Uncover - S23 E16: Decision day | "The Pit"

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Justice Richard Danyliuk shares his detailed decision in court. He doesn't mince words. The ruling hits hard for Sheree’s friends and family.

In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news, so I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with Season 3 of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy.

On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. On December 7th, 2015, Sherry Furtuck disappeared from this world. It was an ordinary day. She had lunch with her mom on the family farm, and then she drove her semi-truck back to work at the gravel pit, just as she had done so many times before. Sherry was a reliable woman of routine. She had plans after work but she didn't show up. She didn't call anyone. Her mom Julianne was shocked when she realized Sherry was missing. Sherry's a very hard worker. She is that way because she wants to be a support for her three children

and wants to make life good for them, I guess. When she didn't come home at the regular time that she usually does, I thought, well, she had stopped to visit someone and she would be home at some time that evening. But when she didn't come home all night, wasn't home in the morning, then I thought, well, I better go see if she's out at the pit. And I looked in the truck, and she wasn't there, and she wasn't in the loader. So I just came back home, and I phoned the RCMP.

She wasn't in the loader, so I just came back home and I phoned the RCMP. Her name is Sherry Furtuck and RCMP are asking for help in finding her. They say the 51-year-old left her family's farm near the Keniston area early Monday afternoon driving a gravel truck and then she disappeared. Furtuck is 5'4 and 250 pounds. With graying brown hair and blue eyes, she was last seen wearing grey sweatpants and a sweater and her white running shoes. There were no signs of Sherry. What began as a missing persons case was now a homicide investigation.

Julianne Sorotsky doesn't know what happened to her daughter, but she now knows it's not good. Sorotsky struggled to fight back tears at a news conference. Her number one priority was her children and her one and only grandchild. And we miss her so much. RCMP are stepping up the search for her body with the weather turning. They'll be checking specific locations around the province. The police didn't find Sherry.

Years went by and it seemed like the case had gone cold. But behind the scenes, the cops were running an undercover sting targeting Greg Furtuck, Sherry's estranged husband. The sting ended after Greg confessed. He was arrested and put on trial for murder. Now, eight and a half years after Sherry disappeared, we'll find out if Greg is guilty of killing her. I feel compelled to be there, kind of for Sherry, like even though she's not with us anymore, she still deserves our support.

A hardworking lady, very important to her family, and also a gregarious person, someone who loved to laugh. This is very difficult on our mother, and she's not here to hear the final verdict and the sentencing but it's important for our mom. It's always such a powerful moment in court when he asked Greg Furtuck to stand, told him to stand. I'm Kendall Latimer and this is episode 16 of The Pit. People close to Sherry have waited a really long time for answers. It took years for charges to be laid and the trial has dragged on and on.

Sherry's friends and family make plans to travel to the court of King's Bench in Saskatoon so they can hear the decision in person. Sherry's body still hasn't been found, so for many, the trial's end offers a chance of closure. Heather Mitchell, a good friend of Sherry's, plans to be there. I mean, I've, you know, traveled this journey now for about nine years now, and I just feel like it'll give me some closure to a degree because I just feel that until they actually find her will there ever really be a closure but this would be this would start the process I feel compelled to be there kind of for Sherry. Like, even though she's not with us anymore, she still deserves our support.

She was an absolutely 100% loyal friend. She would do anything for you if it was within her power to do. She was so full of life and fun to be around. She was very much a family person to everybody. And people just need to understand that this is just so unfair what happened to her. It was just absolutely devastating. I just don't even know what else to say. I think mostly about the children. And I'm just praying mostly about the children. And I'm just praying that somehow, some way,

they can get beyond this and move on, but never, ever forgetting who their mom was and how much she loved them and cared for them. Regardless of how the case turns out, the fact of what happened to her will still loom and always be a negative thing. But, I mean, I hope and pray that a person can just move beyond it and just remember her for what she was to each one of us. This trial has had an unusual amount of delays. Many of them were caused by the defense and by

Greg. And just days before the decision, Greg makes a final attempt to delay the trial. He files two applications with the court. He wants a mistrial, or if that doesn't work, the chance to call more evidence about the gun. Justice Richard Daniluk calls an emergency hearing five days before the big day. My colleague Dan Sikreski was there, and he reported on what happened. Furtuck backpedaled on the mistrial application when the judge asked him to explain why he wanted a mistrial. It was a mistake, he said, and he didn't know how it ended up on the application. A farm couple discovered the supposed murder weapon underneath a granary west of the city. Furtuck says it's not rusty enough for a weapon left outdoors for years.

He wanted scientists at a new ballistics lab in Saskatoon to examine it. Furtuck tried to withdraw that application when he found out that the lab staff are not trained to analyze rust on metal and that the lab doesn't do private work for individuals. The judge said he'll rule on it anyways. Two days later, we see a copy of the ruling. He begins by writing, In a long and somewhat bizarre trial, full of twists and turns, trauma and tribulations, what's one more? Justice Daniluk lays out the analysis and facts.

Then he rejects Gregg's applications. He says they have no basis in fact or law. They were ill-conceived and without legal foundation. With that, Justice Daniluk's decision is going ahead. And on June 14, 2024, it happens. Their standing room only in the courtroom. Greg is still acting as his own lawyer on this case, but today he sits in the prisoner's box. The room falls quiet as Justice Daniluk takes his seat.

He has an 87-page ruling. This, and his earlier decision on the voir dire, is his final word on the matter. In court, he shares a summary, and he doesn't hold back. The judge finds Greg guilty of first-degree murder and of indecently interfering with Sherry's remains. indecently interfering with Sherry's remains. He spends close to an hour explaining how he got here.

The judge starts with Sherry. He talks about how she was not just a name, but a real person, important to many people, a mother to three adult children, a loving daughter and friend, a hard-working businesswoman, and he calls her a tough broad, a description that prompts knowing laughter in the courtroom. Justice Daniluk's acknowledgement of Sherry hits hard for some, including Heather Mitchell. The one thing that

really impacted me was the way that he spoke about Sherry, and he was so respectful and seemed to be so empathetic towards her and that it wasn't just all about, you know, Greg. The goal of this trial was to find the truth. What happened to Sherry and did Greg play a role in her disappearance? Ever since Sherry vanished, Greg has told almost everyone, including us, that he didn't do it. I'm an innocent victim. I haven't killed nobody and I can prove it in court myself. When I get out, I'm going to sue. I'm going to sue big time. Being stuck into 21 hours a day into a 6x10 dog kennel for nothing?

You know, like, I've owned dogs my whole life, and I would never, ever do that to my own dog. Never. It would be more humane for them to just take me out and shoot me than what they did to me. But Greg told undercover cops multiple times that he did kill her. Greg told undercover cops multiple times that he did kill her. Justice Daniluk spent years poring over the evidence and countless hours thinking about the case. After all of that consideration, the truth is clear. Justice Daniluk stares down from the bench at Greg and declares, You did it. You killed Sherry. The judge is meticulous.

He says Greg's confession to undercover cops is the truth and gives significant weight to it, emphasizing the many, many pieces of evidence that confirmed and verified the details, including Sherry's blood in Greg's truck. Greg's location on the day in question mapped out with cell phone pings, his knowledge of information that only the killer could know, that there were two shell casings left at the pit, and details of the gun, which is undeniably the murder weapon. Justice Daniluk debunks the defense theories that came up throughout the trial, the idea that the cops ignored other suspects or that someone else killed Sherry. He says there's no evidence of that, nor is there evidence before him to back up Greg's accusations of corruption

or the idea that Sherry faked her own disappearance. The judge says those theories were not based on fact or rooted in reality and that Greg's own cross-examination of witnesses was inept and pointless. The judge lays out what happened to Sherry on December 7, 2015. On that ordinary day, her husband plans to kill her. Greg drives from the city to the gravel pit. He wants to talk to Sherry about property and money, but he's got a gun with him. It's an untraceable, unregistered Ruger 10-22, and he also packs gloves and a thick plastic tarp. Greg parks out of sight so he can take Sherry by surprise,

and when she's back from lunch, he confronts her. The conversation doesn't go Greg's way. He has a choice. Greg can retreat and let Sherry live, but he doesn't leave the pit. He walks to his truck, grabbing his gun, and then he goes back to Sherry, shooting her first in the shoulder,

and then he repositions, walking behind her so he can shoot her again, this time execution style, in the back of her head. Justice Daniluk says Greg killed Sherry in cold blood and then he disrespected her and her loved ones by dumping her body. He says there is no doubt that Greg is guilty. In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news. So I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons,

but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with season three of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy. On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. After the judge shares his detailed and scathing decision, court adjourns.

People wipe tears from their eyes and exchange hugs. Greg is escorted back to cells as the rest of us head outside. Sherry's sisters are there on the courthouse steps. Michelle Kish, Tika White and Glenda Surotsky all travel to be here today. They speak with reporters, relieved by the decision. It's finally justice for our family, friends, our entire community. You know, everybody was supportive of Sherry. And so justice has finally been served.

And, you know, we weren't able to give a proper send-off and say a proper goodbye to Sherry, but this is some sort of closure for us, and we just firmly believe, I guess, that Sherry can now rest in peace, as our parents will be able to as well. This is very difficult on our mother. She's not here to hear the final verdict and the sentencing,

but it's important for our mom. I was fully going in that he was going to be found guilty on both counts. The evidence proved all of that, and he got exactly what he deserves. So justice has been served. You know, he went out there with a plan and the judge said he executed his plan and it was very clear that he had intent to commit the murder in the first degree. So it's, there was never any question that that's, in our minds, that's what he, that's what he did. He said he was going to do it. He threatened many times in the past, and he just simply followed through with it.

So the details, you know, when you have to hear those repeatedly of the callousness, it's still shocking. Yeah, I was glad that the judge put that all in such detail and and talked specifically about the detail of the of the murder and it spells it all out. The Mr. Big Sting was it was very well presented and done well. Yeah law enforcement did a good job, the prosecutors did a good job, and we're thankful for the justice system. After Sherry's sisters leave, Crown prosecutors Corey Bliss and Carla Dewar step up to the mics.

From the Crown's perspective, the police that were involved in this case did just a fantastic job. As we heard in the court's verdict, a case without a body is prosecutable, but it is difficult. And the Crown gives many kudos and respect to the police involved in this case for digging deep and for producing that evidence before the court. And as well, I think, for not letting go of the investigation in order to become involved in a major crime technique such as this one. They exhausted, obviously, other types of investigation, the regular types of investigation, if I can say that, and they didn't give up. And that's, I think, important, as Corey says, that's important for the public to know

that police take these matters very, very seriously. The most perhaps impactful thing that I felt in this whole proceeding was the testimony from the lead investigator who went to visit Sherry's mother, Julianne Sarotsky, at the hospital as she was dying and said, I will not let this investigation go. That's very powerful. Julianne's not with us today to hear this verdict, but this affected her very deeply. When you've been involved in a case for many years, you learn certain things and I think what we heard today is what a beautiful person Sherry Furtuck was. A hard-working lady but very important to her family and also a gregarious person,

someone who loved to laugh and I think when she was taken from the from this world by Greg Furtuck, the world lost a light. It's been a pleasure getting to know her family, even though it's been in circumstances of a terrible nature. So from the Crown's perspective, the correct verdict was reached today. It's been a long time coming, but this is some measure of closure for her family.

After the interviews are over, I meet up with Dan. We sat through this trial together. There's so much to take in. I can't believe it's actually over. What do you think? I was very surprised. First of all, how emotional I was feeling in court. I was not expecting that.

And just how impressed I was by how it was just such a methodical judgment. He just went through it and covered off all of the points that I know we had been talking in advance about, you know, the big discussion is, is it going to be second degree or first degree and what the elements were and how he just satisfied all of them and brought up stuff that I had forgotten about. You know, the role, the absolute importance of having found that murder weapon. Like this is when you don't have the victim's body. Whatever forensic evidence that's there is so critical. I thought it was so interesting to hear Justice Daniluk lay out how much he believed and was convinced by Greg's multiple confessions to the undercover officers and how he found that that's when Greg was actually being truthful.

And in court when he was like, just watch, just watch the undercover confession to the boss. Watch how quickly Greg seeks their help. Watch how quickly he discloses it. Watch how quickly he grabs his walking stick and acts out the execution of his wife. Justice Daniluk just pointing out that, you know, Greg could very well have gone out there to confront her about the finances. That could have been his primary goal. But he had a plan B.

And just because it was plan B did not make it not a plan. He had a plan to kill her. I also thought it was so interesting how Justice Daniluk was talking about the second charge, committing an indignity to human remains. It sounds so clinical when you talk about it that way, but really it's kind of the heart of, it's the one-two punch of what makes this so devastating, I think, for everyone involved is that no one's had that closure with Sherry's body and her remains. The callousness of the final insult.

What did you make of how Crown prosecutors Carla Dewar and Corey Bliss turned around and just stared at Greg Furtuck as the justice was going through that the Crown had proven its case and that he was indeed guilty of murdering his wife, contrary to what he's been saying for the last eight and a half years. It was very interesting because I asked Carla about that in the scrum. And I think she was, I didn't entirely accept the answer she gave us on camera. She was saying how she wanted to turn and see the reaction of this fellow

because he'd never testified. The look that she was giving him was not a receiving, curious look. That was a directed look. And I saw her staring at him and it was, you killed her and we caught you and you're going to have to account for it. And I also thought it was telling and perhaps not surprising that Greg Furtuck, as he was being found guilty so strongly by the judge, continued to shake his head as if he was in disbelief of what was happening

and that he's still perceiving himself to be the victim based on his body language alone. Well, there was that. And it was the knot shaking that got me because I watched. He was reaching for the plastic cup to pour himself water and his hand was steady as a rock. Was there anything else that struck you from what happened today? Any other Daniluk-isms that stood out for you as you're thinking about what just happened in the courtroom? No, no, it was just how he organized the material. He hit the important things verbally that would mean things to him. He didn't keep everybody in suspense. I think you could see the direction it was going. And he just nailed all of the things that that might have been raised as doubts to have him

go through it so systematically and and it's it's like watching a guy going on a hallway closing doors and at the end of the hallway there's only one door left and that door was first degree murder and finally sherry's family believes that they've found some peace and I think that after this long ride it's nice to hear them say that. It's also always it's always such a powerful moment in court when he asked Greg Furtuck to stand told him to stand and guilty like he punctuated that it was just very powerful and at the very end by no means think it was, you know, this podcast is called The Pit for a Reason. You know, it's a reality and it's an absolutely apt metaphor. And I'll always remember the justice on the bench just going,

he couldn't get it out of his head, the pit, the pit, the pit. it out of his head. The pit, the pit, the pit. The pit. The judge ponders the pit, saying, what an apt name for the site of such things, such a callous killing. He says that even after he finalized his ruling, he continued to study maps, diagrams, and pictures of the area. Justice Staniluk has never been there, but he suspects the pit will occupy a place in his mind for the rest of his time on earth. The judge found Greg guilty of first-degree murder. In Canada, that's an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. By then, Greg would be 95. On the next episode of The Pit,

we talk about what's next for Sherry's loved ones and this case. Could an appeal bring Greg back into the courtroom? Could Sherry's murder have been prevented? If Sherry had come to me, I would have been extremely concerned for her. I would have suggested that she probably relocate for her own safety. I would think that there are countless grounds of appeal. So there will be questions to be answered in the future. I still am trying to keep her alive in my memories

and just as best I can. Like, I don't like to think about her as a murder victim. The Pit is a CBC investigative podcast. This episode was put together by me, Kendall Latimer, and our senior producer, Corrine Larson. Editorial guidance came from Paul Dornstaudter. You can get in touch with us at thepit at cbc.ca. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.