'I killed four people': Trial hears video evidence of Jeremy Skibicki at Winnipeg trial

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"I killed four people," alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki told two homicide detectives during a recorded interview played as evidence in his trial Wednesday.

Skibicki is standing trial for the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified woman who Indigenous leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

Details of the killings were heard for the first time Wednesday morning in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench during the first day of trial.

“This case is about a man’s hate-filled and cruel acts perpetrated against four vulnerable Indigenous women,” Crown prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere told the court in her opening arguments.

 Skibicki’s defence lawyers have admitted the 37-year-old accused did kill these women, but argue he should be found not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.

The Crown is asking the court to find Skibicki guilty of all four counts of first-degree murder.

Accused preyed on women at Winnipeg shelters, Crown alleges

“The Crown’s theory is that the accused devised a calculated scheme,” Lagimodiere said.

“He preyed on these women at Winnipeg shelters and invited them back to his home where he assaulted them, often sexually, and killed them… He then disposed of the women as though they were garbage.”

Lagimodiere alleged Skibicki invited Buffalo Woman to his apartment on March 15, 2022 – where he drowned her in his bathtub and “did horrible things to her body” before disposing of her.

She further alleged over a two-week period in May 2022, Skibicki invited Contois, Harris and Myran to his apartment where he killed them, ‘defiled’ and disposed of their bodies.

In an agreed statement of facts, the court was told DNA of Contois, Harris and Myran were found in Skibicki’s apartment.

Skibicki’s defence has admitted to the killings, however, the details of the crimes have not been agreed to in court.

'I killed four people,' accused said in video evidence played at trial

A video of Skibicki’s interview with two homicide detectives following his arrest was played in the courtroom as evidence Wednesday. 

 “I really just want to see how far, you know, I could take things because the criminal system is a joke,” Skibicki tells the two detectives in the video.

“I was driven to do stuff like this because I was so, so spent emotionally. I killed four people.”

During the roughly seven-hour interview – excerpts of which were played in court – Skibicki tells detectives in detail how he killed the four women, two of whom he told the detectives he dismembered in his apartment bathtub.

“I felt kind of like a wave or rush of guilt, and I just sobbed. But the more sick I got, the less I, you know, cared about things," he said.

He told the detectives that he had been coming off mushrooms when he killed the first woman and had been on meth when he killed the other three victims.

When asked why he killed the women, Skibicki told the officers it was racially motivated and  believed he was stopping what he described as 'the extinction of the white race.'

"For them, it was their time. Yes, it was my decision," he said, saying he believes he was called by God. "It was something I decided to do because I thought it was right."

Skibicki told the officer he believed he would have continued killing if he hadn't been caught.

911 call describes moment man found remains in garbage bin

Skibicki's arrest was prompted by a grisly discovery in a North Kildonan back lane in May 2022.

During the trial, the Crown played a recording of a 911 call from a man who had found the partial remains of an Indigenous woman while looking through garbage bins.

"This is some serious murder," the man can be heard telling the 911 operator. "I'm really shaken."

The remains were later identified as Contois. Skibicki was arrested the following day.

Det. Greg Allan, one of the two homicide detectives who interviewed Skibicki, testified in court about Skibicki’s demeanour when he was arrested.

“He was quite calm and composed,” Allan said, testifying Skibicki did not appear to be having hallucinations or was in an apparent psychotic state when he was arrested.

The subsequent investigation led police to discover further remains of Contois in Winnipeg's Brady Landfill in 2022. Police believe the remains of Myran and Harris are somewhere in the Prairie Green Landfill outside the city.

The location of Buffalo Woman’s remains is unknown.

The trial continues Thursday.

There is a support line available for those impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+ people: 1-844-413-6649.

The Hope for Wellness Hotline for Indigenous people, with support in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, is also available 24/7 in Canada at 1-855-242-3310.