As a Saskatchewan RCMP officer told Greg Fertuck he was charged with first-degree murder and offering an indignity to the body of Sheree Fertuck, the man repeatedly stated he’d done nothing wrong.
Audio of the arrest was played Monday, as the 68-year-old’s trial entered its eighth week at Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench. Const. Robert Head can be heard reading Fertuck his rights.
“This is a bunch of b——t because I haven’t done anything,” the accused told the officer.
The arrest happened on 11th Street West on the outskirts of Saskatoon on June 24, 2019. Fertuck was returning to the city after what he thought was a day of work with a criminal organization. He was in a vehicle with men who he considered his coworkers, but were actually undercover RCMP officers.
The arrest happened around 6:30 p.m.
In the back of a police cruiser, Fertuck asked the officer to loosen his handcuffs. Head instructed the man on how to sit in the backseat of the police cruiser: with his legs parallel to the backseat so he wouldn’t hurt his arms. Fertuck didn’t follow the direction, according to the officer’s testimony.
“Can you please loosen these handcuffs?” Fertuck asked.
Head replied: “right now I am not loosening those handcuffs”
Fertuck also asked to use the bathroom several times, becoming increasingly agitated as Head read instructions to the accused.
Head testified that he didn’t let Fertuck urinate on the side of the road because he’d have to remove the handcuffs and give the man space, which would give him an opportunity to run away.
Fertuck asked the police to drive to the Saskatoon RCMP detachment before the accused peed his pants.
“I didn’t murder anybody, so let’s go,” he said.
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About an hour after his arrest, Fertuck said he wanted to see a doctor, complaining of a sore arm and chest pain. He told police he had a lung issue, according to Head.
Fertuck had a blood clot in his lung earlier that year after suffering a head injury on Jan. 1, 2019.
Paramedics arrived at the RCMP detachment just before 7:45 p.m. and determined that Fertuck had high blood pressure. He was rushed to the emergency room at St. Paul’s Hospital and remained under police supervision.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Mike Nolin, Head said he was aware of the fall on New Year’s Day and his subsequent visits to the hospital. He was not aware of finer details, including Fertuck’s meeting with a speech pathologist and having to be taught to sit up in bed.
Cpl. Craig Zwarych took over watch of Fertuck just before midnight on June 24. He testified that the man was cleared to leave after blood work showed no evidence of a heart attack and there were no instructions regarding a followup to the visit.
He was discharged around 3 a.m. and returned to RCMP holding cells.
Sheree Fertuck was last seen leaving her family’s farmyard on Dec. 7, 2015 to haul gravel near Kenaston, Sask., which is about 85 kilometres south of Saskatoon.
Her estranged husband was a suspect within days of the disappearance, but it took a nearly year-long Mr. Big sting to achieve Greg Fertuck’s arrest.
Mr. Big operations are controversial in Canada and banned outright in the United States. While police often say the creation of fake criminal organizations using undercover officers is a truth-seeking pursuit, opponents argue Mr. Big stings are akin to entrapment and can lead to false confessions.
All of the Crown’s evidence so far has been entered in a voir dire hearing, which is meant to determine what can be applied to the trial proper.
Justice Richard Danyliuk is presiding over the judge-alone trial. After Friday, a lengthy adjournment is expected before he rules on what evidence is admissible.
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