A start date for the trial of Greg Fertuck, charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death and disappearance of his estranged wife Sheree, has finally been selected.
The 66-year old Fertuck will stand trial next spring, beginning on Monday, March 29.
The trial is expected to carry through into the month of April.
Fertuck appeared briefly by video on Thursday, August 13 at the Court of Queen's Bench from a room at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, during which he changed his trial election to judge alone, as opposed to trial by jury. When asked by the judge how he was faring, Greg made a comment about the “terrible food” and said he is innocent of the crime of which he was charged.
Fertuck’s defense attorney Morris Bodnar spoke to media outlets outside court and touched on why he advised his client to select a trial by judge only.
"I thought that in the circumstances of this case and the facts of this case, we wanted someone trained in the judicial system to be the finder of fact and the law," said Bodnar, as quoted by CBC Saskatoon.
Greg Fertuck has maintained his innocence since police arrested and charged him in June 2019 with the murder of his wife Sheree. The 51-year old mother of three went missing from a gravel pit near the village of Kenaston on December 7, 2015. The truck Sheree used to haul gravel was left abandoned at the pit, and her keys, coat and cell phone were found inside the vehicle.
Though he wasn’t officially charged until last year, court documents revealed that police thought Greg was responsible for his wife’s disappearance and death as far back as May of 2016.
Running what’s called a “Mr. Big” sting operation, officers went undercover to try and gain Fertuck’s confidence and draw out a confession. Police say that Greg told an undercover officer that he “got rid of” his wife Sheree and “threw her in the bush.”
Extensive and exhaustive search efforts scanned countless acres of land in the time since her disappearance and police have used everything from aerial searches, cadaver dogs and even infrared technology to try and look for clues, but to this day, the remains of Sheree Fertuck have yet to be found.
