Police to give update on Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, unidentified victim of Winnipeg serial killer

WARNING | This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women.

Winnipeg police say they'll provide an update Wednesday on their investigation into the murder of a still-unidentified Indigenous woman by a serial killer three years ago.

The woman was given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, since her remains have never been found and she has yet to be identified.

She was among the four Indigenous women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki in 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24.

Police said their 1 p.m. Wednesday news conference will focus on their investigation into the unidentified woman's killing, but did not go into further detail.

Premier Wab Kinew will also be in attendance, a government spokesperson said.

The news conference will be livestreamed at cbc.ca/manitoba.

The update comes after remains recently found at Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, were confirmed to be those of Harris and Myran, both of whom were originally from Long Plain First Nation.

Police have previously declined to comment on whether they have information about where the remains of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe are, or whether they may be at Prairie Green or the city-run Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg, where some of remains of Contois, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, were found.

When asked last week, Premier Wab Kinew did not answer questions on whether a search would continue at Prairie Green landfill in hopes of finding Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains.

The province's decision on the future of the landfill search, which began excavations in December, will be made with the families of Harris and Myran, he said.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson told CBC News last week that the organization will push for a continued search to try to find Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe.

What do we know about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe?

Very few details about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe have been made public.

DNA tests on a jacket it's believed she wore were not enough to identify the woman, court heard during Skibicki's trial last summer, which led to his conviction on four counts of first-degree murder.

Court heard that during a May 2022 police interview, he confessed to killing the four women. He said the unidentified woman was the first he killed, in mid-March 2022. It's believed he killed the other three women between May 1 and May 15.

Skibicki said he met her outside the Salvation Army shelter in Winnipeg. There was still snow on the ground at the time, and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had just been lifted in Manitoba, he told police.

Those restrictions were lifted on March 15, 2022.

He described the woman as being Indigenous and in her early 20s, with dark patches on her skin, an average build, and short hair that didn't go past her neck.

Skibicki also said he was coming down from being high on mushrooms when he got upset with the woman after she attempted to steal from him.

After killing her, Skibicki said he put the woman's remains into a dumpster behind a business on Henderson Highway. He also gave police the name of a person he believed was the woman he had killed, but that person was later found alive.

He said after killing Harris, he returned to that same dumpster with the intention of leaving her remains inside, but it was locked.

He said he disposed of Harris and Myran's remains at another dumpster nearby, which led to their bodies being taken to the Prairie Green landfill.

Contois's partial remains were found in garbage bins behind a North Kildonan apartment on May 16, 2022.

That's also the day police say they believe the remains of Harris and Myran were transported to Prairie Green.

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.