Winnipeg trial hears search for ‘serial killer’ definition found on killer’s computer

A police analyst tasked with going through the computer of a Winnipeg man who admitted to killing four women found internet searches for what it means to be a serial killer.

Riley Johansson told a murder trial that he traced months of online searches on Jeremy Skibicki’s computer around the same time the four Indigenous women were slain in 2022.

“My goal was to give some of this data context … to help narrow the search for any additional victims,” Johannson testified Tuesday during the third week of the trial.

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the slayings of Rebecca Contois, 24; Morgan Harris, 39; Marcedes Myran, 26; and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

Skibicki’s lawyers admit he killed the women but argue he’s not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

Crown prosecutors have said the killings were racially motivated and Skibicki preyed on the vulnerable victims at homeless shelters.

The trial has heard Skibicki assaulted his victims, strangled or drowned them and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood. Two were dismembered.

Johannson testified part of his job was to corroborate details Skibicki provided to police after he was arrested in May 2022 for killing Contois, whose partial remains had been found in a garbage bin in Skibicki’s neighbourhood. More of her remains were later found in a landfill.

Skibicki admitted to police he killed three others but did not know the names of two of the women.

Johansson said he created a snapshot of each victim based on the search history on Skibicki’s computer.

Police believe Buffalo Woman was Skibicki’s first victim. Skibicki told police he killed her around March 15, 2022.

In the days that followed, Johansson said some of the internet searches included: “Do fingerprints show up on plastic wrap?” and “How well does bleach remove fingerprints?”

Johansson also found a search relating to “explosive anger disorder.”

It was after the killing of Myran, Skibicki’s third victim, that a search for “definition of a serial killer” came up on his computer, said Johansson.

He added that numerous queries relating to garbage pickups, missing persons reports and news coverage were found in the days following each killing.