Victims' families anxious ahead of pretrial for alleged Winnipeg serial killer

Donna Bartlett has been trying to put it out of her mind, but the thought of hearing details in a courtroom next week about her granddaughter's death has been hard to shake. 

"The closer it gets, the more anxious I get, the more easy to set off," she said.

"Sometimes I just want to break down and cry, and I can't do that. I got my kids and everybody else — so I try and stay strong."

It's been almost a year since police announced Jeremy Skibicki had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Marcedes Myran, whom Bartlett helped raise.

Skibicki was also charged in the deaths of three other First Nations women — Morgan Harris, 39, Rebecca Contois, 24, and a third unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by the community.

The case is heading to court again starting Monday morning, with a pretrial scheduled to last until Nov. 21.

While Myran's family said Crown prosecutors have shared some information with them about what details are expected to emerge, that won't make them any easier to hear.

"There's not much you can do to prepare for something like this…. Anything that's shared in that courtroom is going to be hard on me and my family," said Jorden Myran, Marcedes Myran's younger sister.

"You've just got to go in and try and be as strong as you can and try and get through it together as a family."

Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Morgan Harris, said no matter how hard it may be to listen to what's raised at pretrial — or to potentially be in the same room as the person accused in her cousin's death — it's important for her family to be there.

"We're at a point where, you know, we see progress. We see the light at the end of the tunnel. And that doesn't mean we slow down, though," Robinson said.

"If we take a step back now, things will get forgotten about and they may not push as hard. So that's why we've been so diligent on staying strong and pushing forward."

Both families said they also plan to keep pushing for a landfill search for the remains of their loved ones. Police have said they believe they were taken to the Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg. 

Robinson said bringing home her cousin's remains is also a promise she made to Harris's older sister, who died earlier this year after being diagnosed with cancer.