Impact statements to be delivered at Manitoba serial killer's sentencing vital 'part of the record': advocate
Court will hear how murders of 4 women have affected families, community at Jeremy Skibicki sentencing
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
A Winnipeg courtroom will hear Wednesday morning how the murders of four women by a convicted serial killer affected not only the victims' families, but also the broader Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
Jeremy Skibicki, 37, was found guilty of first-degree murder last month in the killings of three First Nations women — Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24 — as well as an unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community leaders. Police have said they believe she was Indigenous and in her 20s.
Contois was a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River. Harris and Myran were both members of Long Plain First Nation. All four women were killed in Winnipeg between mid-March and mid-May of 2022.
In delivering his ruling on July 11, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Skibicki's crimes are "emblematic of much of what is associated with the tragedies that underlie the very grim reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada."
WATCH | 'I don't feel safe' — Sandra DeLaronde reads community victim impact statement:
At a sentencing hearing Wednesday morning, the court will hear how those crimes have affected the community.
"We have an opportunity as a community to talk about what this case has meant for all of us in terms of our safety and our well-being," said Sandra DeLaronde, with the organization Giganawenimaanaanig, formerly known as the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Advisory Committee.
"We know that for all Manitobans this case had a serious impact."
The organization, focused on implementing the calls for justice from the 2019 MMIWG inquiry, gathered feedback from across the province after Skibicki was found guilty.
It will be shared Wednesday both through words read in court and graphic visualizations created by an artist, which are expected to be on display during Wednesday's sentencing hearing.
Skibicki's lawyers had argued unsuccessfully he should be found not criminally responsible for the murders due to a mental disorder.
Court heard during his trial that Skibicki targeted vulnerable Indigenous women who frequented Winnipeg homeless shelters, bringing each of the four women back to his North Kildonan apartment, where he sexually assaulted or forcibly confined them before strangling or drowning them in his bathtub.
The decision, finding Skibicki guilty on all four counts of first-degree murder he faced, came after a trial that heard weeks of evidence in a high-profile case that galvanized people across the country to push for the search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two of the women Skibicki killed.
While Contois's partial remains were discovered in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill, the remains of Harris and Myran are believed to be buried at the Prairie Green landfill, just outside the city.
A search of that site, which was initially deemed unfeasible by police and later became a political issue in Manitoba's last provincial election, is scheduled to begin later this year.
He now faces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Chance to bring 'healing component': lawyer
Despite the default sentence, the Crown asked Justice Joyal for a separate sentencing hearing so victim and community impact statements could be provided.
Scott Newman, a criminal defence lawyer who had no direct involvement in the case, said typically sentencing takes place right after a conviction in a first-degree murder case because there's little leeway for a judge to impose a sentence, following a 2022 Supreme Court of Canada decision that says parole ineligibility periods for multiple murders must be served concurrently.
"Everybody knows what the result is going to be," Newman said, and the life sentence for first-degree murder is "already the most severe sanction available in Canadian law."
But "in a sentencing like this, it's more to bring both that healing component to the family and friends … and an attempt to instill a sense of responsibility in the offender," he said.
Around 10 victim impact statements and a number of community impact statements will be filed as exhibits Wednesday, according to Crown prosecutors. All of the victim impact statements are expected to be read in court, along with two community impact statements.
Family members of Harris, Myran and Contois said they will be in court to read their victim impact statements.
DeLaronde will be reading one gathered on behalf of the community.
"This victim impact statement from the community recognizes that it's never just one family and one situation or one trial," DeLaronde said.
Words and art
Engagement sessions held in Winnipeg, Brandon, The Pas and Thompson heard from approximately 60 people about the impact of the case, DeLaronde said.
Roxanne Greene, an artist from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation who now lives in Winnipeg, made graphic visualizations of what people shared during each session.
"I just went with the flow and what I was hearing … and at the end of each session we had a clear story of what that community was feeling as a result of all this," Greene said.
That included concerns about community safety, Greene said — issues that resonate with her personally.
"I have a daughter — she's 14 years old. I have cousins that are teenagers that hang out at the malls that like to go and do things that they should be able to enjoy, but we have fear," Greene said.
DeLaronde compiled what was shared during the sessions to put together the community impact statement she will deliver in court.
She understands Skibicki will receive a prescribed sentence but hopes Joyal takes note of what the community as a collective has said.
"Taking note of that in his sentencing, I think, is important because it becomes part of the public record. And once it's part of the public record then we can really advocate. We have the evidence to advocate for systemic changes."
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.
You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.
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With files from Caitlyn Gowriluk and Bryce Hoye