Toronto

Trigger warning: Some readers may find the details of this report disturbing. Discretion is advised. 

Jeremy Skibicki, a white supremacist serial killer, was given four life sentences by a Canadian court for murdering four native women in 2022 and abusing their corpses. The murders had shocked the First Nation community in Winnipeg region and the nation.

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As the sentence was pronounced on Wednesday (Aug 28), Skibicki, who had pleaded not guilty citing a mental disorder, showed no emotion.

"Make no mistake Mr Skibicki, because of the current state of the law, the only available sentence that I can impose today will regrettably not adequately reflect the gravity of these offences," said Judge Glen Joyal while pronouncing the sentence after family members of the women made impact statements. 

The women were "preyed upon and targeted" by a white supremacist who was acting upon his homicidal necrophilia, said the judge.

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“The heinous crimes committed by Mr Skibicki have left a deep scar on First Nations people and the reverberations of his actions will be felt for generations,” said Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Who is Jeremy Skibicki? A far-right monster with extreme racist views

Jeremy Skibicki is a 37-year-old man accused of carrying out the calculated, racially motivated murders of four First Nation women in Canada's Winnipeg.

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In the years leading up to the murders, Skibicki had a social media presence, expressing racist and white supremacist views. His social media profiles contained antisemitic, misogynistic material.

Watch: Canada introduces new bill to fight online abuse with severe penalties for hate crimes

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The murders of Jeremy Skibicki

Jeremy Skibicki, whose online presence showed him leaning towards far-right views, killed the indegenuos women between March and May of 2022.

Skibicki met two of the victims in homeless shelters, according to court documents.

He killed Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, Rebecca Contois, 24 and a fourth unidentified woman. That victim was named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by Indigenous elders. A buffalo head was placed on a red cloth on a table near the prosecutors in the court during the trial as a tribute to her.

Also read: Robert Pickton, Canadian serial killer who fed his victims to pigs, dies after prison attack

He assaulted and killed the women by either strangling or drowning, the court was told. Before disposing off the bodies in trash bins, Skibicki allegedly sexually assaulted and dismembered the corpses.

The murders came to light after a man informed police about finding human remains while searching for scrap metal in a bin near Skibicki's residence.

Skibicki eventually confessed to having killed four women.

Also read: Canada: Man admits killing four indigenous women

Skibicki reportedly suffered from schizophrenia, an alibi used by his lawyers to explain out his gruesome crimes.

They said he 'heard voiced from God' to commit the killings.

The victims' remains are yet to be found and a search is to be conducted later this year on a landfill site in Winnipeg.

(With inputs from agencies)