Winnipeg judge rules trial of accused serial killer to start with jury

WINNIPEG — A judge has decided the upcoming trial of a man accused of killing four women in Winnipeg will still be heard by a jury, after the defence argued it should be heard instead by a judge alone.

Lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki told court this week that going ahead with the jury would infringe on his rights to a fair trial because of significant pretrial publicity.

The defence said there are concerns that two years of emotional and consistent media coverage may bias the jurors.

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who is overseeing the trial, ruled Friday that jurors, much like judges, are shaped by lived experiences but are able to remain partial when given sufficient direction.

“The Canadian legal system starts from the presumption that with proper instruction of the trial judge, jurors are indeed capable of setting aside previous views and are indeed capable of acting impartial,” said Joyal. 

“Impartiality does not require the juror’s mind to be a blank slate nor does it require them to abandon all previous life experiences for the purpose of the deliberation.”

The jury is scheduled to hear opening statements in the trial on Wednesday.

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. 

The partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and at a city-run landfill in 2022. Police have said they believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are at a different, privately owned landfill outside of the city. 

The location of an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, is unknown.

Countrywide protests were held after police said they would not search the Prairie Green landfill for Harris and Myran, but last month the federal and Manitoba governments committed $40 million for a search.

A U.S.-based psychologist who has studied jury bias told court this week she went over hundreds of media stories about the killings and found many used emotionally loaded language. 

Christine Ruva with the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus said persistent coverage could create an implicit bias in jurors. If a person is subjected to as few as 10 articles on a criminal case, Ruva said they become biased and it’s nearly impossible to reverse that.

Crown prosecutors took issue with Ruva’s research, which focuses on the U.S. legal system. Joyal echoed those concerns. 

The judge said the jurors who were selected last week for the trial were rigorously questioned and given specific judicial instructions. 

Court heard a handful of those selected had never heard of Skibicki or the case. 

Leonard Tailleur, one of Skibicki’s lawyers, told reporters that the judge’s decision does not change how they’ll approach the case. 

The defence has told court they plan to argue Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the deaths because of a mental illness. 

A finding of not criminally responsible means a person was incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of an act due to a mental disorder. The individual is detained in a hospital until a review board determines they are no longer a threat to the public.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2024. 

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press