Triple murderer sentenced to life in prison
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An Alberta man who butchered a father, his two-year-old daughter and a woman will be approaching his 100th birthday before he is eligible to apply for parole after being sentenced to life in prison.
Derek Saretzky, 24, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the 2015 deaths of Terry Blanchette, Blanchette’s daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech.
A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
But Justice William Tilleman was asked by the Crown to make the periods of parole ineligibility consecutive, meaning Saretzky couldn’t apply for freedom for 75 years. Tilleman agreed with the request noting that means the Saretzky will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. Saretzky was also sentenced to five years for causing an indignity to the little girl’s body, which is to be served concurrently.
“I’m satisfied he is dangerous,’’ Tilleman told a Lethbridge court Wednesday. Tilleman said each murder was a separate and deliberate event causing heartbreak for the Crowsnest Pass community, where the killings happened. The judge noted five days passed between Meketech’s killing and the murders of Blanchette and his daughter.
“As he carried out these three murders, Mr. Saretzky gained momentum,’’ the judge said, adding Saretzky would have been surrounded by the grief and terror of his community.
During the trial, court heard videotaped confessions from Saretzky, who told police he killed Meketech — a friend of his grandparents — on the spur of the moment and because he didn’t think anybody cared about her.