Crown and defence deliver closing arguments in Saretzky murder trial

Throughout the closing address to the jury, Papadatou returned to the list several times, which was written in a notepad that was recovered from Saretzky’s apartment.

“Sleepers for the dogs, Hanne, Terry, the hideous baby, Chy. Names crossed out,” said Papadatou as she read from the list, noticeably pausing before saying ‘the hideous baby’, which the Crown says represents Hailey.

“Effectively, he killed everyone on his list,” she continued. “That goes to planning.”

Papadatou quickly noted that ‘Chy’, which they believe represents Hailey’s mother, Cheyenne Dunbar, was not killed, but pointed out that in an interview with police, Saretzky said he didn’t realize she wasn’t at the Blanchette home when he went there to kill Terry and Hailey.

Of course, Papadatou also focussed heavily on the two statements and re-enactment Saretzky conducted with police, in which he confessed to the three murders, along with the dismemberment, cannibalisation and burning of Hailey.

She started with Hanne’s murder on Sept. 9, 2015 in Coleman, pointing out that Saretzky discussed holdback information in his confession, which only the police and the killer would know. That included the blunt and sharp force injuries Hanne sustained, as well as what she had been wearing at the time she was killed.

As for Saretzky’s claims in his confession that Hanne’s murder was “spur of the moment,” Papadatou referred to the list, and another comment the accused made to police. When asked why he had targeted Hanne, Saretzky replied, “I didn’t think anybody cared about her.” When asked by Staff Sgt. Mike McCauley if Hanne had been practice for the other two, Saretzky responded, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“There’s the deliberation,” stated Papadatou.

Moving on to the murders of Terry and Hailey on Sept. 14, Papadatou said there was ample evidence to show planning, deliberation and intent.

“The accused had time to consider what he had done, between Sept. 9 and Sept. 14,” Papadatou told the jury. “He had time to pause, to reflect, to think things through. Having thought things through, he decided to do it again.”

To corroborate the confession regarding Terry and Hailey, Papadatou said Saretzky gave police “the ultimate holdback” information, as he told them where Hailey’s remains were, at the same time that they were responding to the scene because of a call from one of Saretzky’s family members who found a bone in the fire pit at their campsite.

After linking Saretzky’s confession of how he killed Terry to the autopsy report – which again was a match – Papadatou told the jury that she wouldn’t go over the graphic details of what Saretzky said he did to Hailey after he strangled her, saying they had heard it enough and they could read it if they wanted to.

“Did he plan it? You bet he did,” Papadatou then stated, going over the fact that Saretzky admitted to bringing a mask, flashlight, crowbar and knife to the Blanchette home, along with an extra hoodie for himself and rubber gloves.

She then concluded by thanking the jury, and giving them a request.

“I’m asking you to return a verdict of guilty in relation to first degree murder in relation to Terry Blanchette, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, Hanne Meketech. I’m asking you to return a verdict of guilty in relation to indignity to Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette’s body, on the basis of the evidence that you have heard.”

Following a break, defence lawyer, Patrick Edgerton, provided their position for the first time, as he elected to call no evidence in the trial.

He started by talking to the jury about the presumption of innocence, saying, “You stand on the side of the accused to begin with,” adding that it should then be up to the Crown to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

From there, most of Edgerton’s arguments centred around Hanne.

He said that while the confession for Terry and Hailey was very detailed, his client’s confession for Hanne contained far less information. Edgerton explained that while Saretzky knew about blunt and sharp force injuries to Hanne, he provided a slightly different number of wounds, and he said there were no dogs in Hanne’s trailer, which wasn’t the case as the dogs were in the home when police arrived.

He also noted testimony from several witnesses, who said they were aware that Hanne had a significant amount of money in her home from an inheritance – which he noted was never located – and that she had issues with her ex-husband and a neighbour.

Still focussing on Hanne – specifically the statement in which Saretzky confessed to killing her – Edgerton said his client sounded like someone who had “sort of given up,” based on some of the answers he gave Staff Sgt. McCauley. He pointed out that it was McCauley who said Hanne was practice, and that Saretzky just agreed, but never said the words himself.

“In the end, I’ll argue that even if you decide that there’s enough evidence for you to believe beyond a reasonable doubt and find that Mr. Saretzky was the one who committed the Meketech murder, there still isn’t enough for you to take the additional leap of planning and deliberation,” Edgerton then added, before delivering his final statement.

“I don’t have a whole lot to say about the Blanchette events, it’s up to you all to decide if those statements made by Mr. Saretzky are reliable,” Edgerton told the jury of the confession and re-enactment videos.

“What I want you to think about is Hanne Meketech, and first off, whether Mr. Saretzky did that. If so, were all the elements there? Was it intentional, was there planning, was there deliberation and was it first degree murder? Or, was there something else going on there, something that we don’t know about, something that was never discovered, something that leaves you with a doubt? In that case, you can only return with a second-degree murder verdict.”

Before ending the day, Justice William Tilleman explained to the jury that he would need Tuesday (June 27) to go over some legal matters with the Crown and defence, and that they would not need to be present. Then on Wednesday (June 28), he intends to give them legal instructions, after which they will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.

by Lethbridge News Now (Patrick Burles)

Crown and defence deliver closing arguments in Saretzky murder trial

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