Court upholds triple murderer's conviction, rejecting appeal lawyer's argument on confession
Triple-murderer Derek Saretzky's confession to the killing of the first of his three victims wasn't obtained through a violation of his Charter rights, Alberta's top court ruled Tuesday.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel said Saretzky's admission to killing Hanne Meketech months after confessing to two other murders didn't involve a breach of his right to counsel.
Defence lawyer Balfour Der argued in February that senior RCMP officer Mike Mccauley used a power imbalance between himself and the Crowsnest Pass man to get his confession.
Der said Mccauley used his expert interrogation skills to get Saretzky to admit to murdering Meketech, 69, while he was detained at the Medicine Hat Remand Centre on charges of killing a Blairmore father and daughter.
Der said because of the intelligence and power imbalance, McCauley effectively had Saretzky under detention and the officer was required to inform him of his right to counsel.
But Crown prosecutor Christine Rideout said Saretzky was “quite shrewd and cunning” and would have been aware of that legal right based on earlier interviews, in which he confessed to murdering Terry Blanchette and that man's daughter, Hailey Dunbar-blanchette, on Sept. 14, 2015, after breaking into their home and kidnapping the child.
Rideout noted that during earlier interviews, in which Saretzky denied involvement in Meketech's death on Sept. 9, 2015, he was made aware of his right to counsel.
Der said the appeal court should have taken into account Mccauley's expertise at extracting a confession versus his client's relative lack of sophistication.
But Rideout argued Saretzky wasn't detained by the officer and was free to demand to be taken back to his cell at any time and refuse to talk to Mccauley.
“The trial judge found that the appellant was not detained at any time during his meeting with (then-) Sgt. Mccauley … and therefore did not have to be reminded of his S. 10 ( b) rights,” wrote Justice Peter Martin, in penning the unanimous appeal decision.
“Those findings were well supported by the evidence and are entitled to deference.”
Saretzky admitted breaking into Meketech's home in Coleman and killing her five days before ambushing Blanchette and kidnapping and killing the victim's twoyear-old daughter.
Saretzky was sentenced to life in prison with three consecutive terms of parole ineligibility of 25 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in the killings.
Der has appealed that sentence, and will argue Saretzky should only be forced to serve the minimum 25 years before he can seek release.