tansi ninôtemik,
Trigger Warning: Disturbing content regarding details of violence against Indigenous women
In a recent Manitoba case, Jeremy Skibicki was convicted of having killed four Indigenous women on July 11, 2024. [1] The Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Skibicki murdered Buffalo Woman, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and Rebecca Contois. [2] The victims’ friends and family attended the trial everyday, and Justice Joyal acknowledged the impact of the prosecution on Manitobans. [3] While Justice Joyal explained that Skibicki would receive the due process of the justice system (a chance to prove his innocence), Justice Joyal also recognized that the case is emblematic of the situation for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. [4]
The four women were likely targeted because they were vulnerable Indigenous women (as the Crown argued). [5] Skibicki demonstrated a racist perspective through his confession. [6] He admitted that the murders were racially motivated, stating that he was worried about the “extinction of the white race.” [7] He also stated his concern about “racial purity.” [8] He justified murder with his belief that “extreme desperate measures needed to
be taken for the survival of my people.” [9] Skibicki’s confession illustrates the racism and tragedy that Indigenous women face in Canada, as well as their vulnerability to becoming targets for violence.
Skibicki confessed, on video, to murdering the four Indigenous women in similar ways. [10] Skibicki strangled Marcedes Myran and Rebecca Contois to death and drowned Buffalo Woman and Morgan Harris in the bathtub. [11] He then had intercourse with their bodies. [12] To dispose of their bodies, he dismembered them or placed them in plastic bags. [13] He kept some of their possessions in his apartment afterwards, as “tokens.” [14] It is difficult to imagine a more horrific case for Indigenous women.
Despite Skibicki’s detailed confession to voluntarily murdering these women (after having talked to a lawyer in person), [15] he raised the defence, in s. 16 of the Criminal Code, of not being criminally responsible for the murders due to a mental disorder. [16] Ultimately, Justice Joyal held that Skibicki’s not criminally responsible (NCR) defence due to a mental disorder failed. [17] Although the NCR defence is controversial, the lack of success for the defence in the Skibicki case indicates the high threshold required for NCR defences.
While Skibicki was convicted, his four life sentences without a chance of parole for 25 years must be carried out concurrently, meaning that he will have a chance for parole after 25 years. [18] The concurrent sentencing is meant to respect the human dignity of the accused, but it remains controversial, especially in gruesome crimes like those of Skibicki. [19]
Justice Joyal acknowledges that criminal law does not answer important questions about why people commit barbaric and inhumane acts. [20] Justice Joyal contends that the task of the court, to answer factual and legal questions, is still a valuable form of justice, an attainable one. [21] Can Canadian criminal law address the problem of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls? While Skibicki was convicted, his case was one with a videotaped confession. Does criminal law often achieve justice when violence against Indigenous women is not accompanied by video confessions? Is “attainable justice” enough?
ekosi.
The ReconciliACTION Team
Citations
[1] R v Skibicki, 2024 MBKB 113 at para 513 [Skibicki].
[2] Ibid at para 512.
[3] Ibid at para 508.
[4] Ibid at para 22.
[5] Ibid at para 19.
[6] Ibid at para 17.
[7] Ibid at para 351.
[8] Ibid at para 351.
[9] Ibid at para 351.
[10] Ibid at para 10.
[11] Ibid at para 11.
[12] Ibid at para 12.
[13] Ibid at para 13.
[14] Ibid at para 14.
[15] Ibid at para 7.
[16] Ibid at para 27.
[17] Ibid at para 512.
[18] Caitlyn Gowriluk, “Should serial killers serve multiple sentences consecutively? Winnipeg case ignites debate”, CBC News, (30 Aug 2024), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/jeremy-skibicki-parole-eligibility-1.7308973> [Gowriluk].
[19] Ibid.
[20] Skibicki, supra note 1 at para 510.
[21] Ibid at para 511.
[Image] Gowriluk, supra note 18.
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