Greg Fertuck’s partner says he disclosed Sheree Fertuck shooting hours afterward

Greg Fertuck’s former common-law spouse struggles with memory, but told court she does remember the night her partner said he killed Sheree Fertuck.

Doris Larocque, 76, has testified that Greg Fertuck entered their Saskatoon bedroom on Dec. 7, 2015 — the same day Sheree was last seen heading out to haul gravel.

“(Greg Fertuck) came home at 11 o’clock at night, drunk, and said he had killed his wife,” Larocque said while appearing via video from a different room in Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

She testified that Greg Fertuck, now 68, said the shooting happened at the gravel pit. He stopped his Dodge Ram pickup truck at the pit. Sheree waved and smiled, according to Larocque.

View image in full screen

“Then he said he shot her,” Larocque testified, adding he didn’t say anything about the gun type, how many times he shot her or what part of Sheree’s body was injured.

Greg Fertuck told Larocque not to tell anyone, and if she did, she’d “be next,” court heard.

“I thought he’d probably shoot me if I told anybody,” Larocque said. “But I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not because he was drunk.”

That was the only time Greg Fertuck told her he’d killed Sheree, court heard. Whenever the topic came up afterwards, he’d say, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it,” Larocque testified.

She didn’t tell police about the conversation until 2020.

According to Larocque’s version of events, Greg Fertuck said he buried Sheree’s body at the gravel pit using a “machine.”

In his admission to an undercover officer during a Mr. Big sting, Greg Fertuck said he shot Sheree twice at the gravel pit and used a front-end loader to place her body in the back of his pickup. He told the officer he drove the body to a bluff of poplar trees and covered it with some logs.

Her body and the gun have never been found.

Over nearly a year, Greg Fertuck was the target of 130 controlled interactions involving undercover police. The RCMP created a fictitious criminal organization that employed Greg Fertuck and the officers who posed as his co-workers.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Morris Bodnar, Larocque said she has memory issues “all the time” and has thought she may be in the early stages of dementia. She hasn’t been treated or diagnosed with the condition.

Bodnar pointed to multiple statements Larocque gave to police, of which the woman she doesn’t remember portions. The lawyer said in one interview, Larocque told police her partner couldn’t have done anything to Sheree “because he cares too much for his kids.”

In a Dec. 10, 2015 interview, Bodnar said Larocque told police, “I’ve noticed for a while now that I’ve started to forget things.”

In another police document, Larocque is cited as saying Greg Fertuck talked about the shooting at 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 8, not 11 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2015.

“I don’t know. I could’ve made a mistake,” she said.

During an Oct. 25, 2017, interview, police warned Larocque that she could be charged with being an accessory to murder. The witness said she doesn’t remember that being said, but it probably was.

At the time, she told police that Greg Fertuck never said anything about Sheree’s disappearance, according to Bodnar. Larocque testified she doesn’t remember that statement.

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

The Crown is expected to present more testimony from police officers on Wednesday. Prosecutors Cory Bliss and Carla Dewar could close their case Wednesday or Thursday.

All of the evidence presented so far during the judge-alone trial has been presented in a voir dire, or admissibility hearing. Justice Richard Danyliuk has not yet ruled on what evidence can be applied to the trial proper.

1:24 Greg Fertuck arrest audio played at Saskatoon trial: ‘I didn’t murder anybody’

• Greg Fertuck arrest audio played at Saskatoon trial: ‘I didn’t murder anybody’
• Greg Fertuck murder trial views post-arrest interview with RCMP: ‘I made up the story’
• Greg Fertuck murder trial hears of escalating pressure during search for Sheree Fertuck’s body
• Greg Fertuck lawyer alleges ‘prosecutorial misconduct,’ saying Crown broke rules, spoke to witness
• Greg Fertuck reveals Sheree Fertuck’s last words during gravel pit shooting

Previous Video

Next Video