Murder suspect Wingert asked for God’s forgiveness, court hears

Murder suspect Terry Wingert asked for divine intervention after confessing his role in the beating death of a Calgary drug dealer, court heard Wednesday.

And unlike when he made a similar admission to an undercover police officer posing as a member of an organized crime gang, a teary Wingert was quite contrite when he spoke to a homicide investigator.

Wingert’s lengthy interview with Det. Mike Shute was played in his Court of Queen’s bench trial for second-degree murder in the Christmas Day 2013 death of Anthony Fernandez.

Wingert admitted he and another man beat Fernandez, 19, in a drug robbery gone wrong.

At one point near the end of the videotaped interview, Shute steps out of the interrogation room, leaving a pacing Wingert by himself.

“I am sorry, Anthony,” Wingert says on the tape, in reference to the man he’s charged with murdering.

“And to your mom, Anthony, I’m very sorry,” he continues.

“I’m very sorry, God, please forgive me. Please.”

Wingert’s contrition was contrary to how he acted when he discussed Fernandez’s killing a month before his Sept. 22, 2015, interview with Shute.

In that surreptitiously taped conversation, the accused spoke of seeing Fernandez’s mother, Daisy, posting on Facebook asking for information to help police solve her son’s killing.

“That’s what happens when.. ..your f--- son wants to roll like that,” he told the undercover officer.

“And make money, not work.” During his confession to Shute, Wingert expressed thoughts of killing himself instead of facing the prospect of prison.

But Shute told Crown prosecutor Ryan Jenkins he didn’t take the comments seriously.

“I didn’t believe that Mr. Wingert was in crisis. I think it was a bit of a coping mechanism.”

Defence lawyer Karen Molle, who is challenging the admissibility of Wingert’s statements, will call psychologist Dr. Marc Nesca on Thursday about Wingert’s IQ and cognitive functioning.