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CBC
05-05-2025
- CBC
First Nation mourning serial killer victim Ashlee Shingoose holding 1st Red Dress Day event
A northern Manitoba First Nation is holding its first Red Dress Day event on Monday as the community mourns one of its own. In March, Ashlee Shingoose of St. Theresa Point First Nation was identified as the previously unknown victim of a Winnipeg serial killer. She'd been given the name Buffalo Woman, or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, by Indigenous community members. Shingoose, who police believe was murdered in March 2022, is among several known missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from the Island Lake and Red Sucker Lake region of northern Manitoba, about 450 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Red Dress Day has been observed on May 5 since 2010 as a day to honour and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. Organizer Tanya Dawn McDougall says Shingoose's case is part of why St. Theresa Point is marking Red Dress Day for the first time this year. Community members will also honour Precious Pascal, Theresa Robinson, Kathleen Wood Annie Little, Tammy Nattaway, Charlotte Wood and Andrea Harper. The event is an example of St. Theresa Point's resilience, said McDougall, who is also the local school's mental health advocate. "We're not going to shy away from how much it hurts. We're going to do our best to challenge and contribute to the solution," she told CBC News on Friday. On Monday, high school and middle school students will first gather in the gym to hear speeches, light candles for the women and name them, McDougall said. After, they'll hold a spirit dance, then walk with all 1,200 school-age children and participate in a buffalo call — a collective prayer McDougall described as a loud and short call to release hurt and pain. In recent weeks, organizations in the community have held several workshops on making red dresses and skirts for girls and women to wear on Monday. McDougall said she also addressed boys and girls directly in their classrooms on the risks they face as First Nations people and the responsibilities they have to protect each other and themselves. "It was heavy," she said. "It's a hard fact to state and explain to children, but they are getting older, and we have to prepare them to be warriors." Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered compared to non-Indigenous women in Canada, according to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. The intent of making kids aware of that is not to instill fear, said McDougall. "I want them to have this awareness, so that they know they are part of challenging that statistic." Red Dress Alert in 1st phase of development There are other initiatives underway to help protect Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people, including the Red Dress Alert system. That system, similar to Amber Alerts used for children, would inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl goes missing. The federal government announced in October it would contribute $1.3 million over three years for Giganawenimaanaanig, the province's MMIWG2S+ implementation committee, to develop the pilot program for Manitoba. Denise Cook, the project lead for the pilot, says her team hopes to tackle gaps in service that MMIWG families have experienced. "We are doing groundbreaking work that's going to save lives and that is needed, and that is going to give something to the families when they are looking for their loved one," she said. "The tragedy of lots of community and family members is the response that they've received." Cook says the project is still in its first phase, and details on when or through which media the alerts will be communicated haven't been decided. Cellphone alerts, for example, may not be as effective in some northern and rural communities, she said. Her five-person team, some of whom have been impacted by MMIWG, has held nearly two dozen community and family consultations around the province since December, to help address gaps and provide guidance on development, she said. With each community session, a memory table displaying pictures of MMIWG has grown. "We have hit the ground running, and we do have limited time … because we know the urgency of MMWG2S+," Cook said. An interim report on the consultations is expected to be published in June, with hopes the alert system will be ready this fall, Cook said. Its framework could eventually be adapted nationally or serve as a model in other jurisdictions and provinces, she said. WATCH | St. Theresa Point honours MMIWGs on Red Dress Day: St. Theresa Point to honour Ashlee Shingoose, other area MMIWGs 3 minutes ago Duration 2:25 St. Theresa Point First Nation in northeastern Manitoba is holding its first Red Dress Day event on Monday, as the community mourns one of its own. In March, Ashlee Shingoose of was identified as the previously unknown victim of a Winnipeg serial killer. She'd been given the name Buffalo Woman, or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, by Indigenous community members. On Thursday, the Downtown Community Safety Partnership and the province announced a new specialized team as part of the downtown patrol to help Indigenous women feel safe in Winnipeg. Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the provincial funding for the team is part of her government's efforts to empower and protect Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse Manitobans, as is an endowment fund to support families who are searching for a loved one. Sixty per cent of the fund will go to Giganawenimaanaanig to manage and disperse to families, Fontaine previously said. The province will distribute the remaining 40 per cent to Indigenous-led events and programming. She said the province would have more to announce on the endowment fund on Monday.
CBC
14-04-2025
- CBC
Why did it take Winnipeg police so long to interview a serial killer in search for victim's identity?
Social Sharing WARNING | This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women. Experts say there doesn't seem to have been anything explicitly preventing Winnipeg police from reinterviewing a serial killer sooner in their mission to identify his unknown victim — but there's a range of possible reasons that could help explain why it took so long to do it. At a news conference last month announcing police had determined the woman previously only known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe was 30-year-old Ashlee Christine Shingoose, Deputy Chief Cam Mackid told reporters police drew that conclusion in part because of information gleaned from a second interview they did in December with the serial killer convicted in her murder — more than 2½ years after he first spoke to police. "Unfortunately the way our legal system works, once we interview someone once, we don't get to ask them any further questions until they go to court, unless there's new charges," Mackid said March 26, adding there were "legal concerns" and police didn't want to "do anything that might jeopardize" his convictions. Jeremy Skibicki confessed in May 2022 to killing the woman now known to be Shingoose, who was from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation, and three other First Nations women: 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. He was convicted last summer of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. WATCH | Ashlee Shingoose's dad speaks of the struggle to find her, bring her home: Ashlee Shingoose's dad speaks of the struggle to find her, bring her home 18 days ago Duration 3:20 Albert Shingoose speaks with CBC in St. Theresa Point in October 2023, a year and a half after his daughter Ashlee's disappearance and a year and a half before her identity was confirmed as one of the four victims of a Winnipeg serial killer. Police said they believe Shingoose's remains were taken to Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill in March 2022, and put in the same area where Contois's partial remains were found shortly after she was killed. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has promised to search that landfill for Shingoose's remains. Harris's and Myran's remains were recently found during a search of another landfill. During Skibicki's initial police interview, he only knew the names of some of the women he killed — and initially misidentified the woman now known to be Shingoose as someone who was still alive — leaving detectives struggling to solve the mystery of who she really was. When police did reinterview Skibicki in December, it led them to test DNA from a pair of pants seized during the investigation, and he identified Shingoose as the victim from a series of photographs, allowing investigators to finally confirm her identity last month. Police declined this month to provide more details about what Mackid meant by his comments on why Skibicki wasn't reinterviewed earlier, saying in an email any decisions about that interview "were made through direct and extensive consultations with Manitoba Justice." Legal expert David Milward said while he found the police explanation for why it took them so long to talk to Skibicki again "baffling," it's easy to second-guess decisions made in something as complicated as a homicide investigation. "The police do have to be given some leeway and some understanding on something like this," said Milward, a law professor at the University of Victoria. "But at the same time, I'm not sure if, you know, 'Oh, we didn't want to jeopardize, there was some sort of legal constraint, we could have jeopardized [the case]' — I'm not convinced that that was necessary as a justification." He and other legal and policing experts say they're not aware of any rules or law that would have stopped police from interviewing Skibicki again sooner in their mission to identify his unknown victim. In fact, detectives often interview suspects more than once. However, they also say it's not uncommon for officers to avoid reinterviewing if it's not needed to prosecute, because of the risk it poses. "The prosecutor would be, I think, concerned … if the investigation was still going on behind the scenes, without them being looped in, while they're trying to prosecute a case," said Michael Arntfield, a criminologist and professor at Western University who worked for 16 years as a detective with the London Police Service in Ontario. "If they say they can't interview him, that to me sounds like they've taken direction either from the Crown or from superior officers to not potentially interfere with the prosecution." Skibicki unexpectedly confessed to killing the four women when he was brought in for questioning after Contois's partial remains were found. He ended up giving detectives details about how and when he killed each woman, and what he did with their remains. Police later corroborated some of that information, with evidence including surveillance footage, DNA and computer history. Experts say in cases where police already have the evidence they need to get a conviction, a second interview doesn't stand to do much to help the prosecution — and could instead end up helping the defence, depending on how the interview plays out. "There's just no predicting how that will unfold and what will come out, and what the impact of what comes out will be on the person's trial," said Robert Diab, a law professor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. A person's answers in a second interview could, for example, call into question things said or done earlier in the investigation, or create a new avenue of defence for the suspect, Diab said. And depending on how far away the trial is, a second interview could also risk making the case exceed strict timelines governing how long a person can wait to be tried in Canada, if it creates the need to speak to more witnesses or secure court time that's not readily available. WATCH | Landfill search can't happen soon enough for parents of Ashlee Shingoose: Landfill search can't happen soon enough for parents of Ashlee Shingoose 17 days ago Duration 2:36 The mother and father of Ashlee Shingoose called for a quick start to the Brady Road landfill search for her remains during a news conference in Winnipeg. Shingoose was identified this week as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, who was previously the only unidentified victim of a convicted serial killer. "It is not out of the realm of possibility, in many cases, that the whole trial can be jeopardized," Diab said. "So it's out of an abundance of caution that the Crown and the police don't want to derail the certainty and the plans that are set in place by conducting an interview that could give rise to a lot of, you know, uncertainty and unpredictability." On top of that, suspects also have to "be apprised of their rights to counsel, and can presumably refuse to be reinterviewed or terminate the interview at any time," criminologist Arntfield said. Even after a person's been convicted, a second interview could, in theory, uncover new evidence that could be used to reopen avenues of appeal. However, Diab called that more of a "remote possibility," considering the facts of Skibicki's case — something the University of Victoria's Milward said he agrees with. "They just had him solid," Milward said. "So I didn't see any possibility that … interviewing him after this would suddenly lead to some sort of putting his previous conviction in danger." Law Prof. Diab said there's also no guarantee that an earlier reinterview would have gotten the same results it got in December — police may not have had all the information they have now, and Skibicki may not have been willing to speak to officers, for example. "Sometimes it just takes time for circumstances to come together, you know, for enough information to come to light," Diab said. Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft, one of the lawyers who prosecuted Skibicki, said in an email that after a suspect has been interviewed by police and processed, they can't be rearrested for the same charge — and any subsequent interview would be voluntary, "and not something police would normally do in a particular case." Vanderhooft said it's also "highly unusual" for police to interview someone about their crimes after they've been convicted. As Winnipeg police tried to identify Shingoose, "they took care to make sure any post-conviction interview was conducted in a way that would not cause any issue that could lead to any legal problem, and we certainly consulted with them in that regard," he said. Vanderhooft would not say what those potential legal problems were, and said he couldn't answer questions about what "privileged legal advice, direction or requests" prosecutors gave police about their interview with Skibicki. Trying to weigh the kinds of considerations that come up in a case like this is what Arntfield called "the tough part" of being a detective. It can be a stressful balancing act between "the frustration of wanting to resolve this and identify this murdered individual," and the overarching need to ensure "due process is followed and this person is successfully put away and can't hurt other people," he said. Grand Chief Kyra Wilson, who's been closely involved with victims' families in the case as the current head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and in her past role as chief of Long Plain First Nation, said she wonders if there's a way for the justice system to do a better job balancing those kinds of elements, with victims and their families more at the forefront. "Right now what we see is, you know, a whole system that is set up to prioritize conviction, which I do believe should definitely be a priority," Wilson said. "But we also, I believe, can support victims and support families together as well. I don't think that one is more or less than. We can do that together and make sure that we are prioritizing both of those." Wilson said she hopes to sit down soon with Winnipeg police and victim family members to get more information about detectives' efforts on the case. It's understandable that police can only share limited information during an investigation, she said, but after that process is over, and "maybe in this case with the conviction, you can share with the families some of that process so they understand, you know, why certain decisions were made." Wilson also hopes to get more details about police efforts to identify the other women whose DNA was found in Skibicki's apartment during the investigation. While some samples were identified — including Shingoose's DNA — others were not. But even with some details still unknown, Wilson is glad to finally have the answer about Shingoose's identity that so many people waited so long for. "Maybe it took a lot longer than we would have liked, from a community perspective. But we don't know the inner workings or process for Winnipeg police," she said. "I know that our community is grateful that they received some of those answers — especially one of our families now, the Shingoose family, has some closure." 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.
CBC
28-03-2025
- CBC
Parents decide Ashlee Shingoose will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe
The father of a woman recently identified as the victim of a Winnipeg serial killer has decided she will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. Indigenous community members, including a group of advocates, knowledge keepers and grandmothers, bestowed Ashlee Shingoose the name, which translates to Buffalo Woman, when she was the sole unidentified murder victim of Jeremy Skibicki. Shingoose, a mother of three, was among the four First Nations women killed by Skibicki between March and May 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — both originally from Long Plain First Nation — as well as Rebecca Contois, 24, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. The first of Skibicki's victims, Shingoose, was unidentified for years, but DNA results stemming from new information provided by Skibicki in December helped Winnipeg police confirm the 30-year-old from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation was Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. Roughly 60 people, including elders and MMIWG2S+ advocates came together around a community fire on Thursday, some of them drumming, chanting and feeding the flames with tobacco wrapped in red cloth, to remember Shingoose and support her family. After the ceremony, Thelma Morrisseau, one of the grandmothers who took part in the late 2022 ceremony to give Shingoose a name before she was identified, told Shingoose's parents they could choose for Ashlee to continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. WATCH | Ashlee Shingoose's father accepts Thelma Morrisseau's invitation: Ashlee Shingoose's father wishes her daughter continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe 32 minutes ago Duration 1:01 Indigenous community members named Shingoose 'Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe' or Buffalo Woman, when Winnipeg police couldn't identify her after she was murdered by a Winnipeg serial killer in 2022. "That's your decision, and the way we had intended is that she would walk with that name for as long as she needed, or forever and into the spirit world if that is your wish," she said. Albert Shingoose, Ashlee's father, told the crowd her daughter would carry the name, and those who came for the community fire erupted in chants inside the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre. Albert and his wife, Theresa Shingoose, also thanked those at the ceremony and the community at large for helping their family go "the long way," acknowledging that if it wasn't for the support, they wouldn't have made it thus far. "It's overwhelming for me," Theresa Shingoose, Ashlee's mother, said. "It feels that I've known you for a long time." "It was a hard journey, wondering where my daughter is, always waiting for her, hoping … but we know now," she said. Premier Wab Kinew, who was also at the ceremony, acknowledged Shingoose's family for how, in spite of grieving the loss of their daughter, they have found ways to honour the community and the support it has given them. "To me, that's just the spirit of generosity that they bring forward," Kinew said. "They're talking about gratitude … these are wonderful people." The premier reiterated his promise of searching the Brady Road landfill, where Winnipeg police said Shingoose's remains are believed to be. Sandra DeLaronde, chair of Giganawenimaanaanig Manitoba's MMIWG2S+ implementation committee, who was also at Thursday's community fire, said that while there is a sense of muted gratitude, there's also frustration over why it took so long for the family to find answers. "Everybody should have their loved ones returned to them," Delaronde said, adding she's happy the family won't have to fight for the landfill to be searched.
CBC
28-03-2025
- CBC
Ashlee Shingoose's father wishes her daughter continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe
Indigenous community members named Shingoose 'Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe' or Buffalo Woman, when Winnipeg police couldn't identify her after she was murdered by a Winnipeg serial killer in 2022.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘Buffalo Woman' has a name
Miles MorrisseauICT Winnipeg police have identified 'Buffalo Woman' — one of four known victims of a serial killer who targeted Indigenous women in Manitoba — as 31-year-old Ashlee Christine Shingoose of St. Theresa Point Anishinew Nation. The identification was confirmed through DNA tests on pants linked to convicted murderer Jeremy Skibicki close to three years to the day after Shingoose went missing from Winnipeg, officials announced this week. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. The news prompted police to redouble their efforts to search Winnipeg-area landfills where the remains of three other victims have already been found. Shingoose, who was named Buffalo Woman or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe by Indigenous elders, was among four Indigenous women Skibicki confessed to killing during the spring of 2022. He told police that Shingoose was his first victim, in mid-March of 2022. The remains of the other women had been dumped in a garbage bin near his apartment and eventually taken to landfills. Shingoose's family members traveled to Winnipeg and spoke to the media on Wednesday, March 26, with First Nations and community supporters. Ashlee's father, Albert Shingoose, thanked First Nations leadership and the community for helping the family try to bring their daughter home, and he urged officials to continue searching the Brady Landfill. 'Please, I need your voices,' he implored, holding his hand up to the sky. 'I need your voices to make them start on that landfill as soon as possible. It's too long. It's too long. It's not good. A landfill is not a burial ground … We're not garbage. Nobody is garbage.' Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, speaking to reporters the previous day when the identification was released, made a commitment to continue the search. 'I want to say to Ashlee's parents, to her mom and dad who I had a chance to speak to briefly yesterday, I promise you that we are going to search the Brady Landfill for your daughter,' Kinew said. 'I cannot promise you that we are going to bring her home, but I can promise you that we will try.' The identification was confirmed through DNA tests on pants that Skibicki had mentioned to police during his confession, according to CBC News. A family's grief On Tuesday, March 25, members of the police services, including support workers, flew to the isolated community in northeastern Manitoba to share the tragic news with the family. Albert Shingoose said the family did not expect police to tell them that their daughter had been identified. 'Sgt. Mike Macdonald came over to talk with us at St. Theresa Point, came to talk to my wife and I. We didn't know this was going to come up. We figured all they were going to say to us was, 'They are still going to look,'' Shingoose said. 'They came out .. and told us, 'We know where Ashlee is,'' he said. 'My wife and I looked at each other and we cried.'Ashlee's mother, Theresa, said her daughter had traveled far from home to seek a better life in the city. 'She was a loving person,' the grieving mother told reporters. 'She wanted to look after her kids. When she came here with her kids, she went to the women's shelter because we had no place at our home … They found a place for her and she was making it good after that.' Theresa then noticed that her daughter had started hanging out with different people. 'She started taking drugs and drinking, and then she lost her kids and they were sent to my home for me to look after,' she said. A killer's confession Families of two other missing women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, had been pushing more than two years to convince officials to search the landfills, after the partial remains of another woman, Rebecca Contois, O-Chi Chak Ko Sipi First Nation, were found at the Brady Landfill site. Despite protests from the families and a 'Camp Morgan' set up outside the Brady Landfill, government officials finally began formal searches in December. Earlier this month, officials announced they had found two sets of remains at the Prairie Green Landfill that were identified as Harris and Myran. Skibicki, of Winnipeg, had confessed to the killings and was convicted in July 2024 of four counts of first-degree murder in the killings of four women – Harris, Myran, Contois and the woman identified at the time only as Buffalo Woman. Skibicki identified Shingoose as his first victim, and law enforcement officials collected DNA from a jacket believed to have been worn by her. The DNA on the jacket did not belong to Shingoose, however, and officials then tested pants that Skibicki had also mentioned in his confession to police, according to CBC. The DNA was found to be Shingoose's. It's not clear if officials believe there are other victims yet to be identified. 'Kindness and compassion' The announcement that Shingoose had been identified was made by Winnipeg Police Chief Gene Bower, who was sworn into the chief's position earlier in the month after serving as deputy chief during the investigation. 'Our hearts go out to Albert and Theresa Shingoose, Ashley's parents, and all the members of St. Theresa's Point who received this unbearable news,' Bower said. 'Your daughter deserved to be named, and we offer our condolences. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that the initial decision not to search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran has had a significant impact on the families and the community. We have had time for reflection for almost nearly three years, while we cannot undo the past, we can learn from it. Today, we know what needs to be done.' First Nations leaders and community activists were present at the announcement, including Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson. 'This tragedy is part of a pattern of violence against First Nations women, girls and Two-Spirit people,' Wilson said. 'AMC supports the Shingoose family and the immediate search of the Brady Landfill. We must bring Ashlee home.' Wilson thanked the chief, Kinew and other officials for their commitments to the families. 'Today we recognize the strength, love and resilience that bind us together as First Nations people,' Wilson said. 'Kindness and compassion for our relatives got us here and supporting families will continue to bring our relatives home.' Kinew gave credit to the families for never giving up and for their efforts not only to bring home their loved ones home but also to bring about change on a national level. 'The call from the families and the community to search the Prairie Greene Landfill became a conversation in Canada about reconciliation,' Kinew said. 'I am very proud of the people of Manitoba, even through many ups and downs and many difficult conversations along the way. I am very proud that the people of Manitoba answered, 'In this province, when someone goes missing, we go looking.'' He added, 'In addition to having your loved ones being returned to you, I hope you realize that you are changing Manitoba and you are changing Canada for the better. Future generations of girls and women and Two-Spirited people will be safer because of that. As the leader of the province and as a leader in a united team Canada I want to say thank you. I want to say Meegwetch for that work.' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter. ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, is a nonprofit news organization that covers the Indigenous world with a daily digital platform and news broadcast with international viewership.
