A Winnipeg man has admitted to killing 4 women and said he will not face criminal charges

The trial of a Winnipeg man accused of murdering four women will now be heard by a judge alone, a change that comes after Jeremy Skibicki's lawyers said they will admit to killing the women but ask not to face criminal charges.

Given that the Crown no longer has to prove that 37-year-old Skibicki caused their death, they say they are only prepared for a judge's trial.

Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft released an update in court Monday morning, saying the changes in their case came after Skibicki's attorneys said last week they planned to plead guilty to the unlawful killings of all four women in 2022 and not face criminal charges because of his mental state. breakdown.

In 2022, Winnipeg police charged Skibicki with first-degree murder in the deaths of four women: 39-year-old Morgan Harris, 26-year-old Marcedes Mairan and 24-year-old Rebecca Contois, and a fourth unidentified woman, identified as Mashkode Bijicki. ikwe or Buffalo Woman, members of the community.

Vanderhooft said prosecutors are no longer trying to prove Skibicki committed the crimes he's accused of and instead are now looking at proving he was criminally responsible for the women's deaths.

“We have concluded that judge-only review provides the best way to ensure that this matter proceeds with the necessary flexibility — the kind of flexibility that is not always easy to achieve in a jury trial,” Vanderhooft said.

“Our decision this morning to have the judge execute the decision alone is not a reflection of our faith in the jury system, or a comment on the validity of judicial independence, or a lack of respect for any form of judicial process. We always have a role to play in constantly evaluating our case and ensuring that the trial proceeds and ends in a timely manner.”

The defense confirmed last week that it plans to argue for the first time a no-criminal defense as it presented evidence of a second attempt to throw out a jury scheduled to hear the case.

Prosecutor Vanderhooft said the Crown often agrees to a single trial in cases where it argues that it is not criminally responsible — when they are warned of the plan early in the case.

Crown Jury Chairman Glenn Joyal said he plans to call jurors to formally discharge them before the trial begins, as planned on Wednesday.

One more time.