Man pleads not guilty to killing three people, including father and toddler

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A man accused in the deaths of three people in southwestern Alberta, including a two-year-old girl and her father, has pleaded not guilty. 

Derek Saretzky, 24, was formally arraigned in a Lethbridge courtroom Monday before a lengthy pre-trial hearing which is under a publication ban.

Wearing a blue jumpsuit, Saretzky stood in the prisoner’s box and pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and one charge of committing an indignity to a human body.

The trial before a judge and jury is to begin June 5.

Saretzky is accused of killing Terry Blanchette, who was 27, his daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech.

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He was charged in the deaths of Blanchette and Dunbar-Blanchette in September 2015.

In April of last year, police added the third murder charge in the slaying of Meketech, who died five days before the others. Her body was found in her home.

Saretzky was arrested in the Crowsnest Pass area after Blanchette was found dead in his Blairmore home on Sept. 14, 2015, and an Amber Alert was issued for two-year-old Hailey.

Her remains were discovered in a remote rural area a few days later.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Saretzky pleaded guilty.