Winnipeg serial killer's ex-wife talks abuse, sexual assault and strange behavior

By Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press, 16 May 2024.

Families and supporters of the four women who were murdered in 2022 arrive at Manitoba Law Courts on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, for the trial of Jeremy Skibicki in Winnipeg. The ex-wife of a confessed serial killer is expected to testify Thursday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG – The ex-wife of confessed serial killer Jeremy Skibicki testified Thursday about their abusive marriage and how he had multiple identities. The woman said she met Skibicki at the Siloam Mission homeless shelter in Winnipeg in February 2018 when he was struggling with drug addiction. She said Skibicki was with two other men and the group invited her back to Skibicki's home. “He said he really liked it … referring to me,” said the 44-year-old Metis woman, who asked not to be named. Skibicki, 37, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 killings of four local women: Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Mairan, 26; and the unidentified woman was referred to by indigenous leaders as Mashkode Bijikiikwe or Buffalo Woman. Crown prosecutors said the murders were racially motivated and that Skibicki had eaten the victims in their homeless shelters. Skibicki's lawyers have admitted he killed the women, but say he will not face criminal charges because of his mental illness. The court heard that Skibicki attacked his victims, strangled or drowned them and dumped their bodies in neighboring rubbish bins. Two women were dismembered. Prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft said the testimony of Skibicki's ex-wife was relevant to the trial because her experiences were very similar to those of the victims. “We argue that in this case, perhaps more than in any other domestic situation, the heightened violence and homicides require a full contextual explanation,” Vanderhooft said. Dressed in a dark dress and tinted glasses, Skibicki's ex-wife spent nearly two hours detailing their volatile relationship. After their first date, she started staying at Skibicki's house because she was using methamphetamine and had nowhere to go. The violence started early, he said. “He used to keep me (in his house) and spit and laugh at me,” the woman said softly. “I sat there naked for days.” Once, she said, Skibicki tried to suffocate her with a pillow. “I said, 'Go ahead, but people know where I am.'” The violence eventually became sexual, she said. She was prescribed sleeping pills for post-traumatic stress disorder and Skibicki forced her to take the pills every night, she said. “Jeremy liked it when I was on my medication … he would have sex with me when I slept.” Vanderhooft asked how the woman knew she had been sexually assaulted. She said she would wake up sick and bleeding. “He told me he was doing it,” he added. “His fetish held me like a rag doll, limp and lifeless sexually.” The two got married in September 2018. Skibicki proposed to the crowd at the pharmacy, she said, and she accepted because she felt stuck. Once Skibicki attacked him with a knife, and on another occasion he suffered a concussion. Skibicki also showed her violent pornography and offered to try to show it again, she said in the lawsuit. A year after their marriage, the woman filed for an order of protection against Skibicki, seeking drug addiction treatment. Police arrested Skibicki in 2022 after a man searching for scrap metal found Contois' partial remains. Most of the woman's remains were found in a landfill the following month. During police questioning, Skibicki confessed to killing three other women. The court heard the Buffalo woman was murdered in March that year. Harris and Myran were killed in May. Police said they believe the remains of Harris and Mayran are at another landfill. Buffalo Woman's whereabouts are unknown. The ex-wife said she received Facebook messages from Skibicki at the time. On May 9, he apologized if he went to prison. “He told me he couldn't tell me what he had done. “But if he admits what he did, he will run away,” he said. During cross-examination by the defense, the woman was asked about a May 10 text message from Skibicki who said she was being manipulated by Satan. The woman said she did not remember seeing the message. Attorney Leonard Tyler further questioned the woman about Skibicki's mental health. According to her, Skibicki seems to have multiple personalities and believes that wives should oblige their husbands. “Does he often use the Bible to justify your obedience to him?” Tyler asked. “That's right,” he said. The court also heard the woman told police after Skibicki's arrest that she believed he had “a direct connection to God”. The federal government has a victim support line for missing and murdered Native women and girls: 1-844-413-6649. The Hope for Healing hotline, with support in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, is available to all Indigenous people in Canada at 1-855-242-3310. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 16, 2024. 39
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