Court hears Greg Fertuck's chilling claim to undercover officer about body disposal

An undercover police officer says a road trip with Greg Fertuck went topsy-turvy when the man now accused of killing Sheree Fertuck spontaneously began talking about being the subject of a murder investigation, his wife's disappearance — and successfully dumping bodies.

Audio of that conversation was played in court Wednesday at the 68-year-old's trial in Saskatoon. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder following the disappearance of his estranged wife, Sheree, nearly six years ago.

RCMP arrested Fertuck in June 2019, after he told undercover officers that he shot Sheree twice and then dumped her body in a rural location north of the gravel pit near Kenaston, Sask., where Sheree worked. Her truck, cellphone and jacket were found there on Dec. 8, 2015 — a day after she was last seen.

The officer in the witness box at Fertuck's trial Wednesday was part of an operation known as a "Mr. Big" sting, in which undercover officers led Fertuck to believe they were actually criminals.

The officers ran 136 structured interactions, called scenarios, culminating in Fertuck making his disclosure to a supposed crime boss — Mr. Big — in a Saskatoon hotel room in June 2019.

The officer who testified Wednesday — who, like the other undercover officers, can't be named because of a court-ordered publication ban — was involved in 115 of the 136 scenarios. He's described in court as "the primary operator."

Justice Richard Danyliuk is presiding over the judge-alone trial, which began Sept. 7 and is now in a voir dire, or trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of evidence. Justice Danyliuk has yet to rule on the admissibility of any of the Mr. Big evidence.