Judge rejects accused serial killer’s bid to quash one of four murder charges

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This article was published 16/04/2024 (551 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A judge has dismissed a motion by accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki to quash one of four murder charges against him just two weeks before he is set to stand trial before a jury.

Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth as-of-yet unidentified woman killed in March 2022, who Indigenous leaders have given the name Buffalo Woman.

Skibicki’s lawyers argued Tuesday the charge involving Buffalo Woman should be quashed as there is both no body and no name to identify her, making the count a “nullity,” or a charge of no legal effect.

“I have determined the count is not a nullity, such that it should be quashed,” Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal ruled following a 40-minute hearing Tuesday afternoon.

“The detail in (the charge) provided sufficient information for the applicant to enter a not guilty plea (last November),” he said.

“As in all first-degree murder charges, the trier of fact will be required to consider, and consider carefully, whether the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of the offence, including the fact the applicant caused the death of an unidentified human being, Jane Doe, beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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A limited publication ban prohibits disclosing discussion of evidence to be heard by the jury at trial.

Jurors are expected to begin hearing testimony in the trial in early May.

The remains of Myran and Harris are believed to be buried in Prairie Green Landfill, a private site north of Winnipeg.

Last month, the provincial and federal governments committed $20 million each to searching the landfill.

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.