Victim impact statement on behalf of community planned for sentencing hearing of Winnipeg serial killer

An organization that advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and two-spirit people plans to submit a victim impact statement on behalf of the community at the sentencing hearing for a convicted Winnipeg serial killer.

Giganawenimaanaanig, formerly the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee, will hold community engagement sessions in Winnipeg, The Pas, Thompson and Brandon in the coming weeks to speak with members of the public to find out how the case impacted them.

"All Manitobans had an interest in seeing justice, so we really want to hear the voice of all Manitobans, definitely families that have been impacted by loss, but as well, our other relatives who have stood beside us as allies," said Sandra DeLaronde, project lead for the implementation committee.

"I think their voice needs to be heard as well."

Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal last week found Jeremy Skibicki, 37, guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women: Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified woman given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

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. While police have never determined the identity of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, they believe she was an Indigenous woman in her 20s.

All four women were killed in Winnipeg from mid-March to mid-May in 2022.

Joyal said while delivering his judgment that the trial had an "undeniable and profound" impact on Indigenous and non-Indigenous people across Manitoba. 

Sentencing hearings don't typically happen after a first-degree murder conviction, because it carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. 

However, the Crown requested the sentencing hearing to allow victim impact statements.

"It's important to recognize that in Manitoba alone, there have been over 400 missing and murdered loved ones," said DeLaronde, whose organization was created to work toward implementation of the 231 calls for justice in the 2019 final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"So reading that into the record, having it validated by institutions such as the courts … really, I think, will speak to the need for change — and change that is centred on what the community needs, not what someone prescribes to them."

Donna Bartlett, the grandmother of Marcedes Myran, is on board with the idea of a community impact statement. She also plans to write her own victim impact statement.

"It has impacted a lot of people, even around the world. It's a big story," she said.

"With the community putting their impact statement on how it affected them, that would be really good." 

Contois's remains were discovered in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill, but the remains of Harris and Myran are believed to be buried at the private Prairie Green landfill, just north of the city.

Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Morgan Harris, said finding her remains and giving her a proper burial are the next steps for her family.

"We've had this guard up for so long, and constantly fighting," she said. 

"We'd like to be able to bring it down now and be able to feel everything."

A search of Prairie Green for the remains of Harris and Myran is expected to begin this fall.

The province has also set up a healing lodge for the families at another location to support them during the process.

Right now the centre is just one open room, but when it's done, the families of Harris and Myran will have separate spaces within the lodge.

A test search of the landfill has been done and it provided valuable information about what the families and searchers will be up against, Robinson said. 

"Receipts within that garbage are legible, so they were very happy to report that to us," Robinson said. 

Elle Harris, Morgan's youngest daughter, said Skibicki's conviction isn't the end of the battle.

"As great as this news was, we have to remember the situation behind it: four girls got murdered," she said. 

"We might have put that monster away, but there's still so much more to be done. This is only just a sliver."

Joyal delivered a summary of his decision in the case last week. The complete written judgment is over 150 pages long and will be released this week, he said.

The date for the sentencing hearing hasn't been set yet.