'Oh my God': Greg Fertuck recounted wife's last words while acting out shooting for 'crime boss,' court hears
CBC
In a secretly recorded video, a Saskatoon court heard Tuesday that Greg Fertuck showed undercover police how he claimed he killed his wife, Sheree, using a walking stick as a prop rifle in the demonstration, with one of the officers standing in as Sheree.
"I'm going to get something for you," Fertuck is heard saying on the tape, which was played during his trial for first-degree murder in Court of Queen's Bench.
He then describes how he retrieved his .22-calibre semi-automatic rifle from his truck while the couple argued.
In the recording, Fertuck says Sheree dropped to her knees after getting shot in the right shoulder. The officer heard on the tape, standing in as Sheree in the re-enactment, then kneels in front of Fertuck after pretending to be shot.
"She says 'Oh my God.' Then I went behind her and shot her in the back of the head. She fell face down," Fertuck says on the tape, standing behind the officer.
The covertly recorded re-enactment took place in a seventh-floor suite at the James Hotel in downtown Saskatoon on June 21, 2019, court heard. The veteran officer who convinced Greg to act out the shooting was posing as the head of a criminal syndicate at the time.
Court saw the final hour of the almost three-hour conversation on Tuesday.
Greg is accused in the death of Sheree Fertuck, who disappeared on Dec. 7, 2015.
The 51-year-old mother of three went missing after heading to work at the gravel pit near the small town of Kenaston, south of Saskatoon. Her truck, jacket and cellphone were found there the next day. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Although Greg told undercover police that he shot her and dumped her body in the country, he later changed that story and has pleaded not guilty.
Police drew out the admission by posing as criminals in a technique known as a "Mr. Big" sting. None of the officers involved in the operation can be named because of a court-ordered publication ban.
Justice Richard Danyliuk is presiding over the judge-alone trial and he has yet to determine whether the evidence from the sting is admissible in Fertuck's trial.
The June 2019 meeting with Mr. Big was triggered by two developments.
Greg was tricked into believing that police were turning up the heat on the investigation into Sheree's disappearance. He was also led to believe this heightened scrutiny was endangering an upcoming high-stakes poker tourney the gang was setting up in Montreal.
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