Derek Saretzky told police he didn't think anyone cared about senior he's accused of killing
WARNING: Story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers
Derek Saretzky told an RCMP officer he chose to kill Hanne Meketech because he didn't think she'd be missed by anyone and he needed someone to practice on before he killed a two-year-old girl and her father.
The accused murderer offered the details when he was being interrogated by RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike McCauley about six months after being arrested in the slayings of a father and daughter from Blairmore, Alta. A video of the interview was played Friday for the jury at Saretzky's triple-murder trial in Lethbridge.
"Why'd you pick her?" asked McCauley of Saretzky's choice to kill Meketech.
"I didn't think anybody cared about her," Saretzky responded.
Saretzky, 24, who lived in Blairmore, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the 2015 deaths of Meketech, 69, whose body was discovered a few days before Terry Blanchette, 27, and his daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, 2, were killed.
McCauley asked if killing Meketech was practice ahead of Blanchette and Hailey: "Yeah, I guess so," replied Saretzky.
"I wish I hadn't have done it," said Saretzky of the killings. "Can't really change it now."
At the time of the interrogation, Saretzky had already confessed to killing Blanchette and his daughter.
Six months earlier, Saretzky had taken McCauley to a rural campsite where he re-enacted strangling, dismembering and performing acts of cannibalism on Hailey after kidnapping her. As they watched that video this morning, some jurors became so emotional court was abruptly adjourned for a break.
"I choked her over there," Saretzky is seen on video telling McCauley as the two stood beside a still smoking burn pit in a rural area near Blairmore.
Without emotion, Saretzky then re-enacted acts of cannibalism. Members of the jury seemed overwhelmed and quickly filed out of the courtroom for an impromptu break.
After the adjournment, the video resumed and Saretzky could be seen telling the officer he said a prayer for Hailey after he killed her.
"I don't know what the prayer was, may God rest your soul ... something along those lines."
He said he burned the child's remains, his clothes and some weapons he'd used.
Though Saretzky says he hadn't consumed any alcohol, he did say he'd taken dexedrine, a central nervous system stimulant.
'I was traumatized'
Once they left the burn site, the conversation continued between Saretzky and McCauley.
"I make some stupid decisions," said Saretzky. "I was traumatized, I didn't really know what just happened."
He tells the officer he "had feelings" for Cheyenne, Blanchette's ex and Hailey's mother. Saretzky said Blanchette used to beat Cheyenne which made him angry.
Saretzky also said Blanchette once gave him a dirty look and that he'd come after him with a bat in the past.
The video ends back at the Blairmore RCMP detachment where McCauley delivers a burger and poutine to Saretzky as a "celebration dinner."
McCauley said he wanted to keep the door open with Saretzky in case he needed more information from him.
It took about six months for McCauley to interview the suspect again because he had tried to kill himself while in custody.
Blanchette's bloodied body was found on the floor of his bathroom. Saretzky said he attacked him with crowbar and knife.
Court heard, Saretzky then took Hailey from her crib and transported her in the back of a van to the campsite where investigators would later find her DNA and dozens of bones belonging to a small child.
Police suspected Saretzky was responsible for all three killings because of similarities in the ways Meketech and Blanchette were attacked.
Get the latest developments in the trial from our reporter in the courtroom in our blog below. On our mobile app? You can also see it here.
- Veteran cop who connected Derek Saretzky to 3 homicides gets emotional while testifying
- 'He told me [Hailey] was in heaven': Father of man on trial for triple murder tells jury
- 'A big cut on his neck': Father recalls finding son dead, granddaughter missing at Alberta triple-murder trial
- Hanne Meketech knew Derek Saretzky and likely kept $90K in her mobile home, trial hears
- Meketech struggled with attacker and died from head wound, Derek Saretzky murder trial hears
- Crossed-out names of victims found in Derek Saretzky's home, triple-murder trial hears on Day 1