Rural couple discovered rifle used to kill Sheree Fertuck, Crown alleges as new evidence presented

A Saskatchewan family was moving a wooden grain bin in a rural area west of Saskatoon last November when they discovered a weapon.

"Holy shit. Isthat what I think it is?" Courtney Williams recalled her husband's reaction when she showed himthe gun that had been tucked away underneath the bin.

It was a Ruger 10/22 rifle with a black folding stock.

Courtney and her husband, Dean Williams, were called to testify Friday at Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon at the first-degree murder trial of Greg Fertuck.

Crown prosecutors are suggesting that the gun the couple foundwas used by Fertuckto kill his wife, Sheree, in December 2015.

She was 51 years old when shedisappeared from the rural gravel pit where she worked near Kenaston, Sask.

Greg Fertuck was arrested and charged with murder in 2019 at the conclusion ofan elaborate undercover sting operation. During that operation, he told undercover officers that he shot Sheree twice at the gravel pit with a Ruger 10/22 and that he had ditched the gun west of Saskatoon, court previously heard.

Fertuck has since denied that version of events and pleaded not guilty.

Sheree's body has never been found, despite several police searches. Until a few months ago, no weapon believed to be linked to the case had been found either.

Justice Richard Danyliukispresiding over the judge-alone trial, which has been underway since September 2021. The Crown's case against Fertuck relies on evidence obtained in the undercover police operation, so the entirety of its case was called within a voir dire a trial within a trial, intended todetermine the admissibility of evidence.

Justice Danyliuk was expected to release his decision on the voir dire March 30.

However,Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss applied to reopen the voir dire after news of the gun surfaced.

'Weshould probablyhand this in'

On Friday, Courtney and Dean Williams told the court that in November 2021, theywere moving a binfrom a friend's piece of land onto their own. Their friend, who was also called to testify, hadpurchased the land in 2020.

The couple usedfence posts underneath the bin to help manoeuvre it out of the spot. Once they gotitout of the way, Courtney went back to clean up the posts.

Courtney said she spotted what seemed like a piece of worn metal with plastic on top.

"I didn't see the hand grip for the gun until I picked it up," she said.

The square binhad been raised off the ground a few inches on skids, and Courtney Williams estimated the gun was only tucked a couple of inches underneath it.

Her husband who is familiar with firearms had initially planned tokeep the gun and use it.The couple took pictures of the gun. They also told their friends about what they found and showed itto them.

After that, Dean's friend sent him a news article about testimony from the Fertuck trial that had been published in theSaskatoon StarPhoenixnewspaper. It described the Ruger 10/22 that Greg told undercover police officers about.

The description seemed to match the mysterious gun they'd come upon. After that, Dean became "extremely nervous" that the gun was possibly linked to a killing.

"Ithink weshould probablyhand this in," Dean told his wife. He handed it over to the police detachment in Biggar, Sask., explaining the suspected connection.

Forensic specialist testifies

Crown prosecutor Carla Dewar calledRCMP forensic specialist Kenneth Chanto testify as an expert witness on firearms and ballistics.

He had testified earlier inthe trial about two shell casings that were located in 2016 by police officers sweeping the gravel pit for evidence linked to Sheree's disappearance.

They were found right by her abandoned semi-truck.

Chan analyzed characteristics from the shell casings found at the pit and compared them with the markings left on casings taken from test fires done with theRuger 10/22. He said there was sufficient agreement between the characteristics to conclude the two casings found at the pitwere fired from theRuger 10/22 found west of Saskatoon.

The defence was granted time to decide whether they would call their own evidence in response to Friday's reveal. The matter has been adjourned for a case management conference next week.

JusticeDanyliuk will need to decide whether to accept this evidence or any otherevidence called during the voir dire as well as theweight he will give to the evidence he accepts.