Internet searches, Facebook messages of admitted serial killer used as evidence in Winnipeg trial

The trial of a Winnipeg man who has admitted to killing four women has heard he searched the internet to look up the definition of what it means to be a serial killer.

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The definition of a serial killer, beheadings, garbage collection dates and questions about DNA evidence were among the internet searches made on the computer belonging to admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki around the times he killed four women, the court heard Tuesday.

This evidence, found on Skibicki’s computer as a result of a search warrant, was presented in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench Tuesday.

More than half a million artifacts – such as internet searches and social media log-ins – were recovered from the computer, thousands of which raised some red flags.

Winnipeg police crime intelligence analyst Riley Johansson testified about what was found on Skibicki’s computer and in the admitted serial killer’s Facebook messages.

The 37-year-old accused is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified woman who Indigenous leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

He has pleaded not guilty, but has admitted to the killings. However, his defence argues Skibicki should be found not criminally responsible for the deaths due to mental disorder.