'If anything ever happens to me, look at your dad': Daughter testifies in Greg Fertuck's murder trial
On the stand, in her dad’s murder trial, Lauren Fertuck held back tears while talking about how close she was with her mom.
“We’d talk on the phone every day … we talked about everything,” Lauren told a Saskatoon courtroom, over video.
Lauren’s dad, Greg Fertuck, is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the disappearance of her mom, Sheree Fertuck.
Sheree was last seen on Dec. 7, 2015 leaving the family farm near Kenaston, Sask. to go haul gravel nearby.
The Crown believes Greg shot Sheree at a gravel pit and moved her body to another location. Her remains have never been found.
Greg has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and causing indignity to human remains.
Lauren testified her mom told her: “If anything ever happens to me, look at your dad” and asked her to look after the dog.
She said the conversation happened about a year-and-a-half before Sheree went missing.
“She was scared my dad would eventually do things to her,” Lauren testified.
Court heard the couple had been separated at the time Sheree went missing. They had three children together: Lucas, Lauren and Lanna.
All the kids, now in their 20s, testified Greg’s drinking fuelled the separation and they’d often fight about finances.
While she never saw the physical violence between her parents, Lauren testified she once saw bruising on her mom’s torso and believed Greg kicked her.
She said she saw Greg kick her brother during an argument.
Lauren told court Greg would call Sheree nasty names and heard him make threats.
“He would get graphic, ‘I’ll gut you like a fish,’” she said.
Earlier in the trial, Lucas testified his dad threatened to shoot his mom “between the eyes.”
Fertuck testified she believed her father was the person responsible from the day her mother went missing.
A couple months after Sheree went missing, Lauren said her dad texted her asking about seeing his grandson, Lauren’s son.
In the text Greg said he loves them more than their mom, court heard.
Lauren told Greg he could only see her son, Greg’s grandson, if took a polygraph test.
In his text reply, Lauren said Greg called her a “brain dead little girl” and called Sheree “a bipolar witch.”
Two days after Sheree went missing, Greg told officers he still loved Sheree and they were even working on reconciling.
The judge-alone trial is in a voir dire, a trial within a trial, to determine the admissibility of evidence.
It’s scheduled to last eight weeks, going into the first week of November.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.