Fate of Alberta triple-murder suspect to be placed in hands of the jury

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The fate of an man charged with killing a father, his toddler and a senior in southwestern Alberta is expected to be handed over to a jury today.

Derek Saretzky, 24, is facing three counts of first-degree murder in the September 2015 deaths of Terry Blanchette, his two-year-old daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech five days earlier.

Saretzky is also charged with committing an indignity to Hailey’s body. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Justice William Tilleman will give the jury his final instructions before they are sequestered until they reach a verdict in the case.

The killings all occurred in the small close-knit region known as the Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta.

The court heard videotaped confessions from Saretzky who told police he killed Meketech — a friend of his grandparents — on the spur of the moment and because he “didn’t think anybody cared about her.”

Court heard Saretzky kicked in the door of her mobile home in the community of Coleman and bludgeoned her to death before stabbing her in the throat.

A similar scenario played out five days later at Blanchette’s home in Blairmore.

Blanchette was beaten with a baseball bat before his throat was cut and his little girl was taken from her crib.

Saretzky told police he took the toddler to a campsite, partially owned by a family member, where he choked her to death, cannibalized and dismembered her before throwing her remains in a firepit.

In her closing argument Monday, Crown prosecutor Photini Papadatou told the jury Saretzky’s confessions included details only the killer would know, such as what happened to Hailey and how Meketech died.

“How can you be satisfied that this man, Derek Saretzky, killed each of these people?” Papadatou said. “One, he told you that he did it.”

Saretzky’s lawyer reminded the jury members his client is innocent until proven guilty and the prosecution has to prove every aspect of the case.

“It’s the Crown’s job not only to prove the accused did the crime they’re accused of but also all elements of the offences,” Patrick Edgerton said.

— Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter

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