Court to hear about search for remains as Winnipeg murder trial enters second day

Families and supporters of four slain women enter the Manitoba Law Courts for the trial of Jeremy Skibicki in Winnipeg on Tuesday, May 8, 2024. A courtroom in Winnipeg is expected to hear today testimony today about the search for the remains of the four victims of Jeremy Skibicki. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — A courtroom in Winnipeg is expected to hear testimony today about the search for the remains of the four victims of Jeremy Skibicki.

Skibicki is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of four women in early 2022.

He has admitted to the killings, but the trial now centres around the argument from his lawyers that he is not criminally responsible due to mental illness.  

Crown prosecutors allege Skibicki targeted vulnerable Indigenous women at homeless shelters in the city.

They say he assaulted the four victims at his home before killing them and disposing of their bodies.

An officer who helped search for the remains of one of the victims is expected to testify today. 

Skibicki is charged in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman.

The remains of Contois were found in a dumpster and at a landfill. 

The remains of Harris and Myran are believed to be in a different landfill. 

Police have said it’s not known where the remains of Buffalo Woman are located. 

The Canadian Press