A Winnipeg court heard a search for clues to a “serial killer” found on the killer's computer

WINNIPEG – A police investigator tasked with examining the computer of a Winnipeg man who confessed to killing four women searched the Internet for what a serial killer meant.

Riley Johansson testified at the murder trial that she spent months online searching Jeremy Skibicki's computer for the time of the 2022 murders of four local women.

“My goal was to provide some of this data … to help narrow down the search for any additional victims,” ​​Johannson, a Winnipeg police crime intelligence expert, said Tuesday in the third week of the trial.

Skibicki, 37, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of 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.

Skibicki's lawyers have admitted he killed the women, but say he will not face criminal charges because of his mental illness.

Crown prosecutors said the killings were racially motivated and that Skibicki preyed on vulnerable victims at a homeless shelter.

The court heard that Skibicki attacked his victims, strangled or drowned them and dumped their bodies in neighboring rubbish bins. Both were dismantled.

Johannson said part of his job was to corroborate information Skibicki gave to police after he was arrested in May 2022 for killing Contois, whose partial remains were found in a dumpster near Skibicki. Later, most of his remains were found in a landfill.

Skibicki admitted to police that he had killed three others, but did not know the names of the two women.

Johansson said he created a picture of each victim based on the search history on Skibicki's computer.

The court heard the Buffalo woman was Skibicki's first victim. Skibicki told police he killed her on March 15, 2022.

In the days that followed, Johansson found among some Internet searches: “Do fingerprints appear on plastic wrap?” said. and “How well does bleach remove fingerprints?”

Another search came up: “How long do venues typically keep security videos?”

The court heard earlier that police tried to obtain video evidence of Skibicki with the Buffalo woman. But by the time officers learned he was dead two months later, any possible surveillance video may have been destroyed.

Johansson also said he found a computer search related to “explosive anger disorder” after the Buffalo woman's death.

A Google search on Skibicki's computer after killing Mayran, his third victim, turned up a “serial killer reference,” Johansson said.

A search for “eternal rest” was also conducted on Wikipedia. This phrase is considered a Christian prayer when someone dies.

Johansson said many requests for garbage collection, missing persons reports and news were also found in the days after the murder.

The court heard Johansson passed on a significant amount of data linking Contois to Skibicki in February 2022.

Facebook messages from Skibicki to a friend, read in court, describe her first meeting with Contois.

“Another chick was found on the bus,” Crown prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft said in a report read aloud.

Police found an aliased Facebook account on Skibicki's hard drive linked to his Internet address.

During cross-examination, Skibicki's attorneys cited other religious searches found on Skibicki's computer, including Bible verses that were not included in Johansson's analysis.

“It's my responsibility to use discretion on the data,” Johansson said.

The court also heard about Skibicki's conversations with his ex-wife over Facebook messenger in May 2022 regarding his mental state. The woman previously testified that Skibicki sexually and physically abused her during their marriage.

In those messages, Skibicki admitted to having bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder, a drug addiction, and was “on a path to self-destruction.”

The federal government has a victim support line for missing and murdered Native women and girls: 1-844-413-6649. The Hope for Health hotline, which supports Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, is also available to all Indigenous peoples in Canada: 1-855-242-3310.

This Canadian Press report was first published on May 21, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, Canadian Press