‘Appropriate, necessary:’ court to hold special hearing for family of serial killer’s victim By: Chris Kitching Posted: 10:04 AM CDT Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025 Last Modified: 6:59 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025 Updates

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A possibly unprecedented court sitting will be held Aug. 15 to hear from the family of a First Nations woman whose killer was sentenced for four slayings before she was identified as one of the victims.

Relatives of Ashlee Shingoose — known only as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, for more than two years — didn’t get an opportunity to address the court alongside other families when serial killer Jeremy Skibicki was sentenced a year ago.

“Holding a hearing… is both appropriate and necessary in these exceptional circumstances.”–Court of King’s Bench

“The court has agreed that holding a hearing to receive and validate the victim and community-impact statements relating to a now-identified victim in a concluded first-degree murder case is both appropriate and necessary in these exceptional circumstances,” Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench said in a news release.

“The court has had to reflect on both the legal parameters and institutional duties and opportunities that this situation presents for the purpose of providing a fair process that both enhances public confidence and promotes institutional reconciliation.”

The news release described it as “extraordinarily unique circumstances.”

The Court of King’s Bench agreed to hold the hearing after a request by the Crown. Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who sentenced Skibicki, will preside over the hearing.

The court was told Skibicki will not attend, but a lawyer will be there on his behalf.

Peter Kingsley, a criminal defence lawyer and executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba, confirmed he will represent Skibicki at the hearing. He declined to comment.

“It is understood that Mr. Skibicki’s trial is finished and that nothing will or should impact the legal jeopardy of Mr. Skibicki,” the court said in the news release. “With the trial concluded, there is no jurisdiction for the court to either order or insist that Mr. Skibicki or counsel be present at this special hearing.”

The sitting will give the Shingooses the opportunity “to acknowledge the dignity of the victim and make real the suffering of, and impact on, the victim’s family,” the court said.

Impact statements by relatives of the three other First Nations women — Rebecca Contois, 24, Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — and one on behalf of the community were presented when Skibicki was sentenced in August 2024.

Convicted of four counts of first-degree murder, he was given four concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years. Shingoose’s remains have not been found.

“This upcoming hearing will be an emotional and deeply personal moment for our family.”–Family of Ashlee Shingoose

“This upcoming hearing will be an emotional and deeply personal moment for our family, as we are given the opportunity to present our victim-impact statements before the court — an opportunity that should have been granted long ago,” the Shingoose family said in a statement released through the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

“While Ashlee was previously identified only as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman), we are grateful that her identity has now been formally recognized, allowing her voice and our pain as a family to be acknowledged in a meaningful way.”

The Shingooses said they hope the hearing brings some measure of peace and affirms the dignity and humanity of their “beloved” daughter.

“We thank everyone who has supported us throughout this long and painful journey — and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, to the court, and to all those who continue to stand with the families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people,” the family said.

Brandon Trask, an associate professor of law at the University of Manitoba, said he has never seen a situation where the court, long after sentencing an offender, held a special sitting for “retroactive” victim and community-impact statements.

“Realistically, because first-degree murder comes with a mandatory life sentence without parole eligibility for a minimum of 25 years, there would be no impact on the length of the sentence for Jeremy Skibicki in this case,” he said.

“While I understand that these are tragic and unique circumstances, it is important to guard against the risk of this situation setting a potentially problematic precedent.”

Subject to any potential appeal process, the legal system emphasizes the need for finality, which is why trial courts usually lose jurisdiction over a matter once it has concluded, he said.

“Generally speaking, adding to the trial court record after the end of a case could lead to an argument that other aspects should be reopened,” Trask said. “If that happens on a broader scale with regard to a multitude of matters, our legal system would risk grinding to a halt.”

“While I understand that these are tragic and unique circumstances, it is important to guard against the risk of this situation setting a potentially problematic precedent.”–Brandon Trask

The slayings happened between March and May of 2022. Shingoose, then 30, was from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation in northern Manitoba.

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Police announced in March that Shingoose was Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe. The breakthrough was based on a post-conviction interview with Skibicki and testing of DNA found on a pair of pants worn by Shingoose.

The Manitoba government recently said a search for her remains will take place at the city-run Brady Road landfill.

Contois’ remains were recovered from a garbage bin near Skibicki’s apartment in North Kildonan, where he killed the women, and the same landfill in 2022.

Remains belonging to Harris and Myran were recovered from the privately run Prairie Green Landfill, just north of Winnipeg, during a months-long excavation and search that recently concluded.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris 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.