The police in Manitoba have identified some human remains found in a landfill near Winnipeg as belonging to Morgan Beatrice Harris, one of four Indigenous victims of a serial killer. The identification was announced by the authorities on Friday. Harris, a member of the Long Plain First Nation, was 39 years old. Until now, only Rebecca Contois, 24, had been identified among the victims. Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki, who supported far-right ideologies and made white supremacist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic comments on social media, was convicted in the killings and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The other two victims were Marcedes Myran, 26, and an unidentified woman known to First Nations elders as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

The decision to search the Prairie Green Landfill near Winnipeg for the victims’ remains became a political issue during the 2023 provincial elections. The Progressive Conservatives, who were defeated, opposed the search, citing its cost and the risks to investigators. Indigenous groups highlighted the contrast with the case of Robert Pickton, who was convicted of killing six women, mainly Indigenous, in British Columbia. In 2002, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted Canada’s largest crime scene investigation at Pickton’s pig farm.

The identification of Harris’ remains was announced by the New Democratic Party government, led by Wab Kinew, the first Indigenous person to serve as a provincial premier. Kinew had promised during the campaign to search the landfill. Harris’ daughter, Cabria, expressed both sorrow and bittersweet emotions, urging people to keep their families in their hearts. The remains of Contois were recovered in 2022, and evidence suggested that those of Harris and Myran could be found at Prairie Green. The provincial government announced last month that the police had found “potential human remains” in the search material at the landfill.

Wayne Ewasko, the interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives, apologized for the party’s decision not to launch a search. However, Harris’ daughter rejected the apology, stating that unless the party’s actions provide proof of change, their words are meaningless.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/world/canada/remains-in-manitoba-landfill-are-identified-as-serial-killers-victim.html