"'Shattered" doesn't explain how I feel': Sentencing for serial killer hears from families of murdered women
Sentencing hearing in Winnipeg court hears about horrific impact of Jeremy Skibicki's crimes
WARNING: This story contains details about violence against Indigenous women.
For some, it's the sight of a garbage truck on the street that can suddenly bring them back to the worst day of their lives; for others, something as ordinary as a bathtub now fills them with dread.
Those are just a few of the ways the daily lives of the families of women targeted by a serial killer in 2022 have been upended since their loved ones were killed, a Winnipeg court heard Wednesday.
Jeremy Skibicki, 37, sat staring straight ahead at his sentencing hearing at Court of King's Bench on four counts of first-degree murder as one by one, relatives and advocates rose to tell the packed courtroom how the killings rattled the women's families and sent shock waves through communities across the country.
"This has been horrific to go through," Elle Harris, the youngest daughter of Morgan Harris, read from a victim impact statement as family stood at her side. "Do you know how many times I had to listen to how my mother was murdered?"
Elle Harris was among a dozen relatives of the women Skibicki was convicted on July 11 of murdering who spoke in vivid detail about how the killings have devastated their families and changed their lives forever.
That included family members who said they had to drop out of school or quit their job because the ordeal became too much to handle. Others described struggles including post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol addiction and having to explain to the young children in their family what happened to their loved ones.
"'Agony' is not painful enough. 'Shattered' doesn't explain how I feel. 'Infuriated' doesn't even come close to the amount of rage I find myself trapped in," said Allana Contois, the oldest sister of Rebecca Contois, another of the women Skibicki murdered.
"'Justice' is just a word for comfort. It doesn't bring her back."
Cambria Harris, another of Morgan Harris's daughters, told court she feels disgusted thinking about how her mom died, "knowing that this monster who stole her life would have stared at her children's names tattooed on her body, would have known she was loved."
Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal also noted the "powerful and touching efforts" many made to ensure the unidentified woman Skibicki killed — who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman — wasn't forgotten.
That included comments from Donna Bartlett. She spoke about the shock and horror of learning her granddaughter Marcedes Myran had been killed, and about how she hoped Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's family learns who she is soon — before turning to face Skibicki.
"You were found guilty, but that is just not enough. You are still living and she is gone.
"[As] the last words of Buffalo Woman were to you, 'f--k you,'" Bartlett yelled at Skibicki as she finished speaking, drawing thunderous applause in the courtroom and echoing a comment made by Cambria Harris, as she referenced what Skibicki told police the unidentified woman said to him as he killed her.
The sentencing also heard from the mother of Skibicki's ex-wife. The younger woman testified during his trial about the abuse she suffered during their relationship as part of similar fact evidence introduced by the Crown.
The mother, whom CBC News is not naming, spoke of how that experience and the trial have affected her daughter, who now suffers from severe migraines, seizures triggered by trauma, and stress and post-concussion syndrome.
"Her smile that used to light up the room and the hearts of those it was directed at hasn't been seen very often over the last few years. We hope that time will bring her back to those that deserve to have her in their lives," the woman's mother said, her daughter by her side.
Sentence inadequate: judge
Before making his own remarks, Chief Justice Joyal asked Skibicki to stand up in his spot in the prisoner's box.
"No thank you," Skibicki said, not moving from his seat.
"Ask him to stand up," Joyal told the sheriffs standing nearby, before Skibicki rose to his feet and the judge asked if he had anything he wanted to say.
"No," Skibicki replied, no sign of emotion on his face.
In handing down the sentence, Joyal noted the "inadequacy" of the mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years for first-degree murder. The parole ineligibility periods on multiple counts must be served concurrently, following a 2022 Supreme Court decision.
"Make no mistake, Mr. Skibicki: because of the current state of the law, the only available sentence that I can impose today will regrettably not adequately reflect the gravity of these offences and your moral culpability," Joyal said.
"My hope is that any eventual parole panel will take very, very careful note of the evidence in this case, my reasons for decision, the voices you heard today and now my comments in closing this sentence."
People in the gallery stood up and cheered after Joyal officially delivered Skibicki's sentence, in a trial the judge said he hopes can help start to dispel "some of the Indigenous community's long-standing distrust in the justice system, and that it can perhaps serve as a new beginning."
Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft said sentencing hearings often focus largely on the offender, with the victims reduced to "but a footnote" in the proceedings.
"Not today," Vanderhooft said in the courtroom, which had been smudged before the proceedings began and featured artwork representing the women killed and the impact of those deaths on the community.
"He is the personification of indignity and deserves every second that he will spend incarcerated."
'I will never say his name': victim's grandmother
Outside court, Myran's sister, Jorden Myran, said Skibicki's life sentence will "never be enough" for her.
"What he did to those women, he deserves a lot more than what was put on him today," said Jorden Myran, who struggled to fight through tears to read her victim impact statement in court before her grandmother stepped in.
Now that the trial is over, Bartlett said she won't again speak the name of her granddaughter's killer.
"He is an evil monster and I will never say his name. He has no name," she said.
Court also heard from First Nations leaders during the sentencing hearing, who described how the women's killings took an emotional and psychological toll even on community members not directly related to the victims.
"The heinous crimes committed by Mr. Skibicki have left deep scars on First Nations communities," Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said, pausing to hold back tears as she read from a community impact statement.
Outside court, Merrick said Skibicki's conduct in court showed he had no remorse for what he did.
"They called him a monster in the courtroom … and he sat there," she said. "He did not blink an eye."
The organization Giganawenimaanaanig — formerly known as the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee — also created an impact statement on behalf of the wider community after holding engagement sessions in Winnipeg, Brandon, The Pas and Thompson that were attended by about 60 people.
Advocate Sandra Delaronde, who works with Giganawenimaanaanig, told court about several of the themes that emerged through those sessions, including how the case touched on deep-seated safety concerns among Indigenous women and girls and distrust for authorities, including police.
Harris, 39, and Myran, 26, were both members of Long Plain First Nation. Contois, 24, was from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River. The woman known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe was believed to be in her 20s, and court determined based on the evidence she was also Indigenous.
All four women were killed in Winnipeg between mid-March and May 2022, when Skibicki was arrested.
The sentencing hearing was held at the request of the Crown, to allow the victims' families and the community an opportunity to provide impact statements. Sentencing hearings don't typically happen after a first-degree murder conviction because of the automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
Skibicki confessed to the murders while he was being interrogated by Winnipeg police in 2022, telling them the killings were racially motivated. He admitted to strangling or drowning the women in his bathtub before disposing of their remains in the garbage.
During the trial, which was heard before a judge alone, Skibicki's lawyers argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Joyal disagreed, saying comments Skibicki made during his confession showed the murders were deliberate and planned.
Contois's partial remains were found in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg.
A search for Harris's and Myran's remains — believed to be at the Prairie Green landfill just outside the city — is expected to start in the fall. The location of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains is unknown.
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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