Fertuck murder trial to hear final arguments on Monday
A Saskatchewan man accused of killing his estranged wife in a Kenaston-area gravel pit and hiding her body will not testify at his first-degree murder trial.
Greg Mitchell Fertuck closed his case on Wednesday in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench after confirming he would be calling no further witnesses.
Justice Richard Danyliuk adjourned until Monday for closing arguments — almost three years after the judge-alone trial began in 2021.
Fertuck, 70, is accused of shooting Sheree Fertuck during an argument in a pit where Sheree hauled gravel on Dec. 7, 2015. Although her body has not been recovered, the Crown presented evidence they believe connects Fertuck to the shooting — including admissions he made to undercover police officers during a Mr. Big sting four years after Sheree went missing.
The bulk of the trial was a global voir dire, or admissibility hearing, to ensure the undercover operation met the threshold for admissibility. The Mr. Big statements and some of Fertuck's police statements were ultimately admitted as evidence on the trial proper.
On Tuesday, Fertuck called three lay witnesses to testify: his former lawyer, Sheree's brother and Sheree's neighbour, who lived near the pit where her abandoned semi was found.
Fertuck, who has been self-representing since his defence team withdrew in 2022, said he “obviously lied” to undercover officers about killing Sheree because they didn't find her body.
The undercover officers hired Fertuck to work for their fake criminal organization, secretly recording him over 10 months in 2018 and 2019. The sting culminated with a meeting between Fertuck and the “boss” on June 21, 2019, when Fertuck demonstrated how he shot Sheree with a Ruger 10/22. The fake boss told Fertuck he had to tell the truth about anything in his past that could negatively affect the group.
Fertuck was arrested two days later after he accompanied the officers on searches of rural areas near the pit, where he said he left Sheree's body in a bluff, unburied.
After he was charged, Fertuck told police he “made it all up” to impress the boss.
Through his questioning of defence witnesses, Fertuck alluded to gravel contracts and competitors as a possible motive for Sheree's disappearance.
The Crown sought to corroborate information Fertuck gave during his alleged confessions. A ballistics expert testified two .22 calibre shell casings found in the pit were fired from a Ruger 10/22 discovered near Biggar during the trial.
Fertuck told undercover officers he threw his gun in a field near Biggar.
Another expert testified that Fertuck's cellphone was near the pit on the day Sheree disappeared. Fertuck admitted to police that he went to the pit that day to pick up gravel, but never saw Sheree.