Who is Buffalo Woman? Serial killer trial reports on police efforts to identify victim

WINNIPEG – In mid-March 2022, a young Indigenous woman stood outside the Salvation Army in Winnipeg and spoke to a man who invited her into his home.

Wearing a reversible Baby Phat-branded jacket and a cloth face mask, she later boarded a bus with the man and rode to his apartment in the North Kildonan neighborhood.

The woman was the first victim of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

In the two years since her murder, police have not been able to identify her or find her remains.

She has become known to members of the indigenous community, the police and the court system as “Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe” (“Buffalo Woman”), a name given to her by a group of indigenous grandmothers.

“Our community adopted her. We wanted her to have a name and to belong to a community,” said Thelma Morrisseau, who attended the naming ceremony.

“She must be honored and respected.”

Police released few updates on their efforts to identify Buffalo Woman, but details of their extensive efforts were revealed this month during Skibicki’s trial, which is scheduled to continue in June.

Skibicki, 37, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of Buffalo Woman and three others – Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24.

His lawyers said he killed the four indigenous women but could not be prosecuted due to mental illness.

Prosecutors believe the murders were racially motivated and that Skibicki exploited vulnerable women in homeless shelters.

The court heard he attacked the women, strangled them or drowned them and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins. Myran and Contois were dismembered.

“(Skibicki) forcibly detained Buffalo Woman because he thought she was going to take some of his belongings,” prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere said on the first day of the trial.

“(He) strangled her and filled his bathtub with water. Then he drowned her.”

When police announced in December 2022 that Skibicki had been charged with killing the unidentified woman, they were unable to release many details about her.

Police believed she was of Aboriginal descent in her mid-20s and said she was probably killed on or around March 15 of that year.

The only other clue about the woman that came to light were photos of a Baby Phat jacket. Police said she may have been wearing something similar to the black and white bomber jacket.

More about the jacket was revealed during the trial. Police seized the unwashed coat in the summer of 2022 after Skibicki told investigators he sold it online through Facebook Marketplace. He said he had thrown away the rest of Buffalo Woman’s belongings.

The jacket was analyzed along with evidence from Skibicki’s suite to determine the identity of the Buffalo Woman.

DNA found on a cuff of the jacket is the only evidence that proves her identity to police.

“We continue to try to exhaust all (leads) we receive from the public regarding the identity of Buffalo Woman,” Sergeant Dave Barber testified.

There was public speculation as to whether the woman was from Manitoba or even Canada, added Morrisseau, who attended the trial.

“She has family somewhere … but no one has come forward. They haven’t been able to connect her with anyone, and I just find that very disturbing,” she said.

Police learned of the Buffalo Woman’s death when Skibicki was questioned about Contois’ murder in May 2022. Surprisingly, he told officers he killed Contois and three other people.

This month, parts of Contois’ remains were found in a trash can in Skibicki’s neighborhood. Additional remains were later found in a landfill.

The remains of Myran and Harris are believed to be at another landfill. DNA tests in Skibicki’s apartment identified them as additional victims.

Skibicki initially gave police a name for Buffalo Woman, but it was the name of a living person.

He told police he met the victim outside the Salvation Army building north of downtown while snow was still on the ground and the province had just lifted restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restrictions were lifted on March 15, 2022.

In a video of a police interrogation played during the trial, Skibicki described the unknown woman as 1.63 meters tall, with dark skin and short hair.

Skibicki told police he was coming down from a psilocybin, or magic mushroom, high and became angry at Buffalo Woman after she tried to steal from him. He said he choked her before drowning her.

The last thing she did was insult him, he told police. “I understand why.”

He later disposed of her remains in a garbage can.

Sandra DeLaronde, a longtime advocate for the rights of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, was also in the courtroom during the trial. She said the Buffalo Woman’s case shows the ongoing breakdown of systems designed to protect vulnerable Indigenous women.

“There is a lot to learn from Buffalo Woman, especially how to support people who are unhoused or homeless,” she said.

DeLaronde said she appreciated the prosecutor’s efforts to seek justice for the Buffalo Woman.

During the trial, a ceremonial buffalo headdress lay on the prosecution table – a symbol of the unidentified woman who has not been forgotten and of families still searching for answers in other cases.

“She represents justice for all those families … who have never received justice,” DeLaronde said.

The federal government has established a hotline for those affected by missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls: 1-844-413-6649. The Hope for Wellness helpline, with support in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, is also available to all Indigenous peoples in Canada: 1-855-242-3310.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press