Warning: This story contains details of a murder trial. Please read with care
After sitting through a gruesome serial killer trial, family members didn’t hold back as they delivered emotional victim impact statements at Jeremy Skibicki’s sentencing hearing Wednesday.
“Yes, you took her life and she will never be forgotten, for this you made yourself famous,” said aunt Valerie Moar to Rebecca Contois’ murderer in Court of King’s Bench.
“F**k you,” shouted Cambria Harris, eldest daughter of Morgan Harris, as she concluded her statement while staring at Skibicki.
One after the other, relatives and friends denounced the 37-year-old Wininpeg man for killing Harris, 39, Contois, 24, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe or Buffalo Woman, a yet-unidentified victim, between March and May 2022.
Read: Valerie Moar’s victim impact statement
During the trial, a court-appointed psychiatrist testified Skibicki was a rare homicidal necrophiliac, who hunted the women to meet his depraved physical needs.
Court heard he targeted the victims at homeless shelters and enticed them to his home, where they were physically and sexually assaulted before he killed and defiled their bodies – sometimes for hours. He disposed of their remains in nearby garbage bins.
His defence of not criminally responsible due to mental defect, which Joyal rejected in finding Skibicki guilty of four counts of first-degree murder on July 11, angered community members, according to a prominent Indigenous advocate.
“The defence was perceived as an attempt to evade responsibility,” said Sandra Delaronde of Giganawenimaanaanig (formerly the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee) that collected opinions in the Manitoba capital of Winnipeg and smaller provincial centres of The Pas, Thompson and Brandon.
“The emotional toll of this defence strategy has added to their suffering, as it forced them to relive the trauma and confront the possibility that justice might not be served.”
Read: Cambria Harris’ victim impact statement
While the Indigenous community united in its grief, Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs admitted it was a test.
“The heinous crimes committed by Mr. Skibicki have left an indelible scar on First Nations people,” she said while holding an eagle feather, “and the reverberations of his actions will be felt for generations.”
Skibicki showed no emotion as people wiped away tears while detailing their anger and pain. They stood at a table where the lawyers sit in front of the judge.
“Court has been very long and emotional,” said Donna Bartlett, Myran’s grandmother. “Having to sit in the courtroom with this evil monster. Having to listen to all the excuses. Listening to what that monster has done to my girl hurts.”
“I can’t look at a garbage bin or even a truck without having that really bad thought in my head,” added Contois’ brother Jeremy Contois, while reading the statement from his sister, Stephanie Contois. “It makes me sick to my stomach to have to live my life worried about what kind of monsters live out there.
“I can’t walk alone, I’m paranoid. It makes me worried about being Indigenous and I worry about my loved ones every day.”
Lori Chapman addressed Skibicki with her daughter by her side. The younger woman, who delivered damning testimony during the trial, was briefly married to the killer before the murders and testified about his domestic abuse.
“(My daughter) is not the same since suffering the brutal physical, mental and emotional attacks that she shared with her family, law enforcement, support workers, the courts and all present during her testimony …” said Chapman of the couple’s short yet volatile relationship.
“(She) now has severe migraines, seizures (called Tonic Clonic Seizures triggered from stress and trauma), Post Concussion Syndrome. (She) suffers with bouts of depression, confidence and self-worth issues that affect her daily living and quality of life.”
Read: Jorden Myran’s victim impact statement
Skibicki, whom the Crown called a White supremacist and misogynist, was sentenced to four, concurrent, mandatory life sentences with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.
But not without some drama.
He refused to stand when Chief Justice Glenn Joyal was ready to announce the sentence.
Skibicki ignored three commands from Joyal before his defence lawyer signalled for him to stand.
When the judge asked if he had anything to say, the serial killer answered, “Nope.”
Joyal said the penalty paled in comparison to the “vile, racist, sexually-motivated” crimes Skibicki committed.
“This sentence is not adequate to reflect the gravity of the offence. These were sexualized murders that targeted very vulnerable women.”
Read: Kera Harris’ victim impact statement
The crimes harmed not only their immediate families, the judge said, but also their friends, communities, First Nations and people of Manitoba.
“I acknowledge the profound grief,” Joyal added, noting the murders brought “into sharp relief” the dangers facing Indigenous women and girls.
He said he hoped the sentence would be “a new beginning” in the strained relationship between Indigenous peoples and the justice system, including the police service.
Jorden Myran, a sister of Marcedes, was too upset to read her victim impact statement – one of 14 the court received – so her grandmother took over.
“It is bad enough you murdered my sister. Then you raped and dismembered her and placed her in garbage bags,” said Bartlett while wiping away tears. “Next, you throw her into the garbage bin like old trash. Marcedes was not trash.”
“We won’t have closure until we bring her home,” added Bartlett in her own statement later. “Even a piece of her will do.”
Bartlett was referring to the upcoming, government-funded search of the Prairie Green Landfill just north of Winnipeg, which is believed to hold the remains of Myran and Harris. Only Contois’ remains were recovered as part of the investigation.
Read: Donna Bartlett’s victim impact statement
Bartlett said police “informed us that they identified Marcedes by her DNA and were not going to search the landfill because they had enough evidence” to charge Skibicki – a controversial decision that angered the victims’ families, who spent more than a year pressuring politicians to bring their loved ones home for proper burial.
Cambria’s two sisters – Kera and Elle – revealed they had trouble sleeping and eating, were often sad and tired, and unable to function at school and work.
“I am left with my confusion and my anger,” said Elle. “I am left without closure. I am left with trauma. I am left with PTSD. I am left with anxiety. I am left with depression. I am left feeling numb and hurt.
“And finally I am left without my mother to help me get through it all,” she added before leaving the courtroom in tears.
The gallery erupted in cheers and applause at the end of the hearing as Skibicki, who was shackled at the ankles, was escorted out of the courtroom by Sheriff’s officers.
“He was laughing as he walked out,” Kelly Ross, a friend of the Myran family, told APTN News. “He was at least grinning.
“That’s why I didn’t clap or cheer. I’ll never forget that smug look.”
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.
