Court to hear from Ashlee Shingooses family a year after her killer convicted

Warning: This story contains disturbing details The family of Ashlee Shingoose will have their day in court after all. Her father, Albert Shingoose, was asked to leave the Winnipeg trial for serial killer Jeremy Skibicki last summer because his daughter had not yet been formally identified. She was called Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe or Buffalo Woman – so-named by Indigenous Elders – throughout the proceedings and represented in court by a red dress and ceremonial items. But Albert insisted his 31-year-old daughter, who was a mother of two, was the first of four victims murdered by Skibicki, then 39, between March and May of 2022. He made several trips to Winnipeg from his remote northern First Nation to look for her and provided his DNA to police. However, police and sherrif’s officers escorted him from the courtroom. Now, Albert and his family will be back in court and able to deliver a post-conviction victim impact statement, the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench announced in a news release Thursday. Read More: ‘She was always a loving person’: Parents of Ashlee Shingoose share their grief Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who convicted Skibicki on four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison on Aug. 28, 2024, won’t comment on the special hearing until it convenes on Aug. 15, the release added. Skibicki killed Buffalo Woman, Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24. They were vulnerable First Nations women who court heard were impacted by the child welfare system, poverty and addiction. Nine months later, Ashlee was formally identified using DNA and additional information from Skibicki not heard at trial, the Winnipeg police said on March 26. At the same time, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced a search for Shingoose’s remains in the city’s Brady Road landfill, but did not provide a start date. Police had recovered Contois’ remains in the same landfill but refused to search for Harris and Myran in the Prairie Green Landfill, a private facility on the north outskirts of Winnipeg. Video: ‘Bring our daughter home’: Parents of Ashlee Shingoose speak to the public  Kinew organized a search staffed by the province and jointly funded by the federal government. The women’s remains were recovered on March 16. In the release, the court said it received a request from Crown attorneys to hold the special hearing for the Shingoose family and community members. “The court has agreed that holding a hearing to receive and validate the victim and community impact statements relating to a now identified victim in a concluded first degree murder case is both appropriate and necessary in these exceptional circumstances,” noted the release. “The court has had to reflect on both the legal parameters and institutional duties and opportunities that this situation presents for the purpose of providing a fair process that both enhances public confidence and promotes institutional reconciliation.” The hearing won’t “impact the legal jeopardy of Mr. Skibicki,” the release added, noting that Skibicki is not required to attend but his lawyer will be there. Read More: Search of Manitoba landfill for more remains of slain women concludes The court said the hearing gives the Shingoose family the same opportunity to address the court as the other victims’ families. “… It is an opportunity to acknowledge the dignity of the victim and make real the suffering of, and impact on, the victim’s family,” the release said. “It is an opportunity that would have been afforded them had Ms. Shingoose been identified prior to the sentencing of Mr. Skibicki for her murder, a sentencing which is now complete.” The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15. Meanwhile, the search of the Prairie Green Landfill concluded in July. A message to the province from APTN News seeking more information on the Brady Road search was not returned Thursday. Continue Reading