While detained for questioning nearly two years after Sheree Fertuck’s disappearance, Greg Fertuck changed his story about his whereabouts the day she went missing.
During a six-hour interview at the Saskatoon RCMP detachment, the now 67-year-old said he was at the gravel pit near Sheree’s family farm on Dec. 7, 2015. Her family found Sheree’s semi-truck, jacket, cellphone and keys at the pit.
Two days following the disappearance, Greg Fertuck denied driving to the pit.
On Oct. 25, 2017, he made the statement about being at the pit. He told police he wanted to pick up five pails of gravel for his backyard. If he ran into Sheree, he planned to ask her if she needed him to haul gravel for the family business the next day, police were told.
“I thought if I admitted being there, then that’s another nail in my coffin,” Greg Fertuck told police.
His admission came after police repeatedly asked him why his phone pinged off a cell tower in Kenaston at roughly 1:20 p.m. that day.
He never saw Sheree, according to his statement to police.
“I would never harm the mother of my children. I don’t care what you guys think,” Greg Fertuck said.
Officers also questioned Greg Fertuck about blood found inside the tailgate of his Dodge Ram pickup truck. Court has heard the blood matched female DNA taken from Sheree’s razor.
Greg Fertuck said Sheree may have gone into the bed of his truck to get something and cut her hand in the process.
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“I’m not sure how (the blood) got there,” he said.
On multiple occasions, Greg Fertuck said he wanted his lawyer, Morris Bodnar, to sit with him during the questioning. By law, adults can’t have a lawyer present during a warned statement, police replied.
The accused also briefly stood up, saying he wanted to leave. The RCMP members told him he was under arrest, though he hadn’t been charged.
In June 2019, police charged Greg Fertuck with first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body. The charges resulted from a Mr. Big sting, in which undercover officers posed as members of a criminal organization.
In its opening statement, the Crown said Greg Fertuck told undercover police he murdered Sheree and left her body in a rural area. Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss stated the accused used a front-end loader to lift Sheree’s body into the back of his pickup.
The Crown and defence will argue whether or not the video should be deemed admissible by Justice Richard Danyliuk.
During the 2017 police interview, Greg Fertuck repeatedly stated he couldn’t have physically lifted Sheree’s body.
At one point, Sgt. Chad Clark can be heard asking Greg Fertuck if he wants to be continually brought back for questioning whenever new evidence emerges.
“Go for it,” he answered.
Hours into the questioning, police brought Lanna Fertuck, Greg and Sheree’s daughter, into the interview room. Investigators laid out the evidence against the man in her presence.
“Dad just tell the truth, okay? She’s gone and she’s not coming back.” Lanna said, her crying audible on the recording.
Greg Fertuck told her that he “didn’t do nothing to your mom.”
Police also played recorded videos of Greg and Sheree Fertuck’s daughters. They show Lanna and Lauren Fertuck speak directly to their father.
“I just want you to tell the truth, and I want everything to just be done with,” Lauren said.
After viewing each video, Greg Fertuck maintained he had nothing to do with Sheree’s disappearance.
Sheree’s body has never been found.
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