Trial of Accused Serial Killer in Winnipeg to Begin with Jury Selection

A judge has decided that the trial of a man accused of killing four women in Winnipeg will still be heard by a jury.

Jeremy Skibicki’s lawyers had requested that his jury trial, scheduled to start on May 8, be heard by a judge alone instead.

The defense argued that the extensive media coverage over two years surrounding the high-profile case may have influenced the jurors.

An American psychologist, who has studied jury bias, testified in court this week that the news reports on the killings of the four women have been consistent and emotionally charged.

Skibicki’s legal team plans to argue that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths due to a mental illness.

Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified fourth woman identified by Indigenous leaders as Buffalo Woman.

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The remains of Contois were discovered in a bin and at a municipal landfill in 2022. Police suspect that the remains of Harris and Myran are located in a separate privately owned landfill outside of the city.

The whereabouts of the unidentified woman remain unknown.