'I loved her': Greg Fertuck denies killing his wife Sheree in interview at Saskatoon jail

Greg Fertuck is proclaiming his innocence from behind bars, saying he only told undercover police officers he "got rid of"his wife Sheree Fertuck because he thought the officerswere going to kill him.

"Sheree was my wife, I loved her and I wouldn't hurt her," said Fertuck at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre on July 12.

Fertuck is being held in custody after being charged on June 24 with first-degree murder and causing indignity to a body. He was interviewed in person for CBC's investigative podcast series, The Pit.

He claims he was at home on Dec. 7, 2015,the day Sheree disappeared. Sheree's semi-truck was found the next morning, abandoned in a gravel pit near her parents' farm in the Kenaston, Sask. area.

Fertuck later said a recent head injury made it so he does not remember anything about his divorce to Sheree, or if he was in the area of the gravel pit on the day of Sheree's disappearance.

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Fertuck said he slipped on ice and hit his head on his way to a restaurant in December2018.

"When I fell I guess I had a ruptured blood vessel in my brain, it started bleeding and that's partially the cause of my amnesia or whatever you want to call it," said Fertuck.

"I was in the hospital for over two months so I lost a bit of my memory."

Asked whether he has any information that could prove he was not near the gravel pit on Dec. 7, 2015, he said, "not really."

Fertuck said RCMP used a "Mr Big" operation in the investigation that led to his arrest.

Mr. Big sting operations involve police posing as criminals in an attempt to obtain a confession from a suspect.

Fertuck claims he fabricated a story about Sheree because he was intimidated by the undercover officers posing as criminals.

Fertuck claims he thought he could be killed

Fertuck said there was an individualwho he thought had "cleaned up" after the murder of a woman in Alberta.Fertuck claims he thought theofficer posing as a crime boss was going to have him killed too when he found himself in a situation with the same "clean up guy."

The RCMP has described the investigation as being "complex."

"It involved many highly trained officers who dedicatedhundredsof hours to determine what led to the death ofShereeFertuck," said a statement from the police service on June 25.

The full interview can be heard by listening to the podcast, The Pit.