Winnipeg serial killer motivated by delusions caused by schizophrenia, U.K. forensic psychiatrist testifies

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

The forensic psychiatrist enlisted by defence lawyers to assess Jeremy Skibicki 's mental state says the admitted Winnipeg serial killer was motivated by delusions and psychotic symptoms caused by schizophrenia when he killed the four women whose deaths he's on trial for.

The diagnosis was made following two assessments by Dr. Sohom Das — one in September 2022 and another in April 2024 — that the U.K.-based psychiatrist said revealed Skibicki "appeared to be overwhelmed with a strong belief" that his victims "were in some way impure," which he felt was revealed to him through God.

"He believed that if the victims were subservient to God, they would be saved from going to hell and it would be more likely that they would go to heaven," Das told court Tuesday.

"He informed me that he believed that if they were not subservient to God, he felt compelled to physically destroy them."

Das is testifying in Skibicki's trial for first-degree murder in the deaths of three First Nations women — Rebecca Contois, 24, Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — and a fourth, unidentified woman community leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, who police have said they believe was Indigenous and in her 20s.

Skibicki has pleaded not guilty.

Defence lawyers argue he should be found not criminally responsible in the women's deaths due to a mental disorder, while prosecutors say the killings were intentional and racially motivated.

Das testified Skibicki told him he repeatedly performed sex acts on the women's bodies because he believed he needed "to sanctify the body."

The psychiatrist said Skibicki also told him he had a "special power" that allowed him to determine whether the women were subservient to God before killing them by having sex with them — all of which Das testified indicated various delusions.

Skibicki also said before killing all four women, he heard voices of angels, the Holy Spirit or God, "and in all cases, they encouraged him directly to commit the killings," Das said, adding Skibicki's medical history suggests he had been hearing voices for years prior.

He said though Skibicki realized what he'd done was illegal — which is why he took action to dispose of the women's remains without being detected — he thought his actions were morally right.

"I asked him whether he thought he was doing the right thing, both at that time and now, and he replied, 'I was absolutely doing the right thing. It was a mission from God. I'm very clear on this."

Das also said when asked for a possible explanation for his behaviour, Skibicki said he didn't agree with his lawyers' suggestions that he's mentally ill.