Videos show serial killer with three living victims, later disposing of remains By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 6:02 PM CDT Monday, May. 13, 2024

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This article was published 13/05/2024 (880 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Security video seized by police shows admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki with three of his four victims in the days prior to their deaths and, later, disposing of their remains in neighbourhood garbage bins, a court heard Monday.

The video evidence was among 2,000 hours of residential and commercial security video seized by police following Skibicki’s May 17, 2022 arrest in the slaying of Rebecca Contois and his admission that he had not only killed Contois, but three other women as well, Winnipeg Police Service Sgt. Paul Barber testified.

“Because we had no idea of the exact timeline in terms of the events that unfolded, we went back to seize as much video surveillance as possible,” Barber testified.

Police began a search for Contois’ remains the morning of May 17, 2022, after a man searching for scrap metal found the woman’s severed head wrapped in a plastic bag in a garbage bin in the 200 block of Edison Avenue, at about 5:30 a.m.

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings of Contois and two other Indigenous women — Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth still-unidentified woman given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) by Indigenous leaders.

Skibicki admits killing the women, but is arguing he should be found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.

In one video recorded April 30, 2022 at a Disraeli Freeway homeless shelter, Skibicki can be seen waving in Harris’s direction before joining her at a table and eating together. The video shows Harris wearing the same jacket and zippered sweatshirt found after her death in the living room of Skibicki’s McKay Avenue apartment and an apartment garbage bin, respectively.

Skibicki told investigators Harris was barred from the shelter a short time later for drinking, a claim verified by shelter staff and a security video showing Harris exiting the shelter shortly before 2 a.m., May 1, 2022. Harris was wearing the same clothing and carrying a reusable Dollarama bag later found in Skibicki’s apartment.

Skibicki told police he disposed of Harris’s remains in a metal garbage bin behind a nearby Midas Muffler shop on Henderson Highway. In security video provided to court Monday, Skibicki can be seen rolling a small residential garbage bin toward the metal garbage bin, removing the black plastic-wrapped contents from the smaller bin and awkwardly placing the bundle in the larger bin.

Security video recorded May 4, 2022, shows Skibicki and Myran walking through a commercial parking lot on Henderson Highway, a short walk from his home. The video shows Myran wearing items later found in Skibicki’s apartment and outdoor garbage bin, including a black-and-red baseball cap and running shoes.

Security video recorded behind the Midas Muffler shop two days later showed Skibicki wheeling a small garbage bin to the same bin where he had disposed of Harris’s remains and heaving another bundle agreed to be Myran’s remains into the larger bin.

Skibicki had more contact with Contois than the other victims, Barber said, with investigators learning he had attempted to add her name to his lease on March 8, 2022.

Security video seized by police but not shown in court showed Skibicki and Contois shopping for groceries at a Henderson Highway Safeway store on May 3, 2022, and on May 4 walking through the same commercial parking lot he had walked through with Myran.

Security video recorded shortly before 2 a.m., May 16 — just 28 hours before the first of Contois’ remains were found — showed Skibicki disposing of a package in a garbage bin near his home.

Police have no security video evidence to identify the victim known as Buffalo Woman, Barber said.

Skibicki told investigators he believed he killed the woman around the time pandemic restrictions were lifted, which police confirmed was March 15, 2022, Barber said.

Police didn’t start looking for Buffalo Woman until May 18, 2022, by which time all security video would have been erased or overwritten, Barber said.

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The defence did not contest Skibicki’s identity in any of the videos and had no questions for Barber on cross-examination.

Trial testimony Tuesday is expected to focus on DNA evidence seized from Skibicki’s apartment and other locations.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.