Lawyers say accused killer's decision to represent himself at Sask. trial could be a big mistake

The murder trial of Greg Fertuck has been full of surprising twists, but the most recent — and perhaps the most unexpected — came from Fertuck himself. 

He decided to represent himself for remainder of the trial. 

"I didn't kill nobody, and all I'm gonna do is tell the truth. I'm an innocent victim. I haven't killed nobody and I can prove it in court myself," Fertuck told CBC during a phone interview.

"I don't need a shady lawyer to take my money."

The stakes couldn't be higher for Fertuck. ​​He's charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing his estranged-wife Sheree in December 2015.

The trial has been underway for two years. ​​Fertuck has been remanded to custody for ​almost four years and Sheree's family has been waiting for some sort of closure for seven years. 

Fertuck was arrested in 2019 after police targeted him in an elaborate, lengthy and expensive undercover operation. The undercover technique used by police to gather the evidence that lead to the arrest is known as the Mr. Big method. 

"You can't imagine a more complex sort of legal issue than a Mr. Big case. To do that by yourself … oh, boy," said Brian Pffeferle, a criminal defence lawyer in Saskatoon who has been watching the Fertuck case play out. 

"I couldn't imagine the stress of facing a prosecution of killing my spouse. On top of that, you've got the stress of having to understand legal theory and the law in a very complex area." 

In Mr. Big stings, police officers pretend to be criminals and draw their suspect into their supposed organization. They build up trust with the target and eventually tell them that, in order to gain the organization's trust, they must spill the details of the suspected killing to the crime boss. 

In Fertuck's case, he told the boss — who was actually a police officer — that he shot Sheree twice, after an argument over money at the gravel pit where she worked near Kenaston, Sask. He took the undercover cops to the remote area where he said he left her body, but they didn't find her. 

Fertuck also took them west of Saskatoon to search for the Ruger 10-22 rifle that he said he used, but they never found it. 

Fertuck has told CBC multiple times that he lied about killing Sheree because he was afraid of the undercover police and thought they might hurt him. 

Beyond the Mr. Big sting, the trial itself has been complicated by a series of delays caused by COVID-19, procedural issues, new evidence emerging mid-trial and the changing of lawyers.