'I was Terry's protector': Sister of Alberta homicide victim reflects as triple murder trial starts

Read about the first day of the trial here.

It has been a year and a half since Amanda Blanchette's brother Terry and her two-year-old niece,Hailey, were killed in the Blairmore community in Crowsnest Pass, Alta.

As the trial for the manfacing first-degree murder charges in their deathsbegins Wednesday in Lethbridge, she hopes the world will focus on the good in their lives instead of the horror of their deaths.

"I was Terry's protector when he was born," says Blanchette, who was nine years older than her brother and is one of the very few willing or able to talk publicly about the victims.

• CBC News will bring you the latest updates when the trial begins Wednesday, including the latest tweets from reporters in the courtroom in our live blog:

TerryBlanchette, who was 27, was found dead in his duplex in the town of fewer than 6,000 people on Sept. 14, 2015. An Amber Alert was issued for his missing daughter,HaileyDunbar-Blanchette, and garnered nationwide attention.

The Amber Alert was cancelled the next day whenHailey'sremains were found in a rural area nearby.

The same day, DerekSaretzky, 24, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as well as committing an indignity to the body of the toddler.

In early 2016,Saretzkywas also charged with first-degree murder in the death of HanneMeketech, 69, whose body had been found on Sept. 9, 2015, in her homein the nearby Crowsnest Pass community of Coleman.

The 69-year-old worked in a thrift store, where she was employed throughMountain View Industries, an organizationthat provideswork and training to mentally disabledadults.

The homicides shook the usually quiet municipality about 230 kilometres south of Calgary, leaving family, friends and the community with many questions.

A jury of 14 has been assembled and the trial is expected to last for a minimum of four weeks.Voirdire hearings, to determine the admissibility of evidence in this case, have been under way since May 8.

Amanda Blanchetteand her family are bracing for the next few weeks of hearingthe details of Terry andHailey'sdeaths for the first time, not having been privileged to that information before it could be presented to a jury.

Escaping memories of Terry is nearly impossible for Blanchette since she lives and is raising her family in the home where she and her two brothers grew up in Elkford, B.C., about 70 kilometres from Blairmore.

"I was babysitting him, he was six and I was 15, and he stole the lawn tractor and went up the street to the park with it,"Blanchettesays.

"The neighbours up the street called my mom at work and told her Terry was pushing the lawn tractor home because it had run out of gas. Different things just trigger memories, it just depends on the day, I suppose."

Blanchettesays that her brother "was living a bit of a rough life" before he found out he was going to be a father, but says he turnedit around when he got the news.

Blanchetteremembers whenHailey's mother, Cheyenne Dunbar, gave birth, she did not originally useBlanchette in the little girl's last name, but Terry insisted he be a part of it.

"He was just absolutely thrilled with that baby," Blanchette says.

"She was a little water baby. She wanted to go to the falls, or the lake, or the river."

On many days when Terryneeded a babysitter while he was working, he called on their dad, whomade the 45-minute drive fromElkfordtoCrowsnestPass to take care of his granddaughter.

"Terry was a cook, he didn't make very much money. So my dad always helped out,"Blanchettesays.

It wasBlanchette'sdad who found Terry's body.

Reopening old wounds

Blanchettesays she will attend some parts of the trial, but her mom, Faith Durban, ischoosing not to listen to the details.

"This was her baby. Terry and Hailey were the youngest of the youngest, her youngest son, and youngest grandchild.... We know what happened to Terry and I don't think she wants to know what happened to Hailey. It really, really bothers her," Blanchette says.

Durban declined an interview, but sent some of her thoughts electronically, sayingshe thinks about her son and granddaughter constantly.

"I can tell you my family and I are trying to find peace in all this.... I know there will never be understanding. Acceptance doesn't come easy either."

Hailey's motherwas separated from Terry and lived in Edmonton at the time of the homicides. Dunbar has declined to comment ahead of the trial.

As the trial approached, the presence of news agency vehiclescauseda mix of reactions among the residents of the fivecommunities that make up the municipality ofCrowsnestPass. Feelings ranged from anger and exasperationto sadness and apprehension.

Many of those closest to the victims refused interviews, saying they didn't want to open up old wounds again.

Safe town image 'was just shattered'

Jessica Atkinson, owner of Stone's Throw Cafe inBlairmore, only had passing interactions with any of the victims.

Whenthe homicideshappened, she remembersthatbeing all anyone in the community could talk about, but now, people have let it fade into the background.But even if people aren't talking about it,the damage done has been lasting.

"The whole myth of being a safe, small town was just shattered,"Atkinson says.

All over again you remember the street roped off, police cars ...it's pretty cemented in your mind what happened there.- Jessica Atkinson

Even though she didn't knowBlanchetteor his daughter, she still has a hard time driving past their former residence.

"All over again you remember the street roped off, police cars, it was the picture that wasused in countless news broadcasts, so it's pretty cemented in your mind what happened there."

Atkinson didn't knowMeketechwell but had some interactions with her atBagatellethe thrift store where sheworked.

"I'd go there with my kids and she would just fawn all over them, just a really sweet lady,"Atikinsonsays.

LisaSygutek,owner of the local newspaper, has decided to minimize coverage of the murder trial.

"It's just a very touchy subject in the whole community," she says.

"Once it's over, then the healing for everybody can begin, one way or the other."