Accused murderer confessed during Mr. Big sting operation
Murder suspect Terry Wingert showed little sympathy for his alleged victim, or the victim’s still-grieving mother, when he confessed to an undercover police officer.
In a videotaped conversation with an officer posing as a member of a criminal organization, played Friday at his murder trial, the accused discussed homicide victim Anthony Fernandez.
And he also discussed the victim’s mother, Daisy Fernandez, who was prominently displayed on the front page of an edition of the Calgary Sun intentionally left in the vehicle.
In the Aug. 18, 2015, exchange, Wingert told the undercover officer he had seen the mother make similar pleas for information about her son’s killing on the internet.
“She was pleading over Facebook,” the accused said, in the surreptitiously taped conversation.
“Well he shouldn’t have been into … stupid (stuff ),” the officer said, of the fact Fernandez, 19, was selling drugs.
“Exactly,” Wingert said. “That’s what happens when … your f------ son wants to roll like that.
“And make money, not work.” Wingert, 49, is charged with second-degree murder in the Christmas Day 2013, death of Fernandez.
He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but the Crown is seeking a second-degree murder conviction for what they say was a drug deal gone awry.
The front page story featured a large photograph of Daisy Fernandez and a smaller one of the deceased.
Wingert and the undercover operative were driving north of Calgary when he began talking about an attack in which he and another man killed someone.
“Wham, wham, wham,” Wingert said, describing the blows he rained on the victim from the back seat of Fernandez’s car, a vehicle he was found dead in two days later.
“And then … I yanked him over the f------ seat by the f------ neck and got him under the back seat in his car,” the accused said.
“He was trying to … hide his head.” He said his accomplice held the victim’s feet while Wingert continued the attack.
“I was covered in blood,” he said, adding his heart was racing. “I said, ‘is he dead, is he dead?’ “Oh yeah … he’s dead.”
He said the deceased made a futile attempt to avoid being struck.
“I said ‘you’re not … hiding man, you’re done.’”
At that point Wingert noticed the newspaper, which had been sitting in the foot well of his passenger seat.
“Holy f--- man. There he is right there,” Wingert said, handing the paper to the officer.
Defence lawyers Karen Molle and Kelsey Sitar are challenging the admissibility of Wingert’s statement.
His trial continues on Monday.