The leader of a First Nations advocacy group has told a Winnipeg courtroom that the actions of a convicted serial killer have left deep scars and will be felt for generations.
Families and supporters of four Indigenous women killed by Jeremy Skibicki are addressing him for the first time during a sentencing hearing.
A judge convicted Skibicki last month of first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings, which put another spotlight on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs told court that the case has underscored the need for justice and accountability.
Some family members are expected to provide their own statements later today.
A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
The killings came to light when a man looking for scrap metal found the partial remains of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois in a dumpster in Skibicki’s neighbourhood. More of her remains were discovered at a city-run landfill.
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During a police interrogation, Skibicki admitted to killing Contois and the three other women: Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and an unidentified woman an Indigenous grassroots community has named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
Skibicki told police the killings were racially motivated and cited white supremacist beliefs.
At trial, a defence lawyer said Skibicki admitted to the killings but was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Glenn Joyal said he agreed with a psychiatrist who testified for the Crown that Skibicki didn’t have a mental disorder that affected his ability to know the killings were morally wrong.
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