Facing triple murder charge, Derek Saretzky back in Alberta court

An Alberta man accused of killing three people in the Crowsnest Pass including a little girl and her father in a case that attracted nationwide attention is in court this week and next for voir dire hearings ahead of the trial.

A voirdire isa sort of trial within a trial meant to determine the admissibility of certain evidence. The trial will be held in Lethbridge, Alta., before a judge and jury, which is to be selected later this month.

DerekSaretzkyof Blairmoreis charged with three counts of first-degree murderin the deaths of Terry Blanchette, 27, his two-year-old daughter,Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, and Hanne Meketech, 69.

He'salso charged withcommitting an indignity to the body of the toddler.

Saretzky, who was in court Monday,pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The case attracted national headlines when Blanchette was found dead and his daughter missing from their home in Blairmore, a community of 2,000, on Sept. 14, 2015.

AnAmber Alert was issued for the girlbut she was found dead the next day in a rural area near Blairmore.

Saretzky was charged on Sept. 16, 2015, with two counts of first-degree murder.

Seven months later, police also charged Saretzky with first-degree murder in the death ofHanneMeketech, who lived in the neighbouring community of Coleman.

Meketech was found dead in her home on Sept. 9, 2015 five days before Blanchette's body was discovered.

The voir dire hearings are expected tolast well into next week at Court of Queen's Bench in Lethbridge.

All material heard at this time during the voir dire is under a publication ban and can't be reported.

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