#Skibicki

[rapeculturerealities]

Jeremy Skibicki receives four life sentences | CTV News

Convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki has been handed four life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years in the murders of four Indigenous women.

The 37-year-old man sat quiet and emotionless in the prisoner’s box of a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench courtroom Wednesday. He spoke only once when Chief Justice Glen Joyal asked if he had anything to say.

“No,” he said.

In July, Skibicki was found guilty of murdering four Indigenous women: Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified victim given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

The conviction carries with it an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. That sentence was imposed on Skibicki for each of the four counts of first-degree murder. Joyal noted due to rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada these life sentences must be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

[coochiequeens]

Operations have paused at a Canadian landfill where the bodies of at least two Indigenous victims of an alleged serial killer are believed to be buried, amid mounting frustration that authorities are not doing enough to recover the bodies.

Police in Winnipeg announced last week they had charged Jeremy Skibicki, 35, with the murder of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, of Long Plain First Nation, months after he was accused of killing Rebecca Contois, 24, from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.

He was also charged in the death of a fourth unidentified victim, to whom the local Indigenous community have given the name Buffalo Woman(Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe).

Earlier this week, police said they believed the remains of Harris and Myran were buried in the Prairie Green landfill, but ruled out a recovery of the bodies, saying that the size of the site and lack of resources made the task unfeasible.

On Thursday afternoon, the Manitoba premier, Heather Stefanson, and the Winnipeg mayor, Scott Gillingham, told reporters the landfill has temporarily stopped accepting garbage at the request of officials, raising the prospect that a search could be possible.

Stefanson said it was important to “take this pause, and we get this right”.

Police chief Danny Smyth said that while Contois’s body was recovered from another landfill, the scale of the Prairie Green Landfill would complicate any search efforts. He said that since the bodies were probably placed in the landfill in March, nearly 10,000 truckloads of garbage have been dumped, and that trash at the landfill is compacted with 12 metres of heavy mud. Smyth also said investigators have no clear starting point to search the sprawling facility.

But Indigenous leaders say police are not doing enough, and called on Smyth to resign.

“This search is feasible and similar efforts have succeeded in the past despite even more obstacles,” the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief, Kathy Merrick, said. “How do you look these young girls in the eyes and tell them you’re sorry, but you won’t even attempt to recover their mothers who fell victim to a serial killer?”

On Thursday, the chief of Long Plain First Nation, where Harris and Myran were from, also joined calls for the Smyth’s resignation

“The message you are sending to the greater community, to the non-Indigenous community is that Indigenous women don’t matter and that if someone wants to target or hurt our women they can dump them in the landfill and no one will look for them,” said Kyra Wilson. “Right now we have two young girls that have asked and begged for their mother to be found, to be brought home.”

Cambria and Kera, the daughters of Morgan Harris, have become outspoken critics of how police have handled the situation.

“You are telling us we don’t matter and you are still dropping trash on top of us like we don’t matter, and that’s disgusting,” Cambria told reporters.

Kera said the families wanted a “reasonable comprise” but had not yet received an acknowledgment from police.

“Not only have you refused to search these landfills, you have presented no alternative routes for how we can give these women peace.”

[eve-was-framed]

A serial killer of Indigenous women is on trial and has plead not guilty because he did what he did due to “mental illness”

“In an unexpected development on Monday, his lawyers said their client has admitted the killings but will argue he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Families of the victims say they want him held responsible for the murders.

Jeremy Skibicki's victims - Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, Rebecca Contois, 24, and a fourth unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman - are all First Nations women.

Prosecutors accuse the Winnipeg native, who is in his mid-30s, of taking the women home and sexually assaulting them before murdering them between March and May of 2022.”

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is urging Manitoba's lieutenant-governor to establish an independent inquiry into the killings of four Indigenous women in the province.

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said she had a productive meeting with Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville on Wednesday.

The meeting came days after the AFN passed a resolution seeking an inquiry to assess the police investigation and provincial response to the killings.

Jeremy Skibicki was found guilty of first-degree murder last week in the deaths of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman the Indigenous grassroots community refers to as Buffalo Woman.

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[70s80sandbeyond]

Robbie Skibicki on Australian Survivor

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-says-it-has-not-withdrawn-ceasefire-talks-after-latest-israeli-attacks-2024-07-14/

[newsfromstolenland]

"Manitoba First Nations leaders are calling for the resignation of Winnipeg police chief Danny Smyth.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), alongside Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson, called for Smyth to step down Thursday, due to the police service’s refusal to search the Prairie Green Landfill for remains of three victims of an alleged serial killer.

Smyth has said that the remains are likely in the landfill north of the city, but that no search is planned, due in part to the amount of time that has passed and the fact that there’s no known starting point for a search.

The manager of the site has also said a search would be difficult at the private landfill, due to the constant movement at the site, but said the company is cooperating fully with police and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

Police said 10,000 truckloads of refuse were dumped in the area since May, when the murders of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified victim, who is being referred to as Buffalo Woman (Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe), are believed to have taken place. Trash at the landfill is also compacted with heavy mud at a depth of about 12 metres.

In an interview with 680 CJOB’s The Start on Thursday morning, prior to the call for his resignation, Smyth said the ability to search the landfill is outside of police expertise.

“The circumstances at Prairie Green are way different than Brady (Road Landfill),” the police chief said.

“Brady was within our skills. Prairie Green is not — it would be closer to a very hazardous archaeological dig, and that’s not a skill that we have.”

Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. He was previously charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rebecca Contois, whose remains were found earlier this year at the Brady Road landfill.

“Many communities, organizations, and public leaders across the nation, are asking for a thorough search to be conducted at the Prairie Green landfill,” Long Plain First Nation, the home community of both Harris and Myran, said in a statement Thursday.

“The families of the three women deserve to have closure. Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe deserve better. Leadership will continue to advocate to have them found and brought back to their home fires.”

Long Plain’s Wilson will appear with AMC Grand Chief Cathey Merrick at a news conference in Ottawa, where Indigenous leaders and families of the victims have been calling for federal assistance with the situation in recent days, on Thursday."

Article link

To be clear, police chief Danny Smyth is refusing to search for the bodies of three Indigenous women who are victims of a (for legal reasons, alleged) serial killer, despite knowing that they are likely there. If the women in question were white, they would be searching that landfill by now. No question.

Their names are Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified woman who is being referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (meaning: buffalo woman).

We should all be outraged.

tagging: @allthecanadianpolitics

[antinativefaves]

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

Police do not plan to search Brady Road facility

If the bodies of white girls were found in this facility, they'd be searching it.

This is 2022.

Indigenous women deserve better than this sort of apathy.

[usa-journal]

Relief as Canadian Serial Killer Found Guilty in Deaths of Four Women

Tearful cheers erupted in a packed Canadian courtroom on Thursday as a judge found Jeremy Skibicki guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women. The verdict brought some sense of justice to the grieving families and communities, but for Jeremy Contois, whose younger sister Rebecca was among the victims, the relief was tempered.

"I feel a little sense of relief," Mr. Contois said, though he acknowledged that true closure would not come until Skibicki is formally sentenced.

A Landmark Verdict

In his oral verdict, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal dismissed the defense's argument that Skibicki was not criminally responsible for the murders due to schizophrenia. Prosecutors successfully argued that Skibicki deliberately killed Rebecca Contois and three other women in 2022 in crimes that were calculated and racially motivated.

The guilty verdict marks a significant moment for Canada's Indigenous community, which has long struggled with violence against women. The court was packed with the victims' families and friends, who displayed photos of their loved ones as a poignant reminder of the human cost of these crimes.

The Victims

Skibicki's victims include Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and Rebecca Contois, who was 24. The fourth woman remains unidentified and has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, meaning Buffalo Woman, by Indigenous elders. Throughout the trial, a buffalo head sat on a red cloth near the prosecutors in tribute to the unnamed victim.

Details of the Crimes

According to court documents, Skibicki targeted and exploited vulnerable women he met at local homeless shelters in Winnipeg, a city of 820,000 in the prairie province. He assaulted the women, strangled or drowned them, and then committed sex acts on them before dismembering their bodies and disposing of them in garbage bins.

The killings went undetected for months until a man looking for scrap metal in a bin outside Skibicki’s apartment found partial human remains in May 2022 and called police. These remains were later identified as those of Rebecca Contois. More of her remains were discovered at a city-run landfill the following month. In police interviews, Skibicki admitted to killing Contois and three other women, revealing murders that authorities had not yet discovered.

Community Impact

Judge Joyal emphasized the profound impact the case has had on the entire Manitoba community, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The guilty verdict was a step towards justice, but the search for the remains of two of the victims, Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, continues. A formal search of a Winnipeg landfill is scheduled for this autumn after months of pressure from their families.

A Plea for Justice

Krista Fox, a family member of one of the victims, highlighted the broader significance of the verdict. "We, as First Nations people, are not statistics. Every single one of us has a name and a family that misses us dearly," she said.

Skibicki's lawyers argued that he was not aware of the severity of his actions due to schizophrenia, claiming he was hearing voices that instructed him to commit the crimes. However, prosecutors demonstrated that Skibicki was fully aware of his actions, which were "intentional, purposeful, and racially motivated." They supported this with DNA forensic evidence, surveillance footage, and testimony from Skibicki’s ex-wife, who detailed a history of physical abuse.

A Step Forward

The case has unearthed deep wounds within Canada’s Indigenous community, which has faced a high number of cases of missing and murdered women. Winnipeg, in particular, has been a focal point of this crisis. According to a 2019 inquiry, Indigenous women in Canada are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women.

Despite the relief of the guilty verdict, many in the community, including Rebecca's brother, Jeremy Contois, continue to grapple with the senselessness of the violence. "Why did he have to do it?" he asked. "I wish I knew that."

As the community seeks healing, the focus remains on ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated and that justice continues to be served for all victims.

[rapeculturerealities]

‘Rage, despair, disgust’: Canada reels from killings of Indigenous women | Canada | The Guardian

The arrest of an alleged serial killer who targeted Indigenous women in central Canada has prompted fresh anger and despair that the country has once again failed in its promises to protect vulnerable women and girls.

Police in Winnipeg announced late on Thursday they had charged Jeremy Skibicki, 35, with the murder of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, of Long Plain First Nation, months after he was accused of killing Rebecca Contois, 24, from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.

Skibicki was also charged in the murder of a fourth, unnamed victim who is believed to be Indigenous. The bodies of the three latest alleged victims have not yet been found.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Rebecca Contois

In early 2022 (the exact timeline is unclear), 24 year old Rebecca Stacey Contois was reported missing by her family. Rebecca was a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation (Crane River) in western Manitoba, Canada, but had spent most of her life living in the city of Winnipeg. Rebecca was a young mother known for her soft-spoken kindness and her sense of humour.

Her partial remains were later discovered on May 16, 2022 in a garbage bin behind a Winnipeg apartment building. Two days later, on May 18, 2022, 35 year old Jeremy Skibicki was arrested and charged with her murder. Police believed that some of her remains may have already been collected in a garbage pick-up and on June 2nd they began a search of one of the local landfills. Two weeks later, the police announced that they had recovered more of her remains in the landfill.

Rebecca’s family struggled to heal. In a recent statement released by her family, they stated: “The last couple of months have been incredibly exhausting…We have experienced paralyzing grief. Pure devastation. I don't think we have ever cried buckets of tears, painful wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-anxiety, a type of grief never experienced before." The Indigenous community of Winnipeg did what they could to support Rebecca’s family, organizing vigils, smudging, drumming, and prayers

Their grief was given a new dimension on December 1, 2022, when the Winnipeg Police Department announced that they do not believe that Rebecca was Skibicki’s only victim and charged him with the murder of three other Indigenous women.

[tepkunset]

It is worth noting that this is a man who was not at all quiet about his views on social media. This is why it's dangerous to just blow-off these fascists as "harmless trolls".

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Around 50 people gathered at Confederation Building in St. John's on Saturday to demand the search of a landfill in Manitoba where the remains of two missing Indigenous women are believed to be buried. 

"It needs to be done, we need to stop dehumanizing Indigenous women," said Faye Joseph, a member of Memorial University's Circle of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students,and the lead organizer behind the protest.

"It has to be done for reconciliation to happen."

Protests have been spreading across the country, with Saturday's rally the latest public call for a search of the privately-run Prairie Green landfill.

The push for a search began last December, when Winnipeg police said they believed the remains of both Morgan Harris and Mercedes Myran were taken to the landfill. Jeremy Skibicki is charged with first-degree murder in their deaths, as well as in the killings of Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. Skibicki's trial is scheduled for 2024. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[mariaangels]

Wojciech Skibicki

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/death-toll-brazil-downpours-climbs-83-2024-05-06/

[holly-childs]

Gnarled Roots performed at Traumabar und Kino, Berlin for Creamcake/3HD's daylightsavings party October 2022 (2x2am). Photographs by Visvaldas Morkevicius

Music, text, and concept by Holly Childs & Gediminas Žygus Choreography by Antanas Lučiūnas Performed by Antanas Lučiūnas, Kani Marouf, and Holly Childs Typography by Wei Huang Costumes by Limo Hair Music videos by Marijn Degenaar, Nichi Baratto, Elif Ozbay, Tomasz Skibicki, and Mark Prendergast Lighting design by Theresa Baumgartner