
Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, is the name of an unidentified woman believed to have been murdered by alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. Her remains have not been located, but Skibicki was charged with her murder on December 1, 2022. He was convicted for killing her on July 11, 2024.
Case[]
Between March and May 2022, Jeremy Skibicki, a man with a history of domestic violence and violent and racist online rhetoric, sexually assaulted, killed, and dismembered four First Nations women in Winnipeg, Manitoba. On May 19, 2022, he was charged with killing his last victim, Rebecca Contois, whose remains were found in a garbage bin behind an apartment building and at the Brady Road landfill on May 16, 2022, and June 15, 2022, respectively. On December 1, 2022, he was charged with killing Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran, and "Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe." The last charge is considered by legal scholars to be exceptionally rare and difficult to prosecute as the victim has neither her legal name nor body available.
Contois was a member of the O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, and Harris and Myran were members of the Long Plain First Nation. All the women, some of whom were experiencing homelessness, lived in Winnipeg at the time of their murders, which suggested to authorities that "Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe" also lived in Winnipeg. Authorities have revealed that she had worn a Baby Phat reversible jacket with a fur coat.
"Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe" was previously referred to in Canadian media as "unknown woman" or "Jane Doe," but she was given her name by advocates and elders in the First Nations community as a way for the victim to be remembered more as a person, and refers to a buffalo spirit who gave her name to individuals who had not received a spirit name so that they could communicate with each other and allow the victim's acknowledgement in the spirit realm. The name has since been adopted by the authorities on December 5, 2022.
It is believed that Skibicki's remaining victims are buried at the landfill. Much to the dismay of the victim's families and advocates, authorities initially would not conduct a search due to the passage of time; between the month of Contois' murder and the discovery of her remains, 10,000 loads of debris had been dumped and compacted with clay. However, this was changed by late June 2024, with the provincial government of Manitoba planning to search the landfill in the late fall.
On July 11, 2024, Skibicki was convicted on all four counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to four life sentences in August 2024.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- BBC News
- CBC News:
- Q107
- Jeremy Skibicki on Wikipedia
- Winnipeg City News