The unique contours of a Manitoba serial killers legal defence will be studied for years to come [Video]

In a case that lawyers and scholars believe will be studied for years to come, a superior court judge is expected to decide this week whether a man who admitted to killing four First Nations women in Winnipeg had the mental capacity required to knowingly commit first-degree murder.

The issue is not whether Jeremy Skibicki killed the women, but whether he was able to appreciate or understand that his killings were crimes. Should he be found not criminally responsible, he would be directed to court-ordered treatment in a mental-health facility instead of imprisonment.

But the British psychiatrist who was the only witness to testify in the 37-year-old’s defence told The Globe and Mail that the answer is clear: Mr. Skibicki’s severe disconnection from reality should negate his criminal responsibility.

In an interview, forensic consultant Sohom Das said examining Mr. Skibicki was one of the most gruelling experiences of his medico-legal career. “He was completely detached from everything he had done,” said the doctor from the North London borough of Enfield, …