be a jury trial,” Vanderhooft said. “However, in light of recent agreements and admissions… we are now prepared to provide our consent to proceed to trial by judge alone.”

“In every case, the Crown is required to conduct an ongoing assessment of the prosecution,” Vanderhooft said. “Where, as here, we are no longer concerned with proving that the accused has committed the offences, but rather whether he was criminally responsible at the material times, we have concluded that proceeding by judge alone would be the best route to making sure this matter proceeds with the necessary flexibility required, the type of flexibility that isn’t always easy to achieve with a jury trial.”

Jurors recently selected for the trial will return to court Wednesday, when Joyal will formally dismiss them before beginning to hear evidence in the case.

Trial evidence will now focus not on proving Skibicki murdered the women, but on establishing his “mental capacity and intent” at the time of the killings, Joyal said.

Skibicki is accused of sexually assaulting the victims in his Winnipeg home before disposing of their remains in garbage bins.

Partial remains of Contois were found at a landfill south of Winnipeg, while police have said they believe the remains of Harris and Myran are at a landfill north of the city. After repeated demands from victims’ family members and Indigenous leaders, the provincial and federal governments committed $20 million each to searching the landfills for remains.

Outside court, victim family members said they were “ecstatic” Skibicki has admitted killing the four women, and expressed relief that his admission will spare them from hearing all the evidence that would have had to be put in front of the court, had Skibicki contested his involvement.

“We just sat down with the (Crown prosecutors) again last week, and they prepare us each time, letting us know what is going to be shared and the things we are going to have to see and hear,” said Melissa Robinson, Morgan Harris’s cousin. “We are happy we aren’t going to be put through that.”

Robinson said family members are confident Skibicki will be found criminally responsible for the killings.

“This man has killed four of our women and he will be held responsible,” Robinson said. “This man deserves to go to prison and never set foot outside again.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.

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