WARNING: This story contains details about violence against Indigenous women.

Family members of three First Nations women targeted by a serial killer in 2022 spoke, at times through tears, in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday morning about the devastation they’ve gone through since learning their loved ones had been killed.

Jeremy Skibicki, 37, sat staring straight ahead at his sentencing hearing on four counts of first-degree murder as one by one, relatives and advocates rose to tell the packed courtroom how the killings rattled the women’s families and sent shock waves through communities across the country.

“This has been horrific to go through,” read Elle Harris, the youngest daughter of Morgan Harris, from a victim impact statement as a family member stood at her side.

“Do you know how many times I had to listen to how my mother was murdered?”

Court also heard from First Nations leaders during the sentencing hearing, who described how the women’s killings took an emotional and psychological toll even on community members not directly related to the victims.

“The heinous crimes committed by Mr. Skibicki have left deep scars on First Nations communities,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said, pausing to hold back tears as she read from a community impact statement.

Skibicki was found guilty on July 11 of first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman whom community members have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. His crimes carry an automatic life sentence.

Harris, 39, and Myran, 26, were both members of Long Plain First Nation. Contois, 24, was from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River. Police believe Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe was an Indigenous woman in her 20s.

All four women were killed in Winnipeg starting in mid-March to May 2022, when Skibicki was arrested.

The sentencing hearing was held at the request of the Crown, to allow the victims’ families and the community an opportunity to provide impact statements. Sentencing hearings don’t typically happen after a first-degree murder conviction because of the automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

Giganawenimaanaanig — formerly known as the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee — created an impact statement on behalf of the wider community after holding engagement sessions in Winnipeg, Brandon, The Pas and Thompson that were attended by about 60 people.

Before making his own remarks, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal asked Skibicki to stand up in his spot in the prisoner’s box.

“No thank you,” Skibicki said, not moving from his seat.

“Ask him to stand up,” Joyal told the sheriffs standing nearby, before Skibicki rose to his feet and the judge asked if he had anything he wanted to say.

“No,” Skibicki replied, no sign of emotion on his face.

In handing down the sentence, Joyal noted the “inadequacy” of the mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years for first-degree murder, which doesn’t allow for multiple counts to be served one after another following a recent Supreme Court decision.

“Make no mistake, Mr. Skibicki: because of the current state of the law, the only available sentence that I can impose today will regrettably not adequately reflect the gravity of these offences and your moral culpability,” Joyal said.

“My hope is that any eventual parole panel will take very, very careful note of the evidence in this case, my reasons for decision, the voices you heard today and now my comments in closing this sentence.”

Skibicki confessed to the murders while he was being interrogated by Winnipeg police in 2022, telling them the killings were racially motivated.

During the trial, which was heard before a judge alone, Skibicki’s lawyers argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Joyal disagreed, saying comments Skibicki made during his confession showed the murders were deliberate and planned.

Contois’s partial remains were found in garbage bins near Skibicki’s apartment and at the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg.

A search for Harris’s and Myran’s remains — believed to be at the Prairie Green landfill just outside the city — is expected to start in the fall.

The location of Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe’s remains is unknown.

Support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Immediate emotional assistance and crisis support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national hotline at 1-844-413-6649.

You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.