Greg Fertuck to be sentenced Thursday for 1st-degree murder of wife Sheree

Greg Fertuck, who was found guilty last month of the first-degree murder of his estranged wife, will face his sentencing hearing Thursday.

Fertuck faces an automatic life sentence for the first-degree murder conviction. Victim impact statements are expected in Thursday's hearing.

Sheree Fertuck, a 51-year-old mother of three, vanished on Dec. 7, 2015. She was last seen leaving her mother's farm near Kenaston, Sask., just after 1 p.m. CST that day, en route to a gravel pit where she worked.

On June 14, 3,113 days later, Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench Justice Richard Danyliuk ruled that Fertuck went out to the gravel pit that afternoon of Dec. 7, got into a confrontation with Sheree, shot her twice, then loaded her body in his truck and dumped her in a rural area.

This is the scenario that Greg presented to undercover police posing as criminals in a sting operation years after Sheree disappeared. He later recanted that story, saying that he made it up because he was enticed by money and perks from the fictitious criminal organization the officers were pretending to be a part of.

Sheree's body has never been found.

Danyliuk said in his ruling that Fertuck went to the gravel pit prepared to kill Sheree — he had a gun and heavy plastic wrap — if a conversation about finances didn't go well. 

"Greg had a considered plan in place to deal with Sheree. That it was a plan that was, arguably, contingent upon the settlement conversation going poorly does not make it any less a plan," he wrote in his decision.

"Even if killing Sheree was Greg's 'Plan B' it was no less a plan for that fact. Once the event triggering the contingency occurred, Greg executed his plan and executed Sheree."

First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Sheree's sisters, Michelle Kish, Teaka White and Glenda Sorotski, said on the day of the decision that justice has been served.

Fertuck's sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CST Thursday at Saskatoon Court of King's Bench.

Sheree Fertuck's disappearance, the ensuing investigation and Greg Fertuck's trial are the focus of the CBC podcast The Pit. Listen to all the episodes here.