Winnipeg man accused of killing 4 women to go to jury, judge rules

A judge has ruled that the case of a Winnipeg man accused of murdering four women in 2022 will still go to a jury after the defense tried several times to have the case heard by a judge alone.

Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Crown Court on Friday rejected a defense request that the case be heard by a judge amid concerns that publicity about Jeremy Skibicki's case had prejudiced the jury.

Attorneys for Skibicki, 37, presented arguments in court this week, days before jurors are expected to begin hearing evidence in the first-degree murder case.

“Jurors, like judges, are expected to be shaped by their life experiences in Canada's judicial system, including the media they consume, and we believe that jurors can rise to the high expectations that their role demands.” ensure a fair trial,” Joyal said in a nearly 20-minute oral ruling before a silent courtroom.

People leaned forward to hear his verdict, and the grandmother of one of the victims clenched her fists as Joyal spoke.

This week's pretrial motion was the second attempt by the defense to stop the trial from being decided by a jury after Joyal rejected a similar motion earlier this year.

The jury in the case, which was picked up last week, has yet to appear in court. They are expected to begin hearing evidence on Wednesday.

“Surreal” to see accused in court: estranged mother-in-law

Outside the courthouse Friday, Skibicki's attorney, Leonard Tyler, said the judge's ruling doesn't change anything for the defense as they prepare for a hearing next week.

“His lordship made a decision, we had strong evidence. We thought our evidence was perfect,” Tyler told reporters. “It's a long process, and here we are at step 500. We are onward and upward.”

Skibicki's attorney, Leonard Tyler, stood next to defense attorney Alyssa Moons, and spoke to reporters outside the courthouse Friday after the judge's decision to leave the trial to a jury. (Karen Pauls/CBC)

Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of three women — Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Mayran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24 — and a fourth, unidentified woman. community members name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

His attorneys said this week that they plan to argue that he is not criminally responsible for the death due to mental disorders — a position that Tailler said will be “further explained” after his trial begins Friday.

Skibicki sat quietly in court and stared ahead with ankle braces during the proceedings this week as some of the victims' family members, supporters and members of the public listened from the gallery, including Skibicki's estranged mother-in-law.

Laurie, who CBC identified only by her first name, said it was “surreal” to see the accused in court for the first time in years on Friday. He said it was a “terrifying” and “very stressful” time for his family, but he said he was relieved when the trial finally came.

“It may be hard to hear, but it's necessary,” he said, adding that he was glad the case was still being heard by a jury.

Jeremy Skibicki sat quietly in the dock Monday, flanked by his attorneys. Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Mairan, Rebecca Contois and Mashkode Bijikiikwe, or the fourth unidentified Buffalo woman. (James Culleton)

Attorneys for the accused and the Crown gave their closing arguments Wednesday only at the request of the judge, who raised concerns about the possibility of bias given how public the case has been.

Skibicki's attorneys also argued that prosecutors violated the defendant's constitutional rights by not allowing the judge to review his personal case. Certain charges, including murder, require the consent of the Crown to be heard by a single judge.

Prosecutors disputed those arguments, saying that all jurors selected to try the case told the judge they could be impartial, and that less than half had never heard of the case.

The experts were pitted against each other: the judge

The defense's motion was largely based on a survey conducted by Skibicki's legal team earlier this year, in which nearly all respondents said they had heard about the case, and the majority believed the defendant was guilty.

The court also heard from two experts called by the defense earlier this week, including a pollster whose company conducted the survey. He said the sample used was representative of Winnipeg and Manitoba.

The defense also called a U.S. expert on the effect of pretrial publicity on jury verdicts, who worked with Skibicki's defense team to develop the questions asked in the survey. He said the ramifications of pretrial publicity can be very difficult for jurors to overcome.

However, Justice Joyal said on Friday that the two defense experts appeared to be at odds with each other at times.

While the pollster said the opinions in the poll were just a snapshot of time – and people could change their opinions later with more information – the jury expert assured a juror that it was impossible to change their mind about a case once. they form opinions based on what they see in the media.

The judge also said the U.S.-based expert gave “limited weight” to his testimony because he had no experience with juries in Canada.

The judge ultimately found that Skibicki's lawyers had failed to prove the trial was “one of the clearest cases” where the Crown's consent to a judge-only trial should be dismissed.

Jurors were asked an “extraordinary number” of questions

Justice Joyal also noted that the jurors were selected to try the case “only after they had been subjected to rigorous arguments on grounds that contained an unusually large number of questions.”

Those questions, presented by Skibicki's defense attorney, included whether potential jurors had heard anything about the case, participated in protests or vigils for the victims and whether they would be open to finding someone not to face criminal charges.

Jurors also received specific instructions from the judge, including to refrain from any bias they may have and not to consider anything other than what was presented in court, including media coverage of the case, when making their decision.

Police arrested Skibicki nearly two years ago, after Contois' partial remains were found in mid-May 2022 in a dumpster near a Winnipeg apartment building. The following month, police found most of his remains at the Brady Road Landfill. South Winnipeg.

Police said their investigation revealed three other women were killed between March and May 2022 before Contois' death. Police believe the remains of Myran and Harris are at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.

They believe Mashkode Bijikiikwe was in his mid-20s, but the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.

Pre-trial motions in Skibicki's case are expected to continue next week with the Crown applying to introduce similar facts into the trial. The evidence is expected to be subject to a publication ban.