"'Shattered" doesn't explain how I feel': Sentencing for serial killer hears from families of murdered women

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

For some, it's the sight of a garbage truck on the street that can suddenly bring them back to the worst day of their lives; for others, something as ordinary as a bathtub now fills them with dread.

Those are just a few of the ways the daily lives of the families of women targeted by a serial killer in 2022 have been upended since their loved ones were killed, a Winnipeg court heard Wednesday.

Jeremy Skibicki, 37, sat staring straight ahead at his sentencing hearing at Court of King's Bench 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," Elle Harris, the youngest daughter of Morgan Harris, read from a victim impact statement as family stood at her side. "Do you know how many times I had to listen to how my mother was murdered?"

Elle Harris was among a dozen relatives of the women Skibicki was convicted on July 11 of murdering who spoke in vivid detail about how the killings have devastated their families and changed their lives forever.

That included family members who said they had to drop out of school or quit their job because the ordeal became too much to handle. Others described struggles including post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol addiction and having to explain to the young children in their family what happened to their loved ones.

"'Agony' is not painful enough. 'Shattered' doesn't explain how I feel. 'Infuriated' doesn't even come close to the amount of rage I find myself trapped in," said Allana Contois, the oldest sister of Rebecca Contois, another of the women Skibicki murdered.

"'Justice' is just a word for comfort. It doesn't bring her back."

Cambria Harris, another of Morgan Harris's daughters, told court she feels disgusted thinking about how her mom died, "knowing that this monster who stole her life would have stared at her children's names tattooed on her body, would have known she was loved."

WATCH | Family members speak after sentencing hearing for serial killer:

Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal also noted the "powerful and touching efforts" many made to ensure the unidentified woman Skibicki killed — who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman — wasn't forgotten.

That included comments from Donna Bartlett. She spoke about the shock and horror of learning her granddaughter Marcedes Myran had been killed, and about how she hoped Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's family learns who she is soon — before turning to face Skibicki.

"You were found guilty, but that is just not enough. You are still living and she is gone.