Psychotic delusions didn’t drive Jeremy Skibicki to kill four women in his North Kildonan apartment, it was his desire to have sex with dead people, a psychiatrist testified Wednesday.
“He has a paraphilia, namely necrophilia, in my view a homicidal necrophilia subtype, which is the most compelling diagnosis that explains his behaviour that brings him to court today,” McMaster University psychiatry professor Dr. Gary Chaimowitz told court.
Jeremy Skibicki
Chaimowitz’s testimony came one day after another psychiatrist, Dr. Sohom Das, testifying for the defence, told court Skibicki suffers from schizophrenia and meets the criteria for being found not criminally responsible for the killings.
Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth unidentified woman police believe was slain in March 2022 who is known as Buffalo Woman.
Skibicki has admitted to killing the women but his defence argues he should be found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder. In a police interview videorecorded after his May 17, 2022 arrest, Skibicki admitted strangling or drowning the victims in his McKay Avenue suite, having sex with their bodies, and then discarding their remains in nearby garbage bins. Skibicki said he had dismembered Contois and Myran.
A Psych For Sore Minds / YouTube
Dr. Sohom Das in a video from his YouTube channel.
Prosecutors retained Chaimowitz to conduct a forensic psychiatric assessment of Skibicki, which was completed last month over the course of three interviews conducted via video.
Chaimowitz said his interviews with Skibicki and review of his police interview, medical history, and other documentation provided no evidence to support a claim the confessed killer suffers from schizophrenia and should be found not criminally responsible.
In his interview with police, Skibicki presented as “clear, cogent and consistent,” and it was only after his arrest that he claimed a history of delusions and hallucinations, Chaimowitz said.
“What he did appeared to be a semi-planned series of murders which had both racial enmity and a necrophiliac driver to them,” he said. “The fact that he comes across as outwardly gentle and thoughtful can disarm any potential victims.”
JAMES CULLETON ILLUSTRATION
King’s Branch Justice Glenn Joyal oversees the opening of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki’s trial.
Court has heard Skibicki claimed to believe he was on a mission from God and had killed his “impure” victims to get them into heaven. Skibicki said he had sex with the bodies multiple times over a period of several hours. He said the sex acts were meant to “sanctify the body” and were “acts of love.”
Chaimowitz rejected Skibicki’s claims as “fabrications.”
“In my view, the likelihood that he did this as the function of a psychosis is extremely low,” he said.
Chaimowitz said Skibicki confirmed an interest in necrophilia dating back to his teens.
Court has heard testimony from Skibicki’s ex-wife, who said he would push her to take sleep medication and then have sex with her when she was unconscious. The woman said Skibicki threatened to have sex with her corpse if she died.
“All of this appeared to be an escalation of his necrophiliac interest, to the point where he committed one and then three more murders,” Chaimowitz said.
Chaimowitz said it “stretches the imagination” to believe Skibicki sexually violated the dead victims under the direction of a schizophrenic delusion.
“The mere act of having sex in the ways described… requires arousal,” he said. “We, as human beings, for the most part, are not aroused by sex with dead people… You need an erection to commit these acts.”
Chaimowitz said Skibicki’s medical history includes no hospital admissions for mental health disorders. He said references to schizophrenia in medical notes were likely reported by Skibicki himself and not indicative of a diagnosis.
Most tellingly, Skibicki had been examined by three psychiatrists, none of whom diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
“That is, in my view, powerful information to suggest he does not have schizophrenia,” Chaimowitz said.
Defence lawyer Leonard Tailleur cross-examined Chaimowitz for more than three hours, during which the psychiatrist did not budge on his assertion Skibicki does not have schizophrenia.
Tailleur questioned Chaimowitz on the same points, leading to testy exchanges with Justice Glenn Joyal, who pressed Tailleur to move on.
“At some point, I’m not going to sit here and just let the oxygen be used up by questions that are repetitive,” Joyal said.
“With the greatest of respect, calling my cross-examination a sucking of oxygen, I am greatly, greatly offended by that assertion,” Tailleur shot back.
“I am sorry Mr. Tailleur, but you are leading a line of questioning that is not going anywhere,” Joyal said. “At some point ,you have to shut that line of questioning down. I’m not going to sit here for the next hour and a half watching myself grow as I hear the same answer to the same questions.”
After a brief recess, Tailleur concluded his cross-examination by accusing Chaimowitz of being biased in favour of the Crown and pointed to a case in which Chaimowitz argued an accused did not have schizophrenia in the face of three psychiatrists who said he did. The judge ultimately sided with the defence and found the accused not criminally responsible for his crimes.
Chaimowitz said it is his professional responsibility to diagnose mental disorders when he finds evidence of them so sufferers can get the help they need.
“I will do the best to provide my opinion to the court and the court is the final decision maker,” he said. “There is always the possibility (a diagnosis is wrong), but I feel very strongly about the view that I have taken.”
The trial will resume on Monday, when closing arguments will be heard.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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