Greg Fertuck defence says RCMP manipulated drunk, lying, head-injured client

Greg Fertuck was an alcoholic liar with memory issues leading up to the day he told undercover police he killed his estranged wife Sheree Fertuck, according to his lawyer.

Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar raised numerous examples as he cross-examined the RCMP’s primary operator Friday. The primary operator was the accused’s work partner in a fictitious criminal organization created by the RCMP for a “Mr. Big” sting. He spent more time with Fertuck, now 68, than any other undercover officer.

In one instance, the primary operator picked up Fertuck around 8:45 a.m. at a Nanaimo, B.C., hotel. He could tell Fertuck had been drinking.

“What I’m getting at is Mr. Fertuck, you can see, is a drunk,” Bodnar said in court.

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The lawyer also stated that RCMP operators chose to eat with Fertuck at restaurants that served alcohol. Each restaurant bill was paid for by the fake criminal organization. Bodnar described Fertuck’s drinking as “continuous” while with the primary operator.

“Quite often, yep,” the witness responded.

Bodnar also pointed to numerous examples when police believed Fertuck was lying during the sting. In December 2018, Fertuck told undercover officers he got a gash on his head after he was jumped by two men in Langley, B.C. He said he stabbed one of the alleged assailants and was surprised the attacker didn’t die.

The primary operator said he believed Fertuck lied about the stabbing.

On another occasion, Fertuck said he stomped on a woman in Saskatoon and thought he’d broken her arm. Undercover operators told Saskatoon police, and the police service determined there was nothing reported.

“Do you think he lied to you again?” Bodnar asked.

The witness answered: “I couldn’t say. There’s a lot of stuff that goes unreported.”

On Jan. 1, 2019, while outside a bar, Fertuck slipped on a patch of ice, fell and hit his head. A week later, undercover officers called an ambulance for him after he spent three days on the floor of his Holiday Park home, unable to get up.

The resulting head injury landed Fertuck in the neurological ward of a Saskatoon hospital. In the following weeks, officers noted improvements in Fertuck’s condition, but also issues with his short-term memory.

Bodnar accused the officers of assessing only Fertuck’s physical recovery, but not his mental recovery.

“He has a hard time remembering many of the names of the people,” the witness testified.

The primary operator said he never saw any reports on Fertuck’s neurological condition.

On June 21, 2019, the accused told an undercover officer posing as the boss of the criminal organization that he killed Sheree Fertuck. She was last seen by family on Dec. 7, 2015, leaving her family’s farmhouse east of Kenaston, Sask., about 85 kilometres south of Saskatoon.

Her remains have never been found, despite the accused leading undercover police to a set of poplar bluffs where he said he covered the body with some logs, court has heard.

Fertuck has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body.

All of the Crown’s evidence has been entered in a voir dire. The hearing is essentially a trial within a trial to determine what is admissible.

Justice Richard Danyliuk has yet to rule on whether any of the evidence to date is admissible. The judge-alone trial is scheduled for eight weeks.

‘What is the truth?’

After concluding Friday’s cross-examination, Bodnar spoke with reporters outside Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench. He reiterated the defence’s position that the sting was crafted on a foundation of falsehoods.

“The police lied throughout in this as well and I think that the accused lied throughout, so what is the truth?” Bodnar asked.

The lawyer said he “cannot even concede” that Sheree is dead, adding that her disappearance could have been staged — even if there has been no evidence to support that claim.

“If I was in her boots and wanted to get rid of a spouse, I would have staged it as well and done a great job because it’s not hard to lose yourself in this country,” Bodnar said.

Asked what his client had to gain by staying with the organization, Bodnar said Fertuck could have earned $70,000 to $100,000 and a trip to Montreal. Fertuck was getting paid for doing minimal work and liked his coworkers, he added.

He also expressed his hope that Fertuck’s trial shows that Mr. Big stings should be banned in Canada.

“They can get anyone to confess to anything.”