The Wrap: Ex-wife at Skibicki trial, thousands of speeding tickets, beleaguered foster home operator responds
Plus: First female player inducted into the Football Manitoba Hall of Fame

The ex-wife of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki recounted her violent marriage with the man during his murder trial on Thursday.

The woman said Skibicki would have sex with her while she was unconscious and once threatened to have sex with her corpse “if anything happened to (her).”

The testimony was part of a “similar fact” motion prosecutors say will show Skibicki’s treatment of his ex-wife and another woman shared “strikingly similar” characteristics with his subsequent killings of four women.

Courts reporter Dean Pritchard heard her testimony.

Winnipeg police issued more than 14,000 tickets in the first six weeks of photo-radar enforcement in a construction zone on the Perimeter Highway at St. Mary’s Road.

The highest recorded speed was 76 km/h over the limit, which carried a set fine of $2,040. Some drivers received multiple tickets.

Meanwhile, motorists can expect more traffic enforcement — and mandatory alcohol screening — on highways across Manitoba over the May long weekend.

Chris Kitching reports.

A for-profit company that ran nine foster homes and two specialized group homes is fighting back after the province cut ties with it for allegedly providing cannabis to kids in its care.

Spirit Rising House Inc. put out a 16-page report defending itself, saying there is “secret and implied consent” in the child welfare system for youth in foster care placements to use cannabis, alcohol and hard drugs.

Legislative reporter Carol Sanders looks into the company’s claims.

Andrea Backlund has always been a trailblazer on the gridiron.

Backlund, who spent 15 years as a leader in women’s football, will pioneer another chapter in the sport in August when she becomes the first female player to be inducted into the Football Manitoba Hall of Fame.

Sports reporter Joshua Frey-Sam talks to her about the honour.