Lawyers argue that Winnipeg jury would be biased in trial of accused serial killer

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A superior court in Winnipeg is set to rule Friday on whether Jeremy Skibicki, the man charged with the first-degree murders of four First Nations women and accused of dumping their bodies in landfills, is to be tried by a judge alone because of concerns that a jury would be biased against him.

Mr. Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to all counts. While a 12-member jury has been selected and is scheduled to begin hearing opening arguments on May 8, Mr. Skibicki’s lawyers raised a constitutional challenge this week about the fairness of a jury trial.

The defence also revealed its future plans to argue that Mr. Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the acts he allegedly committed, owing to mental illness. The strategy, which is not under a publication ban, was mentioned briefly during Wednesday’s arguments.

For three days this week, as Mr. Skibicki sat silently with his feet shackled and his back facing the families of the alleged victims in attendance, Court of King’s Bench Justice Glenn Joyal heard from the defence that there has been too much pretrial publicity for the case to be decided by an impartial jury.

The lawyers were rejected in January on a similar motion, after they had argued during pretrial deliberations for the right to be granted a judge-alone trial.

On Monday, the court was presented the results of an opinion poll commissioned by the defence that sought the perspectives of Manitobans about the case during a four-day period in February. Of the 906 people polled by Mainstreet Research, 73 per cent of respondents who were aware of the case said they had a negative impression of Mr. Skibicki. Additionally, 81 per cent of people said that, based on what they saw, read or heard about the case, they believed Mr. Skibicki is guilty.

Two experts – Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research; and Christine Ruva, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida – testified via video call about the poll. Mr. Maggi spoke on Monday about the veracity of his firm’s data and sample size, while Dr. Ruva was cross-examined on Tuesday about the poll questions which she helped formulate.

“It doesn’t take a lot to bias jurors,” Dr. Ruva told the court, adding that she was aware of at least 405 news stories about the case by the start of this week, which she described as “highly biasing,” including on an “unconscious” level.

“The jurors who have heard about the case contaminate the jurors who haven’t,” she said. “They are going to interpret the facts based on their pre-decision, based on what they believe to be true.”

The judge questioned Dr. Ruva about alternatives. “So, the solution is what?” he asked her. “Get rid of jury trials in high-profile cases?”

She suggested that trials, such as that of Mr. Skibicki, be moved to a different jurisdiction. Another option, Dr. Ruva said, would be to accept jurors only after questioning their prior knowledge of a case extensively.

Crown attorneys challenged Dr. Ruva’s testimony. They said her research is primarily based on mock trials and that she has no experience with the Canadian justice system. The Crown also argued that, in Canada, there is not nearly as much information released in the media in advance of trials as there is in the United States.

“Even when there is significant pretrial publicity, not everybody is found guilty,” prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft said.

But defence lawyer Alyssa Munce told the court this is “an unprecedented case” for Manitoba, which calls for exceptional measures. “Mr. Skibicki was in the news constantly,” she said, adding that sentiments about the case ignited a national outcry, including rallies and protests held across Canada last year.

“It was an election platform. It was on billboards. There were apologies by the premier,” Ms. Munce said. “This is four homicides of four Indigenous women. That is not a run-of-the-mill murder case.”

Late last week, a jury vetting process lasted about 1½ hours before Court of King’s Bench Justice Richard Saull, who had stressed the requirement to keep an open mind when hearing the case. A jury of three men and nine women was selected.

During the vetting process, the judge asked each candidate seven questions that were agreed upon by the Crown and defence to assess their potential bias. At least five of the selected jurors said they had not heard of the case prior to being in court.

Police have alleged Mr. Skibicki is a serial killer who murdered 26-year-old Marcedes Myran, 39-year-old Morgan Harris, 24-year-old Rebecca Contois, and an unidentified woman whom Indigenous elders have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, meaning Buffalo Woman, in 2022.

Ms. Harris and Ms. Myran, both from Long Plain First Nation, were killed in the spring of 2022 before being disposed of at Prairie Green landfill, a garbage dump north of Winnipeg, police have said.

Mr. Skibicki, 35 at the time, was arrested in May, 2022, after Ms. Contois’s partial remains were found in a garbage bin outside an apartment building in Winnipeg. Her additional remains were later discovered at the separate Brady Road landfill in the southern outskirts of the city. She was a band member of Crane River First Nation.

Police have not shared information about the whereabouts of Buffalo Woman’s remains, but have said she was Indigenous and in her mid-20s.