The first-degree murder trial of Greg Fertuck is facing yet another delay.
Fertuck doesn’t have a lawyer anymore.
Morris Bodnar and Mike Nolin officially withdrew from the case at the Court of King’s Bench on Monday following a complaint Fertuck filed with the Law Society of Saskatchewan.
Bodnar wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the complaint, but he said it was the lawyers’ decision not to continue with the trial with Fertuck unhappy with them.
“I think it’s a horrible mistake on his part, but it’s a decision he made,” Bodnar said.
“I believe that he is not guilty. I believe that Mike Nolin and I have run the case in such a manner that that (innocence) can be argued. If a new lawyer takes over — and a new lawyer will take over — I’m not sure that they ‘ll be able to maintain that momentum that we had.”
Bodnar has been representing Fertuck since he was charged in 2019 with killing his ex-wife Sheree in 2015. Her body has never been found.
According to Bodnar, he was “blindsided” by Fertuck as he and Nolin were never told about the complaint until receiving a letter from the law society at the end of August.
“Not only did he make the complaint, we had a subsequent court appearance in July and he never told us,” Bodnar said. “We went ahead with that court appearance in July. Why didn’t he notify us then he was making a complaint?
“I’m just sad it has ended like this. I’m sad that we couldn’t conclude it, but we couldn’t in this circumstance.”
While Bodnar doesn’t know the motivation behind Fertuck’s complaint, he said people being influenced while on remand has been a recurring problem during his years practising law.
“When a person is in custody, in remand, there are many other prisoners,” Bodnar said. “One has to wonder if the other prisoners are influencing him in his decision. If they are, that’s unfortunate.”
Fertuck returns to court Nov. 18, at which time the next steps will be discussed in finding him new legal counsel.