Lawyers are expected to make closing arguments Monday in the trial of a Winnipeg man who admitted to killing four women.
Jeremy Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the 2022 case.
His lawyers acknowledged he killed the two women but said Skibicki should not be criminally responsible due to mental illness.
Prosecutors said the killings were racially motivated and that Skibicki targeted Indigenous women in homeless shelters.
The month-long trial heard details of how Skibitsky beat the women, strangled or drowned them and dumped their bodies in nearby trash cans.
A forensic psychiatrist testified for the defense that Skibic suffered from schizophrenia, while a court-appointed expert said Skibic did not suffer from a serious mental health disorder.
Prosecutors called Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, who said he believed Skibicki killed the women out of perverted sexual interests and knew his actions were wrong.
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Skibicki, 37, is accused of killing Rebecca Contois, 24, Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and an unidentified woman known to the grassroots Indigenous community as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or “buffalo woman.”
The murder came to light when some of Comtois's remains were found in a trash can near Skibic's home in May 2022. The following month, more of her remains were found at a city-run landfill.
Harris and Mylan's remains are believed to be buried at another landfill. It is not clear where the remains of “Buffalo Woman” are buried.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
