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Why did it take Winnipeg police so long to interview a serial killer in search for victim's identity?

CBC

14-04-2025

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.

Complex investigation ruled out potentially undiscovered victims of Winnipeg serial killer, police say

CBC

30-03-2025

Complex investigation ruled out potentially undiscovered victims of Winnipeg serial killer, police say

WARNING | This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women. Police say they do not believe there are any more undiscovered victims of a Winnipeg serial killer, after investigators spent months combing through thousands of hours of surveillance footage, a spiderweb of his contacts, and conducting a review of his entire life. Jeremy Skibicki was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder last July, after a weeks-long trial heard he targeted vulnerable First Nations women at homeless shelters before killing them and disposing of their remains. Last week, Ashlee Shingoose, 30, was publicly confirmed to be the woman previously known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name given to her by Indigenous community members before she was identified. She was one of 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. A key piece of evidence in Skibicki's trial was video from a roughly 20-hour interrogation by police in May 2022, after he was arrested as a suspect in the killing of Contois, during which he unexpectedly confessed to killing not only her, but three other women. The investigation into Skibicki was one of the most complex in the Winnipeg Police Service's history, says Deputy Chief Cam Mackid. That investigation included a task force that looked at "every single connection" Skibicki had from childhood up until his arrest, Mackid said. Unsolved crimes and missing person cases near his residences were also explored, along with more than 7,000 hours of surveillance footage. "It seems surprising that somebody would have a level of violence like that in that short period of time, and there wouldn't be other victims," Mackid said at the Wednesday news conference where police said Shingoose was the previously unknown victim. "I would never stand here and tell you I can guarantee you there isn't another victim. I can tell you we scrubbed everything we possibly could, and we didn't find any other ones." But Enzo Yaksic, the Boston-based director of the Atypical Homicide Research Group — a network of academic researchers, law enforcement professionals and mental health practitioners who maintain a database of serial killers — says the two-month timeline of Skibicki's killings isn't surprising. The database, which has tracked at least 5,000 serial killers from across the globe, defines a serial killer as someone who has killed more than one person over a span of time, Yaksic said. The data indicates the number of serial murders has declined globally, but the timeframes of the killings are shorter than they typically were in the late 20th century, he said, as better-connected law enforcement agencies, and the prevalence of cellular and surveillance technologies, mean killers are more likely to be caught. "Modern killers cannot function the same way their counterparts from the past were able," he said, but that can also mean the potential for more victims. "What that actually does is, it kind of increases the rate of killing, as they try to outpace the efforts of the police to apprehend them." 'Almost unprecedented' DNA testing Police say it was a recent interview with Skibicki, along with new DNA evidence, that allowed them to finally identify Shingoose, a mother of three originally from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation in northeastern Manitoba. She was last seen in downtown Winnipeg on March 11, 2022 — a timeline that fit with when Skibicki told police in his May 2022 interview he had killed his first victim. He gave police the name of a person he believed was the woman, but that person was later found alive, leaving the identity of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe an unanswered question. During his trial last summer, court heard investigators found a DNA sample on a Baby Phat-brand jacket they believed was worn by the woman Skibicki had killed, but that sample was never matched to anyone. Mackid said police now believe while Shingoose wore the jacket, the DNA found on it was someone else's. A DNA sample from a previously untested pair of pants led police to finally confirm Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's identity earlier this month, after investigators got new information from Skibicki during an interview in prison last December, Mackid said. That pair of pants was among 5,000 physical items that police seized during their investigation into the Skibicki killings. About 130 of those exhibits were sent to the RCMP's laboratory for testing, he said — an "almost unprecedented" number. Police also showed Skibicki a number of photos during the December interview, and he identified Shingoose as the victim, said Mackid. Yaksic says he thinks Winnipeg police have done good work on the Skibicki case, adding that serial murder investigations can be an incredibly difficult task for law enforcement. "I do think that it is dangerous to believe that police are not … doing everything that they can to find additional victims," Yaksic said. "I think that they're doing a great job on this — at least now they are." Mackid said police didn't explore more possible victims outside of Manitoba because Skibicki didn't travel much — he'd never held a driver's licence or had a vehicle registered to his name — and there's no indication that he left the province or country. "He was a local person who tended to stay local." Investigators also found Skibicki to be "quite forward and candid" in the May 2022 interview in which he confessed to the killings, said Mackid. "We didn't get the impression that he was hiding things from us." Yaksic says serial killers tend to be more forthcoming nowadays because they want to claim credit, but not all confessions are an attempt to seek fame. Some can be prompted by guilt, he said. Serial killers can also often gain an unwarranted sense of celebrity due to extensive media exposure, said Yaksic. And while true crime podcasts and Hollywood movies can promote vigilance, they also tend to focus on an outdated archetype of serial murderers that can spur public paranoia, he said. Skibicki is a good example of what a modern-day serial killer looks like, Yaksic said, because he had a history of violence against women and expressed hate-based motivations in his killings. "As we delve into their histories, we find abusive partners [and] domestic violence," he said. "Violence against others is really how they communicate with the world, and that's like how they … process their deep-seated feelings of inferiority." Homeless people and sex workers are more likely to be targeted by a serial killer because they're vulnerable, and there's a perception they're less likely to be reported missing, said Yaksic. Discarding the bodies in garbage, as Skibicki did, is also common for serial killers, he said. The partial remains of Contois were found in a garbage bin near his North Kildonan apartment in May 2022. More of her remains were discovered the following month at the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg. Remains of Harris and Myran were recently recovered at the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg. Investigators believe Shingoose's body was placed in a garbage bin behind a business on Henderson Highway before it was taken to Brady Road landfill in March 2022. Disposing of the victims' bodies in that way is "really symbolic of his viewpoint that his victims were worthless to him and to society, and that really is a hallmark of how serial murderers behave," said Yaksic. "I want to say that each offender is unique, but the real, common thread that runs through them is that [sense of] superiority." Manitoba's premier has promised the Brady Road landfill will be searched for Shingoose's remains. 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.

Advocacy group wants inquiry into initial refusal to search Manitoba landfill for victims of serial killer

CBC

27-03-2025

Politics
CBC

Advocacy group wants inquiry into initial refusal to search Manitoba landfill for victims of serial killer

A Manitoba non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Indigenous people is pushing for an independent inquiry into the refusal to search a landfill for the human remains of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. The call for action is coming after Winnipeg police identified Ashlee Shingoose as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, the first and previously unidentified victim of a Winnipeg serial killer responsible for the murder of three other First Nation women. Shingoose, from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation, had been last seen in downtown Winnipeg in 2022 before she was killed by Jeremy Skibicki. Police believe her remains were taken to Brady Road landfill and the province has promised to search for them. Manitoba Moon Voices Inc. said in a statement that Shingoose's case underscores the reality of Indigenous women, who are left vulnerable and unsupported by systemic failures. Cheryl Alexander, co-chair of the non-profit, said the victims' families have had to rely on community support and partnership work with agencies to search a landfill for their loved ones, when that should have been the job of law enforcement agencies and governments from the beginning. "We could learn to do better," she said. She said there needs to be more transparency on the Winnipeg Police Service and the former Manitoba PC government's decision not to search the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, two of Skibicki's other victims. "It was a long process … it felt like [it] was being dragged out and I don't think that would have happened if it hadn't been in a non-Indigenous circumstance," Alexander said. The non-profit is hoping an inquiry would produce a report with recommendations that can trigger policy changes designed to prevent the refusal of a human remains search at a landfill from happening ever again. Alexander said the refusal to search the landfill was a "historic marker," similar to other painful mistakes in the past that might be repeated if no changes are made. "At the end of the day these are our relatives and no [one] should be left in that state anywhere," she said. "It shouldn't be about money. It should be about doing the right thing … a humanitarian effort." Manitoba Moon Voices is also pushing for a mandatory Indigenous oversight on police missing person investigations related to Indigenous communities, and sustained funding for the search for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. 'It is not to attack anyone' The Assembly of First Nations has also pushed for a public inquiry into how the Winnipeg Police Service handled the investigation into the deaths of Harris, Myran, Shingoose and Rebecca Contois — Skibicki's fourth victim — including the recovery efforts. "This must be a turning point for justice," National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in a statement Wednesday, calling also to federal party leaders for support in helping Manitoba to establish the inquiry. CBC News reached out to the provincial government and Winnipeg Police Service regarding any plans for an inquiry, but they didn't reply in time for publication. Tanya Dawn McDougall, a mental health advocate who has been offering support to Shingoose's family throughout their search, is also standing behind an inquiry with hopes spreading the truth, no matter how hard it can, could lead to changes. "It's not to attack anyone," McDougall said "Mistakes were made, and they need to be learned from and in order to learn from you have to expose what those mistakes were." "We need to make sure that this doesn't happen again." McDougall said communities are not giving up in their pursuit of justice, even though other probes, such as 1991's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry mandated to investigate the depths of racism in Manitoba's justice system, have produced recommendations that are yet to be brought into action. "Everything that's done today affects future generations," she said. "Everybody has a right to feel safe. Everybody has a right to feel valued, and that's the effort we have to put forth together as a society." Sandra DeLaronde, chair of Giganawenimaanaanig Manitoba's MMIWG2S+ implementation committee, told CBC News inquiries and reports over the past 40 years have raised the same questions and concerns on systemic failures but fell short of bringing change forward. "An inquiry isn't going to achieve the results that people are looking for, because history has shown us," DeLaronde said. But other measures involving judicial bodies, including human rights tribunals or civil court, could be better at enforcing change, given the actions coming out of those systems are required to be implemented, she said. DeLaronde isn't confident a new set of recommendations brought forward by an inquiry can prevent a landfill search from being refused in the future. To have that standard, the responsibility of searching has to be amended into legislation or written within the contract of law enforcement agencies.

Name of serial killer victim Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe to be released by police today

Yahoo

26-03-2025

Yahoo

Name of serial killer victim Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe to be released by police today

WARNING | This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women. Winnipeg police say they will confirm the identity of the unidentified victim of a serial killer at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The news conference will be livestreamed here at 1 p.m. The woman was given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by members of the Indigenous community, since her remains have never been found and she had not been identified. She was among the four Indigenous women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki in 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24. Police initially said their news conference would focus on their investigation into the unidentified woman's killing, and later said they would confirm the woman's identity. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson, St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation Chief Raymond Flett and Chief Gene Bowers and Deputy Chief Cam Mackid of the Winnipeg Police Service are scheduled to speak at the news conference, police said. The update comes after remains recently found at Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, were confirmed to be those of Harris and Myran, both of whom were originally from Long Plain First Nation. Police have previously declined to say whether they have information about where the remains of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe are, or whether they may be at Prairie Green or the city-run Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg, where some of the remains of Contois, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, were found. When asked last week, Premier Wab Kinew did not answer questions about whether a search would continue at Prairie Green landfill in hopes of finding Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains. The province's decision about the future of the landfill search will be made with the families of Harris and Myran, he said. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson told CBC News last week that the organization will push for a continued search to try to find Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. What do we know about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe? Very few details about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe have been made public. During Skibicki's trial last summer, court heard investigators found a DNA sample on a jacket they believe the woman wore, but that sample was never matched to anyone. Skibicki unexpectedly confessed to killing the four women during a police interview in May 2022. He said the unidentified woman was the first he killed, in mid-March 2022. It's believed he killed the other three women between May 1 and May 15. Skibicki said he met her outside the Salvation Army shelter in Winnipeg. There was still snow on the ground at the time, and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had just been lifted in Manitoba, he told police. Those restrictions were lifted on March 15, 2022. He described the woman as being Indigenous and in her early 20s, with dark patches on her skin, an average build and short hair that didn't go past her neck. Skibicki also said he was coming down from being high on mushrooms when he got upset with the woman after she attempted to steal from him. After killing her, Skibicki said he put the woman's remains into a dumpster behind a business on Henderson Highway. He also gave police the name of a person he believed was the woman he had killed, but that person was later found alive. He said after killing Harris, he returned to that same dumpster with the intention of leaving her remains inside, but it was locked. He said he disposed of Harris's and Myran's remains at another dumpster nearby, which led to their bodies being taken to the Prairie Green landfill. Contois's partial remains were found in garbage bins behind a North Kildonan apartment on May 16, 2022, and later at the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg. 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.

Police to give update on Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, unidentified victim of Winnipeg serial killer

CBC

25-03-2025

Police to give update on Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, unidentified victim of Winnipeg serial killer

WARNING | This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women. Winnipeg police say they'll provide an update Wednesday on their investigation into the murder of a still-unidentified Indigenous woman by a serial killer three years ago. The woman was given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, since her remains have never been found and she has yet to be identified. She was among the four Indigenous women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki in 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 29, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24. Police said their 1 p.m. Wednesday news conference will focus on their investigation into the unidentified woman's killing, but did not go into further detail. The news conference will be livestreamed at The update comes after remains recently found at Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, were confirmed to be those of Harris and Myran, both of whom were originally from Long Plain First Nation. Police have previously declined to comment on whether they have information about where the remains of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe are, or whether they may be at Prairie Green or the city-run Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg, where some of remains of Contois, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, were found. When asked last week, Premier Wab Kinew did not answer questions on whether a search would continue at Prairie Green landfill in hopes of finding Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains. The province's decision on the future of the landfill search, which began excavations in December, will be made with the families of Harris and Myran, he said. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson told CBC News last week that the organization will push for a continued search to try to find Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. What do we know about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe? Very few details about Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe have been made public. DNA tests on a jacket it's believed she wore were not enough to identify the woman, court heard during Skibicki's trial last summer, which led to his conviction on four counts of first-degree murder. Court heard that during a May 2022 police interview, he confessed to killing the four women. He said the unidentified woman was the first he killed, in mid-March 2022. It's believed he killed the other three women between May 1 and May 15. Skibicki said he met her outside the Salvation Army shelter in Winnipeg. There was still snow on the ground at the time, and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had just been lifted in Manitoba, he told police. Those restrictions were lifted on March 15, 2022. He described the woman as being Indigenous and in her early 20s, with dark patches on her skin, an average build, and short hair that didn't go past her neck. Skibicki also said he was coming down from being high on mushrooms when he got upset with the woman after she attempted to steal from him. After killing her, Skibicki said he put the woman's remains into a dumpster behind a business on Henderson Highway. He also gave police the name of a person he believed was the woman he had killed, but that person was later found alive. He said after killing Harris, he returned to that same dumpster with the intention of leaving her remains inside, but it was locked. He said he disposed of Harris and Myran's remains at another dumpster nearby, which led to their bodies being taken to the Prairie Green landfill. Contois's partial remains were found in garbage bins behind a North Kildonan apartment on May 16, 2022. That's also the day police say they believe the remains of Harris and Myran were transported to Prairie Green. 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.