Crown wraps evidence in Winnipeg serial killer trial, court to resume next month
Location: Winnipeg
Crown prosecutors have finished calling evidence in the trial of a Winnipeg man who has admitted to killing four Indigenous women.
The Crown presented nine letters between Jeremy Skibicki and an inmate in Nova Scotia, but their content was not read in court.
The trial is to resume June 3, with defence lawyers calling an expert to testify about Skibicki’s state of mind at the time of the killings.
Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman.
His lawyers say he killed the women but argue he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.
Prosecutors say the killings were racially motivated and Skibicki preyed on the vulnerable women at homeless shelters.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2024.
Orphan orca’s extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Location: Alert Bay
A killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
Marine scientist Jared Towers said in a social media post he was surprised to see members of the calf’s great grandmother’s pod near Alert Bay.
Towers, an expert in identifying whales by their distinct individual markings, said he saw the T109 pod swim out of Pearse Pass near Alert Bay on Monday, but the female calf named kwiisahi?is or Brave Little Hunter by the Ehattesaht First Nation was not with them.
“This is kwiisahi?is’s great grandmother’s pod and although she wasn’t with them, the good news is she hasn’t been seen since May 10 (as far as I’m aware) which means she is probably on the move,” he said in the social media post. “What is for sure is that we gave this Brave Little Hunter the best chances possible and now all we can do is take ID photos to see where, when and with whom, and if she shows up.”
‘Happy tears’ of victim’s sister after prison attack on serial killer Robert Pickton
Location: Montreal
Cynthia Cardinal said she was “overwhelmed” with happiness when she received a text message on Monday with the news that serial killer Robert Pickton, who murdered her sister Georgina Papin, was in a life-threatening condition after being attacked in prison.
She called it “karma.”
The text came from a cousin of Tanya Holyk, another missing woman whose DNA was found at Pickton’s pig farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
“I don’t think anybody that evil should be walking on Earth, as far as I’m concerned,” Cardinal said on Tuesday. “I have happy tears. Very happy tears.”
Correctional Service Canada confirmed Tuesday that the B.C. serial killer was the inmate injured in a “major assault” Sunday at a Quebec prison.
Quebec provincial police said that 74-year-old Pickton was taken to hospital with injuries that were considered life-threatening.
Police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu added that a 51-year-old suspect was in custody.
Liberals apologize for post attacking Poilievre as Opposition seeks to oust Speaker
By: Mickey Djuric
Location: Ottawa
The Liberal party apologized to Speaker Greg Fergus Tuesday for using partisan language to advertise his event, after the Opposition Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois called for his resignation.
The opposition parties called it yet another display of partisan behaviour from the Speaker of the House of Commons, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his faith in Fergus isn’t shaken at all.
The latest accusation stems from a post on the Liberal party website promoting a summer barbecue event featuring Fergus, who is a Liberal MP.
The event details included a political attack on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying his “reckless policies” would risk the health, safety and pocketbooks of Canadians.
“The promotional material of this event uses very partisan, inflammatory language concerning the Conservative party and the leader of the official opposition,” said Alberta Conservative MP Chris Warkentin in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The language in the event details was automatically included based on a template for events posted to the website, said Liberal spokesman Parker Lund.
He said a miscommunication between the party and Fergus’s riding association led to the wrong text being put on the event’s details.
