August sentencing date set for Winnipeg serial killer who murdered 4 Indigenous women

A convicted Winnipeg serial killer who targeted and murdered vulnerable Indigenous women will be sentenced next month.

Jeremy Skibicki, 37, who was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder earlier this month, will be sentenced in a Winnipeg courtroom on Aug. 28,a Manitoba Courts spokesperson said on Wednesday.

On July 11,Skibickiwas convicted of murdering three First Nations women Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24 and a fourth unidentified woman police believe was Indigenous and in her 20s. Community leaders have given that woman the nameMashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

All four were murdered between March and May 2022.

In a nearly 200-pagedecision followingaweeks-long judge-alone trial,Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyalcalled Skibicki's crimes "emblematic of much of what is associated with the tragedies that underlie the very grim reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls [MMIWG] in Canada."

Skibicki confessed to the murders during an hours-long interrogation by Winnipeg policewhere he also revealed the murders were racially motivated.He went on to plead not guilty and hislawyers argued he wasn't criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Joyal disagreed and pointed to Skibicki's confession in saying the murders weredeliberate and planned.

Investigators believe Skibicki killed Harris, Myran and Contois in May 2022 and Buffalo Woman in March that year.

The location of theremains of Buffalo Woman aren't known.

Contois' remains were recovered in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill. She was a member ofO-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.

The case has led to calls to search two Winnipeg-area landfills for the remains ofHarris and Myran both members of Long Plain First Nation who police believe arein the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.

A search of Prairie Green, initially deemed not feasible by Winnipeg police, was politicized during the 2023 provincial electionand is now set to begin later this year.

Skibickifaces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

His lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, said earlier this month he planned to review Joyal's written decision before deciding whether to appeal.