A major decision was made in Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench on Friday that will finally advance Greg Fertuck’s first-degree murder trial after nearly three years.
On Friday, Justice Richard Danyliuk decided that all of the statements obtained during an undercover police operation can be used against Fertuck in his trial — including his confession to the crime.
He has been on trial for the killing of his ex-wife Sheree Fertuck for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic, Fertuck’s health, and multiple voir dires caused significant delays.
On June 21, 2019, while being recorded on a hidden camera at the James Hotel, Fertuck told police he killed his ex-wife three-and-a-half years earlier.
The officers were posing as crime bosses in an organized crime group.
“I ended up shooting her, and that’s just between you and me,” Fertuck told the undercover officer.
He told the officers he had went to the gravel pit where Sheree worked to reason with her over divorce proceedings.
Cellphone data has placed him at the pit on the last day Sheree was seen — Dec. 7, 2015.
He took a .22 calibre rifle from his Dodge Ram pickup truck and shot Sheree in the shoulder, according to Fertuck’s version of events. He said she fell to her knees and he shot her in the back of the head from about 10 feet away.
He said her last words were, “Oh my God.”
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During Fertuck’s re-enactment for the crime boss, the accused touched the back of the crime boss’ head, indicating where he claimed to have shot Sheree the second time.
He told police he used a nearby loader in the gravel pit to put Sheree’s body into the back of his truck, wrapped it in plastic, and drove it to a nearby wooded area where he buried her under logs.
He said he washed his clothes with OxiClean to rid them of blood.
Videos have placed his truck at car wash the same afternoon.
Evidence gathered by forensics found a spot of blood that had been missed — inside the tailgate — matching Sheree’s DNA.
According to police, that interview with the crime boss was only one of roughly 130 interactions between Fertuck and the undercover officers.
Fertuck drove the undercover officers to the place where the alleged shooting took place, where they searched for her body and a rifle.
Her body was never found. A rifle was found under a storage bin near Kinley, Sask. in 2021.
A ballistics expert who testified in court in April connected the rifle to shell casings found where Sheree was last seen.
Fertuck has since denied everything in court, saying he lied to the crime boss.
On Friday, Justice Danyliuk ruled that the evidence gathered in the Mr. Big Sting is essential to moving forward with the trial, allowing the Crown to use it in their case.
“They are admissible in this trial,” Justice Danyliuk said, noting a 160-page written decision was prepared on the matter.
“A trial such as this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
The trial will move forward with a case management date set on Oct. 4 when the Crown and Fertuck will both decide whether or not to bring any final evidence into the trial for consideration.
Fertuck, who is representing himself in his case, hinted to the judge that he will be trying to bring another gun expert to the stand to prove that the rifle is not his.
The Crown couldn’t comment on whether they would be bringing additional witnesses to the stand but said that Friday’s decision was significant.
“The significant, substantive matter obviously involves the confession to the crime technique officers in terms of what actually happened to Sheree Fertuck and his involvement,” said Crown lawyer Carla Dewar.
It is not known yet whether Fertuck will take the stand himself.
— with files from Global News’ Ryan Kessler
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