COLUMN: Think Again – Serial killers should never be released

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/07/2024 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jeremy Skibicki is a serial killer. Now that he’s been officially found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, there’s no need to attach the word “alleged” in front of that statement.

To be clear, there was never any doubt that Skibicki murdered Morgan Harris, Mercedes Myran, Rebecca Contois, and an unidentified victim known as Buffalo Woman. The only question was whether Skibicki had the mental capacity to understood what he did.

In a much-anticipated decision, Chief Justice Glenn Joyal rejected the defence argument that Skibicki was suffering from a mental delusion when he committed these horrific crimes. Joyal ruled that there was no credible evidence that Skibicki had schizophrenia. Rather, it was clear that Skibicki had a bizarre fetish called homicidal necrophilia.

Skibicki intentionally targeted homeless shelters where he would bring women home, sexually assault them, brutally murder them, and then have sex repeatedly with their corpses. Then he disposed of their bodies in nearby dumpsters. He confessed to this, in graphic detail, during a police interview.

There are no words to describe the depravity of what Skibicki did. Family members of the victims are obviously relieved that Skibicki is heading to jail for a long time.

But for how long, exactly? Under Canadian law, the automatic punishment for first-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. While Justice Joyal will hear victim impact statements prior to sentencing, there is zero chance that Skibicki’s parole ineligibility period will be any longer than 25 years.

What this means is that in the year 2049, when Skibicki is only 62 years old, he will be legally entitled to a full parole hearing. Family members of the victims will feel obligated to relive their trauma and attend that hearing, lest the parole board decide that Skibicki deserves a second chance.

My concerns are not hypothetical. This is exactly what has happened in the case of serial killer Paul Bernardo, who was found guilty of murdering teen girls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in 1993. He got his first parole hearing in 2018, exactly 25 years after his conviction. The parents of French and Mahaffy were outraged that they had to relive their trauma once again.

The previous government of Stephen Harper tried to correct this problem when it amended the Criminal Code to allow judges to stack up parole ineligibility periods for multiple counts of first-degree murder. That is why Quebec mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette, who murdered six people in cold blood in 2017, was deemed ineligible for parole for at least 40 years.

Unfortunately, this entirely reasonable amendment to the Criminal Code was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. In their infinite wisdom, the justices decreed that life in prison with no chance of parole amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” Thus, Bissonnette will get his first parole hearing in only 25 years, just like Bernardo did.

For those who argue that we shouldn’t worry since there’s no chance that Skibicki, Bernardo, or Bissonnette will ever be granted parole, ask yourself why we’re bothering to have these hearings in the first place. If we truly believe that these sociopaths should never get out of prison, then the law should say so. Let’s not put victims’ families through the trauma of a pointless parole hearing.

The only way to fix this problem is to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution and override the Supreme Court’s decision. Parliament should do so without delay.

Locking Jeremy Skibicki in prison for the rest of his life is not cruel and unusual punishment. Telling victims’ families that he might be released someday is.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and a Steinbach city councillor. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.