Episode 4: No Safe Place

Written By Justice for Cabot Square MMIWG2S+

In case you missed it, here is a link to episode 4: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/manufactured-death-a-story-of-mmiwg2s-in-cabot-square/id1896469784

Image Descriptions…

  • Image 1: headshots of Morgan Harris, Ashlee Shingoose, Marcedes Myran, and Rebecca Contois

  • Image 2: headshot of Donna Pare

  • Image 3: Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime infographic on sexual assault and reporting to police

In this episode….

In our fourth episode of “Manufactured Death”, we discuss some suspicious deaths of Indigenous women in Cabot Square following the arrest and incarceration of The Wrathful One in 2018, along with the 2019 disappearance of Donna Pare. Homicide staged as suicide within the broader context of MMIWG2S+ is explored, as it relates to Nunia, Siasi, Sharon, and Tess’ deaths. We talk about how the continued and ongoing violence, death, and disappearances of Indigenous women in Cabot Square is indicative of the fact that this situation is bigger than any one person. It’s a broader, complex system that requires complex solutions. Quebec’s crown prosecution service had a chance to keep these women safe when The Wrathful One was charged and arrested in 2018, and then again, in 2023. And they failed.

Timestamps…

  • Tess: 6:54

  • Search the Landfill: 15:48

  • Homicide staged as suicide: 19:33

  • Donna Pare: 27:12 

  • Alice: 34:34

  • The Wrathful One’s 2022 release: 42:22

  • Challenges for community workers: 44:21

  • Legal barriers to reporting violence: 51:15

  • Breakdown of surrounding community organizations: 55:39

  • The Wrathful One’s 2023 arrest: 1:00:56

  • Dangerous Offender classification: 1:02:00

Calls to Action…

  1. Call on Quebec’s Minister of Social Services to investigate the failure of shelters and community organizations in Montreal and around Cabot Square. Specifically, to understand how these vulnerable women were able to fall in between the cracks. Contact Social Services Minister Lionel Carmen at 450-463-3772 or by email via ministre.responsable@msss.gouv.qc.ca, lionel.Carmant.TAIL@assnat.qc.ca. Please visit our website at www.justiceforcabotsquare.ca for contact information.

  2. Call on the Surete du Quebec and SPVM and ask them once again to investigate the string of suspicious deaths and disappearances of all Indigenous women and girls in and around Cabot Square. You can call the SPVM at: 514-280-2222 and the Surete du Quebec at: 1-800-659-4264

  3. Contact the office of the Mayor of Montreal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada at 514-872-0311. Call on her to implement oversight and accountability measures for Montreal community service organizations, and to launch an inquiry into the conduct of the Montreal Police, Batshaw, and surrounding community organizations in light of the high number of MMIWG2S+ in Cabot Square.

Resources…

References…

  1. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. (2023, July 24). Final report of the landfill search feasibility study committee’s technical subcommittee. https://manitobachiefs.com/final-report-of-the-landfill-search-feasibility-study/

  2. Brady, P. Q., Zedaker, S. B., McKay, K., & Scott, D. (2023). The darker the skin, the greater the disparity? Why a reliance on visible injuries fosters health, legal, and racial disparities in domestic violence complaints involving strangulation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(11–12), 7602–7629. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221145726

  3. Elsevier. (2024). Journal of Affective Disorders. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032724013971

  4. Government of Canada, Department of Justice. (2026). Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46), section 753: Application for finding that an offender is a dangerous offender. Justice Laws Website.https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-753.html

  5. Ferguson, C., & Brooks, N. (2025). A scoping review of strangulation and hanging: Determining suicide from concealed homicide in equivocal death cases. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2025.2546321

  6. Heldring, N., Krona, D., & Rudd, E. (2025). Indicators of strangulation in medico-legal assessments: A scoping review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 82, Article 101997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2025.101997

  7. Men, V. Y., Chan, P. P. M., Schaffer, A., Morales, D. S., Steinberg, R., Mitchell, R. H., & Sinyor, M. (2024). Suicide by different methods in Toronto: A quantitative study examining 23-years of coronial records. Journal of Affective Disorders, 366, 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.163

  8. National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2014). The social determinants of mental health. PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4165723/

  9. Radio Canada International. (2024, July 11). Jeremy Skibicki 1st-degree murder trial decision. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2087466/jeremy-skibicki-1st-degree-murder-trial-decision

  10. Smith, Zandré (2020). Death due to hanging: A retrospective descriptive study of the socioeconomic and demographic profiles of hanging victims in central South Africa.https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/c567ec5c-f333-4041-962b-e5c8dcc47809/content

  11. Statistics Canada. (2023). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2023001/article/00003-eng.htm

  12. Sutton, D. (2023). Gender-related homicide of women and girls in Canada. Juristat, Statistics Canada.https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2023001/article/00003-eng.htm

  13. Zambrowsky, S. C. (1987). Needs assessment on the Native women who are or may be in conflict with the law in the region of Montreal (Report No. 1987‑27). Solicitor General Canada. https://www.publicsafety.gc.

Justice for Cabot Square MMIWG2S+
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