On at least two occasions, Sheree Fertuck told her close friend that if anything happened to her, she should suspect Greg Fertuck, according to witness testimony.
It’s a statement the Saskatoon first-degree murder trial has heard multiple times. Sheree’s friend Sherry Johnson testified that Greg Fertuck hadn’t been paying child support, and it caused Sheree to be upset and not her usual friendly self in early 2015.
“If anything ever happens to me … tell me you’ll look at Greg,” Johnson said she was told.
Later that same year, Johnson recalled Sheree repeating the statement and being adamant that she “look at Greg” if something happens. Sheree was also determined to get Greg’s name off the house they shared prior to their 2011 separation.
Sheree looked scared, Johnson testified.
“There’s something going on. He’s going wacko. I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Johnson recalled Sheree saying.
Johnson considered Sheree family, as Sheree’s daughter Lauren and Johnson’s son had a child together, court heard. Sheree was a like a “teddy bear” who loved her grandson, Johnson said.
Earlier in the trial, the defence suggested that Sheree and Greg Fertuck were in the process of reconciliation prior to Sheree’s disappearance. Johnson rejected the assertion, saying her friend wanted to get a divorce and to remove Greg’s name from the house.
Johnson said she and Sheree last spoke about a week before her disappearance on Dec. 7, 2015. She said her initial thought was that something had happened to Sheree and that Greg Fertuck was responsible.
On Dec. 9, Johnson said Sheree’s daughter Lauren asked her to come over because Greg Fertuck was going to drop off a Christmas parcel at the house. Lauren was afraid and didn’t want her father there, Johnson said.
Greg Fertuck didn’t drive his white Dodge Ram, but borrowed a car from his neighbour or landlord, Johnson recalled.
Two days later, Johnson said she received a phone call from the accused, who she said sounded like he had been drinking. He asked where she got “information” that he did something to Sheree, the witness recalled.
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“I was terrified,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘Don’t you ever call me again.’”
She hung up the phone and called police.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Mike Nolin asked Johnson if Sheree ever told her that Greg Fertuck was dying of cancer. Johnson said Sheree thought “it was bulls–t.”
Johnson also told Nolin she was unfamiliar with multiple financial aspects of Sheree and Greg Fertuck’s separation, but insisted they were not getting back together.
“She wanted to get his name off the house. She wanted a divorce. She did not want to get back with him whatsoever,” Johnson testified.
Greg Fertuck has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body. He was arrested in June 2019, three-and-a-half years after Sheree disappeared. Court has yet to hear evidence of the Mr. Big sting that led to his arrest.
The trial has heard three weeks of testimony in a voir dire, or admissibility hearing. At the conclusion of the Crown’s case, Justice Richard Danyliuk will determine what evidence can be applied to the trial itself.
The RCMP’s lead investigator on the case is expected to testify Monday.
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