- 2 days ago
The families of Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran, Morgan Harris, and 'Buffalo Woman' were devastated to get the news that evidence pointed to a serial killer in the disappearances of their loved ones. But that was only the beginning in their years-long quest for justice, as questions swirled about a fourth unidentified woman who became known as Buffalo Woman and the killer’s modus operandi was hauntingly similar to that of another predator targeting Indigenous women a decade prior.
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00:03This program is rated 14-plus and contains scenes of violence and mature subject matter.
00:08Viewer discretion is advised.
00:13From the beginning, it was quite obvious that it was a grisly scene.
00:19Earlier this week, the victim was found dismembered with parts of her remains tossed into a dumpster on Edison Avenue.
00:26Once police had discovered Contois' personal remains, they determined pretty quickly that they would have to search Brady Landfill.
00:34After searching for two weeks, officers say human remains have been found.
00:40And what is this person's name? Her name is Rebecca Contois.
00:44A suspect already in custody and charged with one murder is now charged with three additional counts of first-degree
00:51murder.
00:52All of the victims are Indigenous women.
00:54The world that we're living in is sick. I was driven to do stuff like this. I killed four people.
01:02Winnipeg police are defending their decision not to search a landfill for the remains of three murdered Indigenous women.
01:08Investigators suspect their bodies may be there, but say searching it is not feasible.
01:13The families of the victims don't accept that.
01:15I should not have to stand here today, and I should not have to come here and be so mad
01:19and beg and beg so that you will find and bring our loved ones home.
01:25That's my girl that's out there. Just because she's First Nation, you go dig for her.
01:31You don't leave them out there.
01:36Welcome to Crime Beat. I'm Anthony Robart.
01:38The murders of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, Rebecca Contois, Mercedes Myron, Morgan Harris, and a fourth woman yet to
01:47be identified have all been linked to one man.
01:51Police have arrested and charged Jeremy Skibitzky in connection with the killings.
01:55But so far, only Rebecca's remains have been recovered.
01:59And without the remains of the other women, securing a conviction could prove difficult.
02:06Here now is Marnie Bluntz with a continuation of Bringing Them Home.
02:14A gruesome, disturbing discovery of a serial killer targeting Indigenous women in Winnipeg that would change everything for four families.
02:30And she liked the yellow roses. That's why we got yellow roses in there.
02:35You see her smile there? She always had that big smile. Always.
02:39I remember when they told us that she's dead.
02:43Found her. Her DNA.
02:46And I think I went in shock or something, but I don't know.
02:48I just, it was too hard, too much.
02:53The worst day ever.
02:55Changed everything.
02:56Everything.
03:00But in the days, weeks, and months to follow, was the start of a movement to bring them home.
03:07The partial remains of Rebecca Controis, the first victim to be discovered, were found in the Brady Road landfill.
03:15But on the opposite side of Winnipeg was the Prairie Green landfill, where Morgan Harris and Mercedes Myron were believed
03:23to be.
03:24Calls and conversations for that landfill to be searched kept growing louder.
03:29Search the landfill!
03:32Frustration and tensions were mounting.
03:35Say their names!
03:36Say their names!
03:38Morgan Harris!
03:40Morgan Harris!
03:42The focus shifted to levels of government.
03:45Prairie Green has stopped operations while politicians figure out how a search would take shape.
03:51There's all sorts of, you know, permits and so on.
03:54It would have to go through those processes as well.
03:56And I would absolutely not want anyone to be putting themselves at risk, significant risk, going through that search process.
04:06The search could cost between $84 and $184 million and take between 12 and 36 months to complete.
04:14A team would also have to navigate challenging health risks, including asbestos and toxic chemicals.
04:21Then in July of 2023, the province sided with Winnipeg police and announced the search wasn't feasible, citing safety reasons.
04:30This is absolutely unacceptable.
04:33We have received the letters from the families.
04:37We see the level of pain and the federal government will look to do whatever we can to support the
04:42province, the city and whoever needs support in terms of giving closure and justice for these families.
04:48But because we're First Nations, it's not feasible.
04:52It's too dangerous.
04:54The province said it would not support a search, but stated it would support a memorial in honour of the
05:01victims.
05:02We sat down with Heather Stephenson, who was the leader at that time of the PC party on July 5th.
05:11How cold she was to us, like, well, no, what we're going to do is we're going to offer you
05:16more, more supports, and we'll put a memorial up over at Prairie Green.
05:23And I said, you're telling us that you want my nieces for the rest of their lives and any grandchildren
05:33to follow
05:35when they want to go pay their respects to their mum, to their grandma, to go lay flowers, you want
05:42them to come to Prairie Green landfill, a dump where there's garbage and pay their respects that way.
05:49I said, how dare you? How cold can you be?
05:53While the province announced it supported the creation of a memorial, no additional details were released.
06:05They didn't care.
06:10It wasn't their problem.
06:16That's what I got out of it.
06:18A lot of the families were speaking yesterday about this and saying they're outraged for the decision.
06:22What do you want to say to them?
06:24Well, what I did say to them, because I met with them yesterday, and listen, it was a very tough
06:29and emotional decision.
06:31I mean, I'm a mother, and I can't imagine what they are going through right now.
06:37And my heart goes out to them, and that's why we want to help them in these ways.
06:44And she frankly got up and she said, we're not going to get anywhere today, and she walked out on
06:49us.
06:49Walked out on myself and my family in what was probably one of our darkest moments in time.
06:57Heather Stephenson could not be reached for comment, but at the time, she defended her position.
07:04I'm not just a mother and can empathize with the families, but I'm also the premier of Manitoba,
07:09and I have to protect all Manitobans throughout this, including those that would be asked to go into those landfills.
07:15And I can tell you that all the way through that report, significant risks are identified in that report.
07:22So she showed no interest. So, you know, I remember the next day we threw up a blockade.
07:28We were like, well, to heck with you.
07:31Another day passes, and the blockade remains, with protesters still standing their ground at Winnipeg's Brady Road Landfill.
07:40We're not here to provoke, and we're not here to engage in any conflict.
07:44We're here to just remain our peaceful selves and make sure that the family have their voices to be heard.
07:50The writ has officially been dropped, and that means the 2023 Manitoba election campaign has officially begun.
08:01The fall of 2023 brought Manitoba's provincial election, and the fight to locate these murdered women's remains became front and
08:11centre of the campaign.
08:12Considering this issue, there's so much heartbreak behind it.
08:15For Manitobans at home now, why won't you take another look at having a further discussion on searching this landfill?
08:22Sometimes people have to make tough decisions. Leaders have to make tough decisions.
08:27This is one of those tough decisions I had to make.
08:29But in the report it says, it says very clearly that there are very significant risks associated with searching the
08:39landfill.
08:39I cannot, in good conscience, put workers' health at risk.
08:44Searching the landfill is an important step towards delivering justice in Manitoba, but it's also part and parcel of an
08:53approach to live up to that phrase that we all wear on September 30th, of every child matters, which at
09:00its heart recognizes the inherent dignity of every human being.
09:04But it became clear that our opposition wanted this to be an election issue.
09:08As part of their 2023 election campaign, Manitoba's progressive Conservatives put up billboards saying, stand firm against the landfill search.
09:18Every day when I go home, I had to see that billboard.
09:22You know, that was disgusting to see your family's grief being politicized because it was sending a message to serial
09:29killers and people that target Indigenous people.
09:32And that was the message that they were sending.
09:33That really just hit home.
09:35It just really moved me to think about, you know, these young women who wanted to find closure for their
09:43mom or for their sister, their daughter, granddaughter.
09:47And so it really became a humanitarian conversation in my mind, not just a criminal and courtroom conversation.
09:59In October 2023, Manitoba's NDP government came into power, Wab Kanu becoming the first First Nations Premier of a Canadian
10:08province.
10:09This is a great victory for us.
10:17This is a great victory for all of us in Manitoba.
10:24Eventually, our current premier, Wab Kanu, got in.
10:27The very next day, we got that call that we were going to be searching the Prairie Green Landfill, that
10:32it was going to be done by this day.
10:34This was the plan.
10:35It was a massive victory for the families, but there was still no guarantee that justice in the courtroom would
10:42be served.
10:43I killed four people.
10:45Okay.
10:46Thank you for your honesty.
10:48Do you know their names?
10:50Alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibitzky had initially confessed to the murders.
10:55The only thing that I regret is the first one that I killed, compared to the rest of them, I
11:04told them all, pray to Jesus.
11:06I don't know why I wasn't thinking at first.
11:09I think it was just because I was high or whatever.
11:12But God will sort that out.
11:17And I really try to not prolong their suffering.
11:23But his defense team was about to throw a curveball in court.
11:41Welcome back.
11:42A full search is now underway at the landfill, where police believe Jeremy Skibitzky concealed his victim's remains.
11:50He is now headed to court, but his fate will be decided by a judge, not a jury, after it
11:57becomes clear how his defense team intends to argue the case.
12:02We now return to Marnie Bluntz and bringing them home.
12:09Jeremy Skibitzky showed little emotion as he pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in Winnipeg Corker
12:16Monday.
12:17Up until this point, we had been calling him Skibicki, but once in court, journalists learned the correct pronunciation was
12:26Skibitzky.
12:27And at pretrial, Skibitzky entered a not guilty plea, despite previously admitting to the murders.
12:41Spring 2024 marked the start of Jeremy Skibitzky's six-week-long trial.
12:50As much as it was hard to be there, like, with that evil person that did that to her, I
12:56still went because I knew she wanted me to, like, be present in that courtroom for her, even though it
13:02was hard.
13:03I didn't want to be near the monster.
13:05I had to be there for my girl.
13:08I had to know.
13:10It's traumatizing to stand in the room with a predator and a serial killer and see him day after day
13:16after day after day, knowing that that's who took your loved one's life.
13:19It's definitely not something I ever wanted to see, but it was something that I needed to know.
13:26A difficult emotional process to endure for the families.
13:30And that rollercoaster of emotions would be magnified when Skibitzky's lawyers revealed their defense.
13:37If you're in a delusional state and you maintain that delusional state, then, you know, what you believed, what you
13:43were doing was right.
13:45And that was the defense.
13:47Jeremy Skibitzky's mental capacity will now be the focus of his trial after he admitted to killing four Indigenous women
13:53back in 2022.
13:55The defense revealing early in the trial, they would argue that while Skibitzky admitted to killing the women, he was
14:03not criminally responsible.
14:04As far as I was concerned, Jeremy Skibitzky was an extremely mentally ill individual.
14:09That's the position I've always maintained.
14:11It was not without obvious basis because in all his hospital records, many of them, up to really almost the
14:20time of the homicides, it indicated chronic schizophrenia.
14:25And so the Crown, in responding to that, really needed to, A, look into the medical diagnosis and whether or
14:34not that was valid.
14:35During the trial, the court heard details on Skibitzky's background and personal life, outlining a past filled with violence.
14:43His past partner, who is a brave individual who suffered a lot at the hands of Jeremy Skibitzky, provided information
14:52in a statement about drug use with Jeremy Skibitzky, abusive relationships, sexual assaults, physical assaults.
15:00She talked about very disturbing things that happened between her and Mr. Skibitzky, including him sexually assaulting her when she
15:09would be unconscious, physical assaults, and vile language that he would use when he spoke to her.
15:15As part of his assessments that he had growing up, adolescent assessments done of him, it was very problematic.
15:26He had a very poor relationship with his mother, and certainly the background had a huge import on him.
15:36He was adopted as well and estranged from his biological mother.
15:41So I think all these things formed a sort of a backdrop to what turned out to be the serial
15:49case.
15:50Now, it has to be understood that many people who are mentally ill and then cross into the criminal justice
15:56system, they have all kinds of other precursors.
15:59They have other things, such as drug addiction and so on.
16:02The Crown pushing to prove Skibitzky's crimes were premeditated and that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
16:11Well, the Skibitzky case was unlike anything I've covered or anything the city has ever seen, I think.
16:17What distinguishes it is just how calculated these killings were.
16:22This was so calculated and targeted in the way Skibitzky went after his women, hunting them in shelters, how he
16:30targeted vulnerable women.
16:32We had a brief recess, then I made it to the washroom and I collapsed, I just, I couldn't do
16:39it, I, I, I, all I said is she was fighting, she was fighting, she was trying to stay alive.
16:45These are definitely, like, drug-fueled, but I'm not blaming the drugs, I mean, I knew what I was doing,
16:52man.
16:53The information that he provides to the psychiatrist was in contrast to the information that was provided in the police
17:01statement.
17:03There was a lot of evidence that came from surveillance, security, videos of him following his victims, going to, going
17:10to shelters, disposing of their remains in garbage bins.
17:15There's a big computer trail where he would do searches for garbage days.
17:20When was the garbage pickup?
17:21So he could know when to dispose of the remains.
17:25He, he looked up, what is the definition of a serial killer?
17:29He told police he got the idea from Sean Lamb, disposing of the remains in the garbage.
17:34Searches about how long fingerprints stay on things, how long DNA stays on things, whether or not it can be
17:41washed.
17:42There were also searches that were being done with respect to missing women.
17:48The court also heard Skibitzky sent Facebook messages to his ex-partner on May 9th, 2022, that said, quote,
17:57I could be doing three life sentences, but I might not be caught.
18:02Before Rebecca, like, I'm pretty sure it would have been able to get away with, like, all of this.
18:07But I just, I got sloppy.
18:12Yeah.
18:13Do you think you would have stopped?
18:19No.
18:20Okay.
18:22A police officer took the stand to testify about several letters Skibitzky wrote to a female inmate in Nova Scotia
18:30while he was awaiting trial.
18:32In the letters, Skibitzky wrote about challenges of having an unbiased jury in his case and how he would have
18:37to use the not criminally responsible defence.
18:40The court also heard from a forensic psychologist testifying for the Crown.
18:45And it was Dr. Chemowitz's opinion that he, not only did Jeremy Skibitzky not have a mental disorder at the
18:56time,
18:56he actually was driven to commit these murders in large part because of homicidal necrophilia,
19:03which is a paraphilia to do sexual things to bodies after the person has been killed.
19:11And it was the Crown's position that he did not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
19:16Never had he been diagnosed with schizophrenia, nor had he since been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
19:23Weeks after, families would finally learn his fate.
19:41Welcome back.
19:42At the trial, the Crown presented a disturbing portrait of a serial killer.
19:48And now the families of his victims were about to learn the verdict.
19:52For three of those families, there's hope the landfill search will succeed in recovering their loved one's remains.
20:00We now return to Marnie Blunt and bringing them home.
20:06In Winnipeg, a judge handed down a decision today in the trial of a man who confessed to being a
20:12serial killer.
20:13Jeremy Skibitzky has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women.
20:23Guilty on all four counts!
20:30I'm flooded with emotions. I'm extremely happy, and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
20:35Justice was served today.
20:38Skibitzky was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
20:44This will never be enough for me.
20:45What he did to those women, he deserves a lot more than what was put on him today.
20:49I won't ever name him. I will never say his name.
20:53He's an evil monster.
20:55Today sets a precedence that if you attack a First Nation woman, you will be held accountable.
21:04If you prey on our women, you will be held accountable.
21:10Our decision was jointly with Mr. Skibitzky, he did not want to appeal the matter.
21:17Yes, he was forever going to rot behind bars, but I'm still going to be suffering the rest of my
21:22life,
21:22walking through this grief and this suffering.
21:25And this trauma and PTSD that I've had to go through the last, not only the entirety of my life,
21:30but since learning that my mom was murdered.
21:32You know, that monster is gone, and like I said, after he was convicted and given that life sentence,
21:39I said, I hope that when he does leave that jail, he's leaving in a body bag because he doesn't
21:48deserve to walk our streets again for the very vile things that he did.
21:55But while a guilty conviction was secured for the families of Morgan Harris, Mercedes Myron and Buffalo Woman, they still
22:03didn't have a way of bringing their loved ones home.
22:06We are going to find my cousin, and we are going to bring her home, and we're going to bury
22:13her properly.
22:14In June 2024, a year and a half after it was revealed where Morgan Harris and Mercedes Myron were,
22:22the province finally began that process of looking for them.
22:26To me, this is about sending a message to everyone in Manitoba that you matter, that every single person in
22:32this province has dignity,
22:33and that when somebody goes missing, we go looking.
22:39The search plans were laid out in stages, including a test dig, site preparation, and building a cultural healing facility
22:47for the family on site.
22:49The main search of the targeted area of the landfill, where Morgan and Mercedes were believed to be, got underway
22:55in late 2024.
22:58Everybody who worked on this, whether they were driving a skid steer or they're drawing up the plans,
23:03it pulls at the heartstrings.
23:06Equipment will be used to spread the materials in long lines,
23:09and then search technicians will go through the materials with rakes and tools to further spread out the debris.
23:15The project manager of the search says they'll be looking for little clues in everything they sift through
23:20that could connect them to May 16, 2022.
23:23We're looking for one specific date, right?
23:26So we want to try and get a clue in terms of finding receipts or things of that nature
23:30that might have a specific date on it to let us know that we're in the right vicinity.
23:36Then, in late February 2025, a moment the families had waited years for.
23:43This morning, members of our search teams found human remains at the Prairie Green landfill.
23:50I couldn't believe it.
23:52We had made the findings of these remains in the landfill search, which right there, that was very, very stunning.
24:05First Morgan and then Mercedes had been identified.
24:09I just immediately thought of the families.
24:12Would have just listened to us in the first place, we would have brought these women home a lot sooner.
24:17They didn't deserve to sit in that landfill for as long as they did.
24:20And I'm on my journey of healing.
24:25But every day, every day, I just think I want my mom.
24:32In March, the remains were confirmed to be Morgan and Mercedes, meaning they were finally coming home.
24:41I just made it real.
24:43She's gone.
24:44She's gone.
24:46She will never come in that door again.
24:52I'll never be able to hug her or say I love you.
24:55You know, they found, they found 15% of her.
25:01It's all they could find.
25:07Now you're looking a little bit.
25:10So she's still over there.
25:12That's her home now.
25:15It just hurts that I don't get all of her.
25:18I just wish she was here, because if you would have met her when she was alive, you would have,
25:23you would have seen how nice she was, how beautiful person she is,
25:28how much pain this has caused us, how much it tore our family apart.
25:34I always knew.
25:35I always believed we would bring her home.
25:39And these are the ashes from the final closing fire of Camp Morgan's.
25:44The reminder that that fire was lit, and while a sacred fire is put out, you know, that fight, it
25:49remains.
25:50I guess this was really to encompass my journey over the last two years.
25:53I thought it was important to paint my feelings out and everything that I've gone through within Camp Morgan,
26:00and just kind of pay tribute to it.
26:01For these families, it's the first time in years they can focus on remembering their loved ones
26:08and their own healing journeys.
26:11This one may be a little bit wrinkly, but there's like this skirt here that I sewed.
26:16So this is like, I think this one was 83 pieces of ribbon just for the zigzag section alone.
26:23That became my journey, and I felt that everything I sewed, I was sewing what I was going through
26:30into those skirts, thread by thread.
26:33You know, I told stories as I went along, and also knowing that I was healing myself
26:38for my mom working at the same time, being able to do something that she never really had
26:41the chance to growing up, because she didn't have those resources for that cultural learning.
26:47Sew this drum, it was especially made for the court process or like memorial events,
26:53I want my sister Rebecca to be remembered as a loving, beautiful soul who brought light
27:02into the lives of everyone around her.
27:05I would describe her as an angel who made us see the world differently.
27:12If she wasn't like found, like who knows what would have been happening right now,
27:17he would have been still at it, and I would have been sitting here today wondering where my sister was.
27:23Still wondering was the family of the unidentified first victim, known only as Buffalo Woman.
27:31But their wait was about to be over.
27:43It's been almost three years since Rebecca Contois' remains were discovered.
27:48And throughout those years, police worked to put a face and identity to the unknown victim,
27:53a fourth woman, or Buffalo Woman.
27:59At the time that Mr. Skibicki provided his statement to police, he did not know the name of that individual.
28:06He actually provided a name of somebody else who police discovered was alive,
28:10but had been at one point reported as missing, which is where he had come up with the name.
28:20And we knew that her DNA was found on a cigarette butt.
28:24That cigarette butt was in the front hallway of Jeremy Skibicki's suite.
28:28But that was the only information we had about it.
28:31In December 2024, homicide detectives traveled to the maximum security facility
28:37where Jeremy Skibicki was serving his sentences to conduct a post-conviction interview.
28:42He wrote a letter to the warden and asked if he could review photos that had been shown to him
28:49previously
28:50to identify Buffalo Woman.
28:52Winnipeg police traveled to Edmonton, where he was, in December of 2024,
28:57and took a statement from him.
28:59And in that statement, he reviewed photos.
29:02He identified Miss Shingoose as the individual who was Buffalo Woman.
29:08Ashley Shingoose, a 30-year-old mother from St. Teresa Park,
29:12Point First Nation in northern Manitoba.
29:15The last confirmed sighting of her was in downtown Winnipeg on March 11, 2022.
29:22It was around that time that Skibicki told police he had killed his first victim.
29:27When was that?
29:31I think, when was the day that the pandemic restrictions ended?
29:38But the police still had more work to do.
29:41To verify that Ashley was Buffalo Woman.
29:44And information the killer had told them in that post-conviction interview led them to further DNA testing.
29:52He had indicated previously that she was wearing a baby fat jacket.
29:56We did get some DNA off of that jacket.
29:58But I think the jacket was likely shared by a number of people.
30:01So the DNA that we took off of that jacket, we do not believe anymore that that was Buffalo Woman
30:07or Ashley Shingoose.
30:08In that follow-up statement, he told police that she was wearing black pants.
30:14And so the police go back to all of the exhibits that were seized from those bins outside of his
30:19suite as well as in his suite.
30:20And they find multiple pairs of pants.
30:23And they send all of those pants for DNA testing in comparison to Ashley Shingoose's DNA.
30:29And a pair of those pants come back with Miss Shingoose's DNA on them as well as Jeremy Skibicki's DNA
30:35on them.
30:36Winnipeg police have identified the fourth victim of a serial killer, a woman who until now has been known as
30:43Buffalo Woman.
30:44Her real name is Ashley Shingoose.
30:46She was a 30-year-old mother from St. Teresa Point First Nation in northern Manitoba.
30:51As Melissa Ridgen reports, police say new information led to her being identified.
30:55And they say a second landfill search now needs to happen.
30:59For three years, she's been a faceless silhouette alongside Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, and Mercedes Myron.
31:06Today, we know her name, Ashley Shingoose.
31:09Her family and advocates believed all along Shingoose was one of convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki's victims.
31:23This is how a kind of person she was, she was a loving, caring person.
31:29She'd do anything to help other people also.
31:35She was a, she is a very caring person.
31:39It was really hard, but I prayed all the time.
31:52I felt that, that she will be found, that she will come home.
31:59Your daughter deserved to be named, and we offer our condolences.
32:06Police say the post-conviction interview also revealed that Ashley Shingoose was in the Brady Road landfill,
32:13in the same area where Rebecca Contois' remains had been found nearly three years prior.
32:18And they say they also ruled out any other victims.
32:22We've exhausted every possible avenue to determine if there's any other victims still out there.
32:27So we won't be canvassing for any further DNA on this investigation.
32:31Ashley Shingoose continues in a causal.
32:35Ashley Shingoose continues in a causal.
32:38Ashley Shingoose continues in a causal.
32:40Ashley Shingoose continues in a causal.
32:43I think it's very important that we say her name.
32:45I promise you that we are going to search the Brady landfill for your daughter.
32:59And with Ashley Shingoose confirmed to be Buffalo woman, came a commitment from the Premier and Winnipeg's new Chief of
33:07Police.
33:08I would be remiss not to acknowledge that the initial decision not to search for the remains of Morgan Harris
33:17and Mercedes Myron has significant impact on the families and the community.
33:28We have had time for reflection almost nearly three years.
33:35While we cannot undo the past, we can learn from it.
33:41Today we know what needs to be done.
33:44And we're going to use the same technique as we did for Prairie Green.
33:48And then hopefully we can deliver to her family the same news that we were able to do for Morgan
33:54and Mercedes' families.
33:55I need your words.
33:59I need your voices.
34:02Speak up.
34:05Let's say, let's get the landfill going to bring our daughter home.
34:12But that landfill search could go even further.
34:16Another missing woman, killed by a different serial killer, lies in the same place as Ashley.
34:23We are being targeted by predators.
34:27And that's not something that, you know, just happened overnight.
34:31That is due to generations of oppressive policies that have been imposed upon our families, our nations.
34:41And that is something that needs to be recognized by all levels of government.
34:48Anybody in a position of authority or power, you have to recognize that.
34:53We are still in the middle of a crisis right now.
35:07Welcome back.
35:08As officials prepare to resume the search at the Brady Road landfill, it's not only the family of Ashley Shingoose
35:15left in limbo.
35:17The family of another woman murdered by a different serial killer is also waiting for answers.
35:25Here now is Marnie Blunt with a conclusion of bringing them home.
35:33We've got Ashley Shingoose, who is most recently identified as being one of the women in the landfill.
35:40And we've known for quite a number of years that Tanya Nipenak was in the Brady landfill.
35:49Tanya Jane Nipenak, a young Indigenous mother from Pine Creek First Nation, last seen in Winnipeg on September 13, 2011,
35:59leaving her home to walk to a nearby pizza restaurant.
36:02Me and my sister knew that when she phoned me and said Tanya didn't come home.
36:11And I said, OK, my sister, I want you to find the biggest picture of our girl and I'll come
36:21there.
36:24Yvette Nipenak's sister Tanya vanished from the West End last fall. A broken bond, she's desperate to reconnect.
36:31She was my big sister. She was happy and she taught me everything that I know.
36:39It's just sad that we continuously have to come out here and bring awareness to the fact that she's still
36:45there.
36:45And, you know, we hope one day that we get her back.
36:49In 2012, police charged Shawn Lamb with second-degree murder in her death, but those charges were later stayed.
36:57Lamb was also convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of two other women, Lorna Blacksmith and Carolyn Sinclair.
37:04Tanya was never found.
37:06Winnipeg police have previously said they believed her body was dumped in a garbage bin and her remains are in
37:12the Brady Road landfill.
37:13This is our hope. This is our only one chance to make sure that she does be found and she
37:20does come back.
37:23I can tell you that we're committed to completing this search from beginning to end. Our commitment to Tanya and
37:31the family.
37:31The Winnipeg police only searched for a couple of days at the Brady landfill and that's not enough.
37:46They did six days, three days to prepare and three days of digging.
38:02That was more than 14 years ago. Then, in the summer of 2025, came the news they'd been waiting for.
38:11The focus that we're working on right now is Ashley Shingus because we have the information about the cell that
38:20we believe where she's located.
38:21But we are making plans to search for Tanya and Ipinak as well.
38:26A test search for Ashley was conducted in the summer and the official search got underway in December.
38:32Because Ashley Shingus was placed in the landfill more recently and we have a much clearer idea of where she
38:40is, we're going to start there.
38:41Hopefully, we can deliver to her family the same news that we were able to do for Morgan and Mercedes'
38:47families and then we would move on to Tanya and Ipinak.
38:51I wanted to bring her out of the Brady landfill and Ashley, like they can't leave. They know they're there.
39:04For a decade, Tanya, my girl, has been laying there for over a decade.
39:10Tanya was very caring, loving. She would share what she had.
39:20I want to bring her home. I want her to rest with the family. She should be there with them.
39:30Not a pile of trash.
39:38Tanya's family, of course, deserve the same consideration as the other families and they've been waiting a long time, so
39:44we want to get it right.
39:46And that search will be more challenging because of the time period and because of the amount of detail on
39:54where she may be.
39:56It's just not the same as what we have for Ashley and what we had for Morgan and Mercedes, but
40:03we are committed.
40:06I have a lot of hope this time that we're going to bring her home.
40:12I have been saving my jig for Portage in Maine because I'm going to jig right in the middle, all
40:19around here.
40:22When I bring Tanya home from Brady landfill, I'm going to jig and it's going to be the happiest time.
40:34But in November 2025, right before the search for Ashley Shingu started, another turn for the Nipenak family.
40:42Lam, initially charged in her death, was granted statutory release by the Parole Board of Canada.
40:48I don't think this man should be walking around free after only 13 years.
40:55The news of the release of Sean Lamb has upset many people.
40:59Well, I think anyone who targets women or targets multiple people in this way should be taken away and not
41:08be a part of our society.
41:09And it's not hard for me to think ahead a few decades at Skibiki being potentially released in the future.
41:21And there is no doubt here. Not only was the person convicted, the person has admitted to it.
41:27They provided information that only the killer would know. Like, this is beyond a shadow of a doubt. This person
41:32has killed multiple people.
41:35How can someone like that be part of our society again?
41:42But throughout all the ups and downs, hope remains to bring Tanya and Ashley home.
41:50Like Rebecca, Morgan and Mercedes, bringing them home to rest and ensuring their memories are not forgotten.
42:00Morgan's Warriors is an outreach group. We go and we hand out food and clothes and support to whomever needs
42:09it.
42:09This is something my mom would have very much benefited from. And I'm very glad to be able to give
42:17this to other women who can benefit from this as well.
42:20She was fierce. She was strong. She was resilient. You know, to have that memory of her live on through
42:29her daughters.
42:30Because you see that strength in them. You know, you see that toughness, that light that they have in their
42:37eye.
42:37It's all about how her family turned our grief into action.
42:41I wanted to speak about her because I feel like time's going on, you know.
42:47And I never really had the chance to talk about Rebecca, about who she was and all that.
42:55Honoring her name and making sure that she's never forgotten was healing to me.
43:00And I want to keep doing that until, well, as long as I'm here, you know.
43:05What I really would have liked was her to be back at home with us.
43:12But, don't ever let it happen to anybody again. I just miss her so much.
43:18Ashley Singers. Ashley Christine Singers. She was a very quiet, loving lady, caring for his kids.
43:29I wish that there's a release of knowing where she'll come home soon.
43:41Her children are her legacy. And, you know, I think it's important to continue protecting, you know, my family, their
43:48grief, their story.
43:50And doing it justice in a proper way.
43:52By using this legacy as a beacon of strength and hope.
43:58I think that's beautiful.
44:00And when you look at it that way, good things can come.
44:04We requested interviews with the Winnipeg Police Service.
44:07But they declined, saying investigators don't feel comfortable speaking about a case post-conviction.
44:14They did tell us they acknowledged lessons learned about the landfill search.
44:19And stand by previous comments about supporting the search for Ashley Singers.
44:24While the Harris, Myron and Contois families have had some sense of closure.
44:29Like the families of Ashley Singers and Tanya Nipenak.
44:33There are many families out there still searching and still hoping to bring their loved ones home.
44:40A reminder that a support line is available for those impacted by the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
44:47crisis.
44:48It's available 24-7 at 1-844-413-6649.
44:57Thank you for joining us tonight on Crime Beat.
45:00I'm Anthony Robart.
45:02Want more episodes of Crime Beat?
45:04Listen to the Crime Beat Podcast now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favourite podcast.
45:12And for past episodes of Crime Beat, go to the Global TV app, visit GlobalTV.com, or check out our
45:20Crime Beat YouTube page.
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