Man guilty of killing four Indigenous women in Canada

MONTREAL: A Canadian man was found guilty on Thursday of first-degree murder for killing four Indigenous women whose bodies he dumped in landfill sites.

The case is seen by many as a symbol of the plight of Indigenous women in a country where they face disproportionate violence that was called “genocide” by a national public inquiry in 2019. Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were raped, killed, dismembered and thrown out with the trash in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Police believe their remains are buried deep inside the Prairie Green landfill. The partial remains of another victim, Rebecca Contois, were found in two places -- a garbage bin in the city and in a separate landfill.

The body of a fourth, unidentified, woman in her 20s, is still missing. Jeremy Skibicki, 37, was found guilty of all four counts of first-degree murder, Justice Glenn Loyal said in his judgment, adding that the accused was criminally responsible despite mental health issues.