'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
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.