Legal Contention: Advocates Urge Judge to Consider Not Criminally Responsible Status for Confessed Serial Killer

In the ongoing trial of Jeremy Skibicki, a Winnipeg man who has confessed to the murders of four women, closing submissions are now in progress. Skibicki's defense attorneys assert that he was afflicted with schizophrenia at the time of the women's deaths in 2022. Court proceedings revealed Skibicki's claim to a psychiatrist that he felt compelled by a divine mission to commit the killings. Despite admitting to the acts, Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His legal team implores Chief Justice Glenn Joyal to consider a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental illness.

Conversely, Crown prosecutors, slated to present their arguments later today, allege that the murders were racially motivated, with Skibicki specifically targeting Indigenous women at homeless shelters. Throughout the month-long trial, grisly accounts emerged detailing Skibicki's assaults on the victims, involving strangulation or drowning, and the disposal of their remains in local garbage bins.

Testimony from a forensic psychiatrist retained by the defense attests to Skibicki's schizophrenia diagnosis, while a court-appointed expert contests the presence of a significant mental health disorder. Crown witness Dr. Gary Chaimowitz posits that Skibicki's actions stemmed from perverse sexual interests, asserting his awareness of their wrongfulness.

Skibicki, aged 37, stands accused in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and an unidentified woman known to the Indigenous community as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. The discovery of Contois's partial remains in a neighborhood garbage bin in May 2022 initially brought attention to the case, with further remains unearthed at a municipal landfill the following month. Harris's and Myran's remains are believed to be at a separate landfill, while Buffalo Woman's whereabouts remain unknown.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 10, 2024.