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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'Screaming into silence': Parents of serial killer victim address special hearing
WINNIPEG — The father of a First Nations woman who died at the hands of a Winnipeg serial killer told a special court hearing his family was left to "grieve in pieces" for three years before she was identified. The family and community of Ashlee Shingoose presented victim impact statements Friday during the hearing in Manitoba's Court of King's Bench. It came one year after Jeremy Skibicki was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life for killing Shingoose and three other First Nations women. Albert Shingoose described travelling from his home community of St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation in northeastern Manitoba on a mission to comb Winnipeg streets looking for his missing daughter in 2022. "Sometimes my legs and feet could not take even one more step," he wrote in the statement read in court by St. Teresa Point Chief Raymond Flett. Shingoose stood by holding an eagle feather. Later that year, police announced the arrest of Skibicki in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and a fourth unidentified woman. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, Shingoose said he came to the horrific conclusion that his kind, loving daughter was likely the unknown victim. "We knew something terrible had happened. We felt it in our hearts," he said. "It felt like no one heard us. No one acted. "For the longest time, Ashley remained unidentified, while we were out here screaming into silence." Indigenous grassroots community members gave the unidentified victim the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, and it was used to refer to her during the trial. Police announced this year that interviews with Skibicki after the trial, along with DNA evidence, led them to identify Buffalo Woman as Ashlee Shingoose. The hearing learned Friday that Skibicki reached out to investigators in December, saying he wanted to help them identify Buffalo Woman. Police travelled to an Edmonton prison and showed him photos of Shingoose. Skibicki identified her as his first victim. He met the 30-year-old three times, brought her back to his apartment and killed her, said Crown prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere. Skibicki also told police Shingoose had been wearing black leggings and a Baby Phat branded jacket. Leggings collected during the investigation and a cigarette butt in Skibicki's home had DNA from Skibicki and the unknown victim. As a gesture, police gave the jacket to the Shingoose family before the court hearing. The gesture meant so much, said her mother, Theresa Shingoose. "It was a very heavy day for me." One of the last voice messages Ashlee Shingoose sent to her mother was played at the hearing. She spoke of trying to better her life and wanting to be the best parent for her children. One of her children died before Shingoose was identified as the victim, said Albert Shingoose, adding the girl struggled with her mother's disappearance. Flett told court the killing has deeply affected the community, and beyond. "This tragedy has left our women and girls living in fear. (It's) opened old wounds from the many losses our people have endured. The harm is not only to one family, not only to one nation, but to all other nations." Premier Wab Kinew announced this week a preliminary search was underway at the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg, where police believe the remains of Shingoose were taken. Skibicki admitted to the killings but unsuccessfully argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental illness. Court heard he targeted his victims at homeless shelters, disposing of their bodies in garbage bins. His crimes came to light after the remains of Contois were discovered in a garbage bin in May 2022. More of her remains were later found at the landfill. Remains of Harris and Myran were discovered this year at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg. During Skibicki's trial, a ceremonial buffalo headdress sat at the Crown's table to symbolize that the unknown victims had not been forgotten. It was on display again in court Friday. The Crown argued for the hearing to give the Shingoose family the same opportunity to address the court that other victims' families had. "It is a step that is intended to give Ashlee Shingoose and her family the same protections the criminal justice system promises other Canadians. It is a step that is intended to give Ashlee Shingoose and her family the respect, humanity and dignity they deserve," said Lagimodiere. Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who oversaw Skibicki's trial, said the hearing is unique but a necessary and tangible step toward "judicial reconciliation." "The lack of precedent for this hearing should not give us cause to invalidate it." He said it's the court's responsibility to seek out and adopt new approaches in its relationship with Indigenous Peoples. He thanked the family for their bravery, honesty and sharing their "private pain in the most public of ways." Skibicki was not at the hearing. Because it wasn't a continuation of the trial or sentencing, Joyal said the court had no jurisdiction to order the killer to attend. Skibicki's lawyer said his client believed attending would bring further harm to the Shingoose family. Albert Shingoose said he wanted to look at Skibicki and address him in person. "I would say to him, 'I want an eye for an eye." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025. Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘An eye for an eye'
Surrounded by loved ones in a Winnipeg court Friday, the father of a slain First Nation woman spoke of the pain of his loss and the desperation it caused, his voice taut with sadness and anger. The Manitoba's Court of King's Bench held an unusual hearing Friday to hear from the family and community of Ashlee Christine Shingoose, a year after Jeremy Skibicki was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years for killing her and three other First Nations women in 2022. 'It's been a tough, tough year for us family… The court failed me,' her father, Albert Shingoose, told King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, in a voice that boomed through the room, distraught over the fact his daughter's killer did not appear at the hearing. Albert and Theresa Shingoose, parents of Ashlee Shingoose, who was murdered by Jeremy Skibicki, are greeted by supporters outside the Manitoba Law Courts after they presented their victim impact statements to the court on Friday. 'If he was here, your honour, I would have said to him, 'I want an eye for an eye.'' Shingoose, a 30-year-old from St. Theresa Point First Nation, was identified after the trial as one of Skibicki's victims. She is believed to have been killed in March 2022. During the trial and sentencing last year, Shingoose, whose remains had yet to be identified, was referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name given by Indigenous elders. 'It's so painful, what has happened,' Shingoose's mother Theresa Shingoose told court, her voice halting and quiet. She said it was healing when police, this week, gave the family the jacket her daughter was last seen wearing. In a written statement, which was read by St. Theresa Point Chief Raymond Flett, Albert Shingoose said he travelled to Winnipeg from the family's home in St. Theresa Point after his daughter disappeared, spending months searching for her. Ashlee Shingoose 'We knew something terrible had happened. We felt it in our hearts,' Flett read. 'We felt like we were left to search on our own.' Albert Shingoose long believed his daughter was Skibicki's unidentified victim, but said no one would listen. 'For the longest time, Ashlee remained unidentified, while we were out here, screaming into silence,' Flett read. The chief also read out a statement on behalf of the community. Albert Shingoose, father of Ashlee Shingoose, is comforted outside the Manitoba Law Courts before they entereto present victim impact statements to the court on Friday. 'Her death has broken our hearts and shaken our community,' said Flett. 'To the person responsible, you took Ashlee from us. But you'll never take away her spirit. We will speak her name, we will remember her love, we will keep her memory alive. You have brought darkness, but her light will continue to shine in our hearts forever.' As Shingoose had yet to be identified, her family and friends did not get the chance to provide statements to the court at Skibicki's sentencing, as the families of Rebecca Contois, 24, Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, did. Winnipeg police homicide detectives used DNA, in conjunction with Skibicki identifying a photos of Shingoose as his first victim after his sentencing, to confirm who Buffalo Woman was. After she was publicly identified in March, Crown prosecutors raised the idea of the special sitting to put the family and community's victim impact statements on the court record, to which Joyal agreed. Shingoose family and supporters of Ashlee Shingoose, gathered outside the Manitoba Law Courts before they entered to present victim impact statements to the court. Shingoose's body has not yet been found, but a preliminary search began at the Brady Road landfill, where police believe the remains of Shingoose were taken, Premier Wab Kinew said earlier this week. Skibicki, who's in his late 30s, targeted women at homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins. He admitted the killings to homicide detectives, after the partial remains of Contois were discovered by a passerby in a bin in May 2022. He gave police the name of an individual he thought was Buffalo Woman, but she turned out to be alive, and the unidentified woman's name remained unknown. The rest of Contois's remains were found at Brady landfill in 2022, while the remains of Harris and Myran were recovered earlier this year at the Prairie Green landfill, north of the city. Addressing the packed courtroom before the proceedings began, Joyal said the court had no jurisdiction to order or insist the serial killer attend. Albert Shingoose, father of Ashlee Shingoose, gestures in front of a banner for missing person Tanya Nepinak as he leaves the Manitoba Law Courts Friday. Among those in the gallery were family members of Skibicki's other victims and their supporters, as well as senior Winnipeg police officials. Lawyer Peter Kingsley, who's the executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba, appeared as the killer's counsel at the hearing. He said Skibicki did not attend out of a 'firm belief' his presence would further harm his victims' loved ones. Joyal said holding the hearing, which had 'no or little precedent,' was appropriate and necessary in the exceptional circumstances of the case, to give Shingoose's family and community 'some measure of comfort.' Joyal also said the special hearing served as an opportunity for reconciliation between the justice system and Indigenous people, in a case that has been emblematic of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Manitoba and across Canada. 'This hearing presents this court with an opportunity to try to respond to one of the inherent challenges at the heart of this crisis — that so many Indigenous women and girls are both murdered and missing, that they simply disappear, leaving behind broken families and devastated communities,' said Joyal. A small group of women drum for Albert and Theresa Shingoose, parents of Ashlee Shingoose, as they leave the Manitoba Law Courts Friday. 'This reality beseeches us — where circumstances allow — to make special efforts, to use the tools available to the courts, to honour and commemorate identity, to acknowledge personhood.' Erik PinderaReporter Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik. Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
'Her name is Ashlee Shingoose'
Albert and Theresa Shingoose, the parents of Ashlee Shingoose, read to CBC News Albert's victim impact statement prepared for court about the devastation caused by her disappearance and murder. Ashlee was one of four victims of a serial killer, but the only unidentified one during a trial in 2024. Her identity was discovered after the case concluded.
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
‘Eye for an eye': Father of serial killer victim addresses special court hearing
CTV's Danton Unger speaks with the family of Ashlee Shingoose about the news of a landfill search in Winnipeg for their daughter's remains. CTV's Danton Unger speaks with the family of Ashlee Shingoose about the news of a landfill search in Winnipeg for their daughter's remains. The father of a First Nations woman who died at the hands of a Winnipeg serial killer three years ago says he's still angry and frustrated. A special court hearing for the family and community of Ashlee Shingoose is being held in Manitoba's Court of King's Bench. It comes a year after Jeremy Skibicki was convicted of the 2022 killings of Shingoose and three other First Nations women. albert shingoose Albert Shingoose, the father of Ashlee Shingoose speaks with media outside the Law Courts in Winnipeg on Aug. 15, 2025. (Milan Lukes/CTV News Winnipeg) He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but Shingoose was only identified after his trial. Albert Shingoose told court he wanted to look Skibicki in the eye and address him in person. But the killer isn't at the hearing and isn't required to attend. 'I would say to him, 'I want an eye for an eye,'' the father said while holding an eagle feather, flanked by other family and supporters. Skibicki's lawyer told court his client believed attending would 'bring further harm' to the Shingoose family. Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Friday's hearing is unique but necessary in order to give the woman's family the same opportunity as relatives of the other murdered women, who were able to present victim impact statements before Skibicki was sentenced. At the time of the trial, Shingoose was referred to in court as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name given to her by Indigenous grassroots community members. Ashlee Shingoose hearing Supporters of Ashlee Shingoose drum outside the Law Courts in Winnipeg on Aug. 15, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) Police said earlier this year that new information after the trial led them to identify the unknown victim as Shingoose. Premier Wab Kinew announced this week a preliminary search was underway at a Winnipeg landfill where police believe the remains of Shingoose were taken. Skibicki's trial heard he targeted the women at homeless shelters in Winnipeg and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins. He admitted to the slayings but argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental illness. The remains of Rebecca Contois were first discovered in a bin in May 2022. More of her remains were then found at the Brady Road landfill. The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were discovered this year at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg. Kinew said the search of the city-run Brady Road site started with a small team excavating an area of the site. It's also conducting ground-penetrating radar tests to narrow down a search area. shingoose support Supporters of Ashlee Shingoose drum outside the Law Courts in Winnipeg on Aug. 15, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025. Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
'Screaming into silence': Ashlee Shingoose's father tells court of desperation in search for her
Social Sharing The family of a woman murdered by a serial killer in Winnipeg more than three years ago got the chance Friday to tell a court how deeply her death affected them — and, after years of the woman's identity not being known, they finally got to say her name before a judge. "Her name is Ashlee Shingoose, and we are blessed to be her parents," said a victim impact statement written by her father, Albert Shingoose, read in a Winnipeg courtroom by the chief of their First Nation in an unusual hearing, held a year after Ashlee Shingoose's killer was sentenced. Albert Shingoose told court how desperate his family felt when his daughter went missing, and how he travelled from their home in St. Theresa Point Anisinew Nation, in northeastern Manitoba, to Winnipeg, where he spent months searching the streets for her. "It felt like no one heard us. No one acted. And for the longest time, Ashlee remained unidentified while we were out here, screaming into silence," Chief Raymond Flett read from the statement before Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal. But it wasn't until March of this year that police finally shared publicly what Albert Shingoose said he believed all along: his daughter was the lone unidentified victim of Jeremy Skibicki, who was last year convicted of murdering the woman now known to be Ashlee Shingoose and three other First Nations women. "We knew something terrible had happened," Flett read from the statement, with Shingoose's parents and other supporters behind him. "We felt it in our hearts." Prior to being identified, Ashlee Shingoose was known only as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. The 30-year-old was the first of the four women killed, and is believed to have died in March 2022. Skibicki was also convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — both originally from Long Plain First Nation — and Rebecca Contois, 24, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. While the other women's families and communities had the opportunity to read impact statements when Skibicki was sentenced in August 2024, Ashlee Shingoose's identity was at that time still unknown. Skibicki was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, after a weeks-long trial last year that heard he targeted vulnerable First Nations women before killing them and disposing of their remains. He unexpectedly confessed to killing the four women during a police interview in May 2022, after Contois's partial remains were found in a garbage bin in Winnipeg. Skibicki initially gave police the name of a person who he believed was his first victim, but that woman was found alive, leaving the question of the victim's true identity to linger. Police said they were later able to confirm Shingoose's identity through DNA testing and Skibicki identifying her in a photo. While Contois's remains were found shortly after her death, and remains belonging to Harris and Myran were discovered more recently during a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill, a search for Shingoose's remains at the city's Brady Road landfill has yet to begin. Premier Wab Kinew says the test phase has been started in that search. 'A chance to bring forward closure' Before the courtroom opened to the public on Friday, Joseph Douglas Flett — a cousin of Ashlee's mother, Theresa Shingoose — sat outside with a black box. Inside it were a pipe and tobacco he brought to smudge the room, a spiritual cleaning for the family to read their impact statement. Joseph Flett said he remembers Ashlee Shingoose for her warmth, kindness, and being a quiet but upfront person. Her family has demonstrated great courage to come this far, and speaking at court will take them a step forward in healing, he said. "Albert and Theresa have a chance to bring forward closure to what they have been through over the last few years," said Joseph Flett. "For the rest of us who are watching … we are able to see forward movement for the missing women and children." He acknowledged how rare it is to let a family speak in court after a sentencing is completed, but said he hopes this won't be the only case where it happens. Other families affected by the same circumstances should get the same benefit, he said. Bringing Ashlee Shingoose's body back to her home community of St. Theresa Point First Nation will be imperative for her family to find closure, said Flett.
