Derek Saretzky up and talking to medical staff after suicide attempt
Alberta man accused of murdering 2-year-old Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and father
Derek Saretzky, the man accused of murdering an Alberta toddler and her father, is out of a medically induced coma and talking to medical staff after a suicide attempt while in custody, according to a source close to the case.
The 22-year-old was rushed to hospital on Wednesday after staff at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre in southern Alberta found him trying to hang himself.
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Saretzky has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two-year-old Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and her father, 27-year-old Terry Blanchette. There is an additional charge of committing indignity to a body involving the girl.
Hailey's body was found last week in a rural area near Blairmore, a day after her father was discovered dead in the southern Alberta town of about 2,000 people. The case sparked an Amber Alert across Western Canada and Montana.
There was originally speculation on social media and some media reports that Saretzky may have been attacked by other inmates — a theory dismissed Thursday by Alberta Justice.
"The medical distress that resulted in transportation to hospital was not the result of any altercation," Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio said in a statement, while not naming Saretzky directly for privacy reasons.
Saretzky had been scheduled to appear in a Lethbridge courtroom Wednesday, but the matter was postponed.
He is due in court next Wednesday. Calls to his lawyer for comment have not been returned.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive in the slayings of the father and his daughter, or why Saretzky is their only suspect in the case.
'We don't want him dead, we want answers'
Blanchette's sister and Hailey's aunt, Amanda Blanchette, says she hopes Saretzky makes a full recovery.
"We don't want him dead, we want answers," she told the Crowsnest Pass Herald in a Facebook interview.
"Especially the baby, why take her from the house only to kill her?"
She also wonders why Saretzky was left alone in the correctional centre.
"I am curious as to how this happened," she said.
Amanda Blanchette also gave her condolences to the Saretzky family.
"They are hurting as well," she said, a sentiment that was echoed in a statement to members of the Saretzky family issued on Wednesday.
