RCMP Mr. Big sting on accused killer Greg Fertuck began with fake contest at bar offsale in Saskatoon
Cops ran 136 scenarios that played to Fertuck's personality
The undercover police sting that led to the first-degree murder charge against Greg Fertuck began as a fake contest run out of the Mano's Restaurant offsale on 22nd St. W in Saskatoon, testimony revealed at his trial Monday.
It was the summer of 2018, three years after Sheree Fertuck had disappeared and 10 months after Greg had been arrested, interrogated and released.
RCMP had kept Greg under surveillance since his release in October 2017, amassing a cache of details of his life that could be exploited during an undercover operation.
The officer who orchestrated the sting testified Monday at the start of the fifth week of Fertuck's trial at Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon. Justice Richard Danyliuk is presiding over the judge-alone trial.
None of the officers in the operation can be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban.
The broad strokes of the plan, known as a Mr. Big sting, involved undercover officers posing as criminals and convincing Greg to disclose the truth of what happened to Sheree.
They did that by playing out 136 structured interactions, known as scenarios, between the summer of 2018 and late spring of 2019. The majority were audio recorded and key sessions were videotaped. It was called Project Fisten.
Over the course of five hours on the stand, the officer's narrative touched on how various RCMP operators revealed to Greg a criminal enterprise that featured loan sharking, corrupt border guards, stolen diamonds, vehicles and high-stakes poker games.
He testified that they did so while following the rules of engagement for Mr. Big stings set out in a Supreme Court decision, R vs Hart, and dealing on the fly with the challenges posed by Greg's heavy drinking.
The cops wanted Greg Fertuck engaged in the criminal enterprise but it had to be done soberly, and by his choice, the officer testified.
Baiting the hook
The hook was baited in July, 2018. It turned on RCMP knowing that Greg went almost daily to the offsale at Mano's Restaurant on 22nd St. W to buy liquor.
Two undercover police set up a stand in the offsale and pretended to be pollsters doing market research on customers' drinking habits. People who filled out a survey were entered in a draw.
First prize was an all-expense paid trip to Cancun, Mexico. Second prize was a trip to Canmore, Alta., with third prize concert tickets in Saskatoon.
Greg entered with his girlfriend, Doris, and won second prize.
"I heard it on the live monitor, they were both very happy that they won," the officer testified.
Fertuck did not know that the other couple who also won, and the people he would meet on the vacation in Canmore and Banff, were all undercover RCMP.
Meet the gang
Prosecutor Cory Bliss led the officer through dozens of the various scenarios. The goal, he testified, was for Greg to naturally learn details of what his co-winners did for a living. This would include legitimate and illegal enterprises.
"Ultimately we wanted to throw an offer out to Greg ... and to help Greg connect the dots," he said.
"There was no obvious criminality in the conversations."
The sting was tailored to take advantage of Greg's interests and background. For instance, officers knew that he had worked at CN Rail so the criminal venture involved transportation.
"We knew he'd have knowledge of strapping things to flat-decks," he said.
Greg learned that his fellow contestants, and their friends who they introduced him to in Alberta, bought damaged vehicles in the States and hauled them north for repair and resale at car dealerships.
Around this time, the officer said Greg began wearing a black hat and referring to himself as "the dark cowboy."
He also learned through hints and overheard conversations that there was a legal side of the business and an illegal side. Sometimes the vehicles would be sold on the side by unscrupulous dealers. The criminal side was considerably more lucrative. A legitimate trip might pay $80, while its illegal version would pay $200.
Scenario 19
While on the Canmore trip Greg learned that one of the Alberta contest winners had a daughter going to the U of S in Saskatoon. This gave the undercover cops a pretext to stay in touch with Greg and Doris on their return.
The supposed daughter cultivated her own relationship with Doris, which the officer testified was important because it wasn't known whether she was an accessory to Sheree's alleged murder, or could be leveraged against Greg later in the sting.
"It was important that we had Doris onside," he said.
It was during scenario 19, in October of 2018 in Saskatoon, that officers actively introduced the criminal side of the operation. Greg and an undercover cop from the Canmore trip met a third man at a local bar, with Greg being asked along to "watch his back."
The officers wanted him to conclude that "it smells like crime, it doesn't look like a legitimate meet," he said.
Afterward, the undercover officer explained that he worked for a sophisticated criminal organization that was better than a bike gang "because we don't roll with patches on our backs" and didn't traffic in drugs "because that draws too much police attention."
It was that point that Greg indicated he wanted to work on the criminal side of the organization, the officer testified.
Notes on a sting
The officer's testimony revealed the granular details of mounting such a long-term project that spanned multiple provinces and featured a cast of disparate characters. Among the revelations:
- Given Greg's blue-collar upbringing, the operators favoured "typical family restaurants" such as Dennys when eating out. They drank at blue-collar bars in Saskatoon such as Clark's Crossing or The Shark Club.
- While aware of Greg's drinking problem, they also had to frequent bars and strip clubs "because that's what bad guys do ... it was a credibility tool."
- They humoured Greg's misogynistic vulgarity, which most frequently emerged when he was drinking. Once, when driving a shipment of contraband from Regina to Saskatoon, they referred to the contents as a "case of dildos," which became an inside joke.
- Greg had a girlfriend on the side named Dawn, who was addicted to drugs, the officer said. At one point Greg indicated he wanted to kill Dawn's boyfriend, known as "the Paki," but officers convinced him to hold off because they had someone in their employ who could do it and not leave a trail.
Coming up
Cory Bliss touched on about half of the 136 scenarios in examining the officer on Monday. He wrapped up by describing how the undercover cops orchestrated a "crime boss cameo" in Vancouver, offering Greg a glimpse of Mr. Big.
The Crown's contention is that Greg ultimately disclosed to the crime boss how he shot Sheree twice and then dumped her body in a rural area north of the gravel pit near Kenaston, Sask.
That disclosure was recorded and will be played during the trial.
The testimony so far is taking place in a voir dire, or trial within a trial, and Justice Danyliuk will need to rule on its admissability.
The trial, which began Sept. 7, resumes Tuesday and is scheduled for another three weeks.
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