Amber Alert for 2-year-old girl expanded to three provinces
- Thread starter SLM
- Start date
I guess the lawyer has to say this to appear to be representing his client so that the trial/conviction won't be thrown out............
If the Crown gets its way, triple murderer Derek Saretzky will be 99 years old before he can even ask for parole. But Saretzky's lawyer says parole ineligibility for 75 years would be a "crushing" and "unduly long and harsh" sentence that wouldn't motivate his client to be a model inmate.
Instead, defence lawyer Patrick Edgerton has asked the judge to allow Saretzky — who murdered a toddler, her father and an elderly woman — to apply for release in 25 years.
The 24-year-old is set to learn his fate today in Lethbridge, Alta., after a jury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the slayings of Terry Blanchette, 27, his daughter, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, 2, and Hanne Meketech, 69.
Saretzky automatically gets a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years, but prosecutors Photini Papadatou and Michael Fox asked Court of Queen's Bench Justice William Tilleman to sentence him to consecutive parole ineligibility periods, meaning it would be 75 years before the killer could ask to be freed.
The jury deliberated for three hours after hearing nearly three weeks of testimony in June. Some of the key evidence was in videos where Saretzky not only confessed to all three killings, he also re-enacted the toddler's murder.
Meketech was a former neighbour of Saretzky's. On Sept. 9, 2015, Saretzky said, he broke into her home after dark, and attacked her with a baseball bat and knife. The senior's body was found on her bedroom floor.
Five days later, Saretzky told police, he broke into Blanchette's home, killed him with a crowbar and a knife and took the sleeping child from her crib. He then drove her to a rural property owned by some of his family members.
Saretzky said he strangled the girl before he performed acts of cannibalism and burned her remains. For that, he was also convicted on a charge of indignity to a body.
Sentence proposed for triple murderer Derek Saretzky would be 'crushing,' says defence lawyer - Calgary - CBC News
If the Crown gets its way, triple murderer Derek Saretzky will be 99 years old before he can even ask for parole. But Saretzky's lawyer says parole ineligibility for 75 years would be a "crushing" and "unduly long and harsh" sentence that wouldn't motivate his client to be a model inmate.
Instead, defence lawyer Patrick Edgerton has asked the judge to allow Saretzky — who murdered a toddler, her father and an elderly woman — to apply for release in 25 years.
The 24-year-old is set to learn his fate today in Lethbridge, Alta., after a jury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the slayings of Terry Blanchette, 27, his daughter, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, 2, and Hanne Meketech, 69.
Saretzky automatically gets a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years, but prosecutors Photini Papadatou and Michael Fox asked Court of Queen's Bench Justice William Tilleman to sentence him to consecutive parole ineligibility periods, meaning it would be 75 years before the killer could ask to be freed.
The jury deliberated for three hours after hearing nearly three weeks of testimony in June. Some of the key evidence was in videos where Saretzky not only confessed to all three killings, he also re-enacted the toddler's murder.
Meketech was a former neighbour of Saretzky's. On Sept. 9, 2015, Saretzky said, he broke into her home after dark, and attacked her with a baseball bat and knife. The senior's body was found on her bedroom floor.
Five days later, Saretzky told police, he broke into Blanchette's home, killed him with a crowbar and a knife and took the sleeping child from her crib. He then drove her to a rural property owned by some of his family members.
Saretzky said he strangled the girl before he performed acts of cannibalism and burned her remains. For that, he was also convicted on a charge of indignity to a body.
Sentence proposed for triple murderer Derek Saretzky would be 'crushing,' says defence lawyer - Calgary - CBC News
An Alberta man who butchered a father, his two-year-old daughter and a woman will be approaching his 100th birthday before he is eligible to apply for parole after being sentenced to life in prison.
Derek Saretzky, 24, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the 2015 deaths of Terry Blanchette, Blanchette's daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech.
A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
But Justice William Tilleman was asked by the Crown to make the periods of parole ineligibility consecutive, meaning Saretzky couldn't apply for freedom for 75 years.
Tilleman agreed with the request noting that means the Saretzky will likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT THAT FOLLOWS MAY DISTURB SOME READERS
Triple murderer sentenced to life, no chance of parole for 75 years
Derek Saretzky, 24, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the 2015 deaths of Terry Blanchette, Blanchette's daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech.
A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
But Justice William Tilleman was asked by the Crown to make the periods of parole ineligibility consecutive, meaning Saretzky couldn't apply for freedom for 75 years.
Tilleman agreed with the request noting that means the Saretzky will likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT THAT FOLLOWS MAY DISTURB SOME READERS
Triple murderer sentenced to life, no chance of parole for 75 years
Where is that record breaking sniper dude from the other thread when we need him?
oh yeah, off fighting a bankers' war on the other side of the planet.
oh well...too bad.
Now we have something for those guys to practice on when the come home though.
Ashley Bunch :canada:
Triple killer Derek Saretzky files appeal
By Kevin Martin, Postmedia Network
First posted: Thursday, September 07, 2017 06:31 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, September 07, 2017 08:23 PM EDT
THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS DISTURBING MATERIAL
Triple-murderer Derek Saretzky has appealed his convictions.
In a notice of appeal filed Thursday at the Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary, the Blairmore native cited three specific grounds for why he deserves a new trial.
Saretzky, 24, also appealed the 75 years of parole ineligibility he was handed by Court of Queen's Bench Justice William Tilleman after he was convicted in June by a Lethbridge jury.
Among the arguments Saretzky's lawyer will raise is that the law which allows for periods of consecutive parole ineligibility for multiple murders amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Charter.
Saretzky was sentenced last month to life in prison for the murders of three people in the Crowsnest Pass.
He confessed to killing Coleman senior Hanne Meketech on Sept. 9, 2015, after breaking into her home.
Five days later he entered the Blairmore residence of Terry Blanchette and bludgeoned and stabbed to death the 27-year-old.
Saretzky then went upstairs and kidnapped Blanchette's two-year-old daughter from her crib and took her to a remote location north of town.
There he strangled the toddler with a shoelace, dismembered her body, drank her blood and ate part of her heart, before burning her remains in a campfire.
In his notice of appeal Saretzky says Tilleman erred by finding his statements to police were admissible into evidence.
He also argued the trial judge erred by failing to find his Charter rights weren't violated on his arrest the day after he killed Blanchette and little Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette.
Finally he says Tilleman should not have allowed the prosecution to argue there were similar facts between the three killings making him likely guilty of all three.
At Saretzky's sentencing, both Tilleman and lead prosecutor Photini Papadatou said the end of the case would allow for closure for the tight-knit communities of Crowsnest Pass.
"The chapter is closed," Tilleman said, in acceding to the Crown's request for consecutive periods of parole ineligibility, based on legislation introduced by Parliament in 2011.
Papadatou added that the residents of the close-knit community in southwestern Alberta can now move on.
"It's time for the community to heal and put themselves back together again," Papadatou said.
"This community came together to address a horrendous act and they did so with dignity and equanimity.
"And I think, to me, it has restored my faith in both justice and the community, and how they dealt with possibly one of the worst cases that this province has ever seen."
No date for Saretzky's appeal has been set.
KMartin@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @KMartinCourts
Triple killer Derek Saretzky files appeal | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
By Kevin Martin, Postmedia Network
First posted: Thursday, September 07, 2017 06:31 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, September 07, 2017 08:23 PM EDT
THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS DISTURBING MATERIAL
Triple-murderer Derek Saretzky has appealed his convictions.
In a notice of appeal filed Thursday at the Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary, the Blairmore native cited three specific grounds for why he deserves a new trial.
Saretzky, 24, also appealed the 75 years of parole ineligibility he was handed by Court of Queen's Bench Justice William Tilleman after he was convicted in June by a Lethbridge jury.
Among the arguments Saretzky's lawyer will raise is that the law which allows for periods of consecutive parole ineligibility for multiple murders amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Charter.
Saretzky was sentenced last month to life in prison for the murders of three people in the Crowsnest Pass.
He confessed to killing Coleman senior Hanne Meketech on Sept. 9, 2015, after breaking into her home.
Five days later he entered the Blairmore residence of Terry Blanchette and bludgeoned and stabbed to death the 27-year-old.
Saretzky then went upstairs and kidnapped Blanchette's two-year-old daughter from her crib and took her to a remote location north of town.
There he strangled the toddler with a shoelace, dismembered her body, drank her blood and ate part of her heart, before burning her remains in a campfire.
In his notice of appeal Saretzky says Tilleman erred by finding his statements to police were admissible into evidence.
He also argued the trial judge erred by failing to find his Charter rights weren't violated on his arrest the day after he killed Blanchette and little Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette.
Finally he says Tilleman should not have allowed the prosecution to argue there were similar facts between the three killings making him likely guilty of all three.
At Saretzky's sentencing, both Tilleman and lead prosecutor Photini Papadatou said the end of the case would allow for closure for the tight-knit communities of Crowsnest Pass.
"The chapter is closed," Tilleman said, in acceding to the Crown's request for consecutive periods of parole ineligibility, based on legislation introduced by Parliament in 2011.
Papadatou added that the residents of the close-knit community in southwestern Alberta can now move on.
"It's time for the community to heal and put themselves back together again," Papadatou said.
"This community came together to address a horrendous act and they did so with dignity and equanimity.
"And I think, to me, it has restored my faith in both justice and the community, and how they dealt with possibly one of the worst cases that this province has ever seen."
No date for Saretzky's appeal has been set.
KMartin@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @KMartinCourts
Triple killer Derek Saretzky files appeal | Canada | News | Toronto Sun