Winnipeg Police Inspector Shawn Pike provides an update on the ongoing murder investigation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thursday, December 1, 2022.
John Woods/AP
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John Woods/AP
Winnipeg Police Inspector Shawn Pike provides an update on the ongoing murder investigation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thursday, December 1, 2022.
John Woods/AP
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Police allege on Thursday that a Canadian man formerly charged with the murder of an Indigenous woman also killed three other women – two also confirmed to be indigenous and one identified suppose.
Jeremy Skibicki was charged May 18 and taken into custody after part of the body of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois was found in a trash can near an apartment building. Contois lives in Winnipeg but is a member of the O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as the Crane River.
Police at the time said they did not rule out the possibility of additional victims. On Thursday, they said Skibicki is now charged with first-degree murder in three other deaths in the same short time in the spring.
Police say Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, were killed in the first week of May. Both women live in Winnipeg and are members of the Long Plain First Nation.
Police said a fourth woman, unidentified but believed to be Aboriginal, is believed to have been killed around March 15. They released a photo of a jacket similar to the one she was wearing.
Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth said: “It’s worrisome whenever there’s any form of mass murder. “It concerns Indigenous women. We are very sensitive to the entire investigation and investigation into missing and murdered Indigenous women and the recommendations that come from there.”
Police have released some details about their investigation, but said they have no leads on any other potential victims.
“I don’t know if they were a specific target, but clearly the victims in this case are indigenous women,” Smyth said.
Smyth said authorities had not yet found the bodies of the other three victims but said they had enough evidence to charge Skibicki with first-degree murder.
He declined to divulge further details as the investigation is still ongoing.
“We have a lot more work to do to protect the lives of Indigenous women and girls,” said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham.
“Right now there’s too much homelessness, addiction and poverty and that puts him in vulnerable positions.”
