Speaker 1: In September of twenty fifteen, the quiet Mountain communities of
Speaker 1: Blairmore and Coleman in Alberta, Canada were shaken by a
Speaker 1: series of violent crimes that unfolded over the course of
Speaker 1: less than a week. It began with the murder of
Speaker 1: a sixty nine year old woman living alone, followed days
Speaker 1: later by the killing of a young father in the
Speaker 1: disappearance of his two year old daughter. What started as
Speaker 1: separate investigations quickly merged into one of the most disturbing
Speaker 1: criminal cases the area had ever seen, and as police
Speaker 1: searched for a missing child under a multi province hamber alert,
Speaker 1: they soon also uncovered tips and evidence that pointed to
Speaker 1: a perpetrator within the very family of those who called
Speaker 1: in the tips. This is a story of murder and abduction.
Speaker 1: This is the story of the monster known as Derek Sureski.
Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole and you're listening to Wicked
Speaker 2: and Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning.
Speaker 1: The following material intend more matual audience listener discretion.
Speaker 2: It was our Honey's Gotcha Day this week.
Speaker 1: It was If you don't know what a gotcha day.
Speaker 2: Is, We're going to tell you three years of basically
Speaker 2: having Honey in our life officially from adoption.
Speaker 1: And Honey is our dog for the record, one of
Speaker 1: our dogs. So yeah, the gotcha day is like the
Speaker 1: anniversary of when we officially adopted, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't actually know her birthday per se, So yeah,
Speaker 2: we just celebrate her gotcha day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, three years with a little honey bunny.
Speaker 2: Be oh, and this is the longest she's ever been
Speaker 2: with a home because previously she had been with one
Speaker 2: for a year and then another one with two years.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a big one because it marks
Speaker 2: like the longest the longest time, and it's just going
Speaker 2: to carry on, hun because we're not getting rid of you,
Speaker 2: that's true.
Speaker 1: And I also actually managed to celebrate that day by
Speaker 1: getting a tattoo of a honeybee or honey. I also
Speaker 1: got a couple other tattoos and related to other animals
Speaker 1: we have ripley, I always color my sweetheart, so I
Speaker 1: got like one of those little like candy super cute
Speaker 1: candy like hearts that's his sweetheart on it. And then
Speaker 1: so yeah, I got some other tattoos too, but yeah,
Speaker 1: those are the ones that I think pertained to this conversation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is pretty cool way to celebrate a dog's
Speaker 2: gotcha day? It is.
Speaker 1: I didn't, honestly, it was an accident that had just happened.
Speaker 1: I booked the pointment.
Speaker 2: I pointed it out to you.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, you were like you realized that's her,
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, well, I'm getting a tattoo
Speaker 1: for her on her gotcha day.
Speaker 2: I guess yeah. I made her homemade dog cookies. But
Speaker 2: doesn't seem as cool as getting a tattooed now, but
Speaker 2: that's what I do.
Speaker 1: Either way, We're happy that she's on her life. And
Speaker 1: if you guys are ever able, we highly recommend adopting
Speaker 1: an animal from a shelter. They are highly in need
Speaker 1: and if you can ever help them, we definitely havevocate
Speaker 1: for that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this was our We have had adopted cats previously,
Speaker 2: but this was our first adopted dog. Previously, we had
Speaker 2: gotten our other two as puppies, so it's quite different.
Speaker 1: It does.
Speaker 2: It's kind of it's really a nice feeling actually to
Speaker 2: give them this new life.
Speaker 1: It's really nice. But also something else that's really nice
Speaker 1: is the Olympic ceremonies are starting today. Yes, opening ceremony
Speaker 1: the Olympics are officially starting over in Italy, So good
Speaker 1: luck to all the participants, whatever country you're involved in.
Speaker 1: I hope it's going to be a good games. I'm
Speaker 1: really looking forward to, of course hockey. I mean we're
Speaker 1: hockey people in Canadians, so that just kind of goes
Speaker 1: without saying, and yeah, it's going.
Speaker 3: To be good.
Speaker 2: Well, what a big deal for all those athletes that
Speaker 2: made the freaking Olympics, even if they think their performance
Speaker 2: isn't like their best or something, right, I think I
Speaker 2: know someone already got injured just in their prelim stuff,
Speaker 2: which sucks, but they still were that good that they
Speaker 2: freaking made the Olympics, which that's.
Speaker 1: Cool, bonkers. So I want to just dedicate this drink
Speaker 1: to all the Olympians who are out there doing their
Speaker 1: best representing their country. Even if you unfortunately, hey don't
Speaker 1: get to go far, you get injured, whatever, you still
Speaker 1: made it to the Olympics. And that's one hell of
Speaker 1: a big deal. So I'm raising the glass to you guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, cheers to them. I'm looking forward to watching this.
Speaker 1: It's going to be really good. But we do have
Speaker 1: an interesting case today, Oh yeah, we do. And an
Speaker 1: interesting scenario because you usually don't know much about the cases,
Speaker 1: if anything at all, But this case, you watched the
Speaker 1: documentary and you recommended it, so you know a lot
Speaker 1: about this case as well.
Speaker 2: Well, this might happen a little bit more now that
Speaker 2: I'm kind of taking a bit more of a role
Speaker 2: in Wicked and Grim and helping fine cases and stuff, right, well,
Speaker 2: the back end of Wicked and Grim, I should say. So,
Speaker 2: I've been indulging in some true crime cases to kind
Speaker 2: of for recommendations. And this is a frickin' gooder.
Speaker 1: It's a doozy. It's bad though, So and I do
Speaker 1: want to say, I mean, we gave enough trigger warnings
Speaker 1: in the intro. Just take the intro to heart when
Speaker 1: it comes to any sort of trigger warnings for today.
Speaker 2: There you go.
Speaker 1: Now, I'll let you know that. But if you're ready,
Speaker 1: I'm ready.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a case that needs to be heard, so
Speaker 2: let's do it.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 1: In the late summer of twenty fifteen, the Crow's Nest
Speaker 1: Pass felt much the same as it always had. September
Speaker 1: in southwestern Alberta, Canada usually arrives quietly the heat of August. Here, well,
Speaker 1: it faded mornings were starting to be cooler, and people
Speaker 1: started to pull the light jackets out from the back
Speaker 1: of their closets again. And the mountains that surrounded the town,
Speaker 1: like Blairmore and Coleman, they were still green, but hints
Speaker 1: of autumn were beginning to show with some pops of
Speaker 1: yellow in the trees. Nights also came a little earlier
Speaker 1: in the air well it felt sharper. It had that
Speaker 1: familiar autumn scent that was beginning to linger just a
Speaker 1: bit in the mornings. Winter was still a ways away,
Speaker 1: and everyone who lived there knew it was coming, though,
Speaker 1: but life in the past it still moved at a
Speaker 1: casual pace. Most people knew their neighbors and recognized each
Speaker 1: other's vehicles. They ran into the same faces at the
Speaker 1: grocery store, in the gas station and local restaurants. News
Speaker 1: here had a habit of traveling very quickly, usually through
Speaker 1: conversations rather than headlines. For families, routines were simple and
Speaker 1: very predictable. Parents worked their shifts and kids were settling
Speaker 1: back into daycare or preschool. Evenings were spent cooking dinner,
Speaker 1: watching television, or walking dogs before dark. Weekends this time
Speaker 1: of year meant people were getting ready for things like
Speaker 1: hunting season, and still enjoying backyard barbecues and drives through
Speaker 1: the mountains. It was the kind of place where nothing
Speaker 1: much seemed to change from one week to the next.
Speaker 1: In blairmore small rental homes and modest houses lined quiet streets,
Speaker 1: and in Coleman, older trailers and cottages sat closer together,
Speaker 1: many of them owned by people who had lived there
Speaker 1: for decades. These weren't towns were people expected surprises. Serious
Speaker 1: crimes were extremely rare, and most problems were handled with
Speaker 1: a simple phone call or a conversation, or even a
Speaker 1: knock on the neighbor's door. By early September, children were
Speaker 1: getting into their new school schedules, parents were adjusting their routines,
Speaker 1: and summer vacation was officially over. Life was settling back
Speaker 1: into that familiar rhythm. No one knew that within days
Speaker 1: that rhythm would be shattered, that police car search teams
Speaker 1: and national news media crews would soon be filling their streets.
Speaker 1: At the time, it was just another quiet stretch of
Speaker 1: late summer in the small Canadian community where people went
Speaker 1: to work, took care of their families, and assumed tomorrow
Speaker 1: would look a lot like it did today. It was
Speaker 1: the evening of September ninth, twenty fifteen. Not The small
Speaker 1: town of Coleman, Alberta, was quiet in a way it
Speaker 1: usually was. With a population of only a few hundred people,
Speaker 1: most residents knew each other by name. Hannah Mattek lived
Speaker 1: in Coleman for years. She was sixty nine years old
Speaker 1: and well known in the community. Originally from Copenhagen, she
Speaker 1: had built a quiet life in southern Alberta, and she
Speaker 1: was known for being independent, strong willed, and involved in
Speaker 1: local activities. She worked at a thrift store, helped others
Speaker 1: when she could, and she earned a reputation as someone
Speaker 1: who didn't shy away from speaking her mind. Friends and
Speaker 1: neighbors described her as kind but also tough, especially when
Speaker 1: she felt that she was being treated unfairly. But essentially,
Speaker 1: what they're saying is she's the kind of person we
Speaker 1: all hope to be when we start growing a little older.
Speaker 2: Right, There's nothing wrong with sticking up for yourself exactly.
Speaker 1: She's strong willed, tough minded, and she ain't going to
Speaker 1: take no shit from nobody.
Speaker 2: Sort of thing which I respect.
Speaker 1: I like that now. On that night of September ninth,
Speaker 1: Hannah was at home in her trailer preparing for bed.
Speaker 1: Sometime late that night, someone broke into her home. Investigators
Speaker 1: would later determine that the door had been forced open.
Speaker 1: The doorframe had shown clear signs of damage, suggesting that
Speaker 1: the person whoever entered did so forcefully rather than by invitation,
Speaker 1: and once inside, the person confronted Hannah in her bedroom
Speaker 1: and attacked. According to the medical examiner's findings, Hannah suffered
Speaker 1: multiple blunt force injuries to her head. Investigators believed that
Speaker 1: she had likely been struck with a heavy object, possibly
Speaker 1: a baseball bat, and in addition to her head injuries,
Speaker 1: she was stabbed twice in the neck and had superficial
Speaker 1: cuts across her throat. There was also defensive wounds present
Speaker 1: on her hands and arms, which indicated that she tried
Speaker 1: to fight back against whoever this was that it entered
Speaker 1: her home. Blood was all throughout the layout of her
Speaker 1: home and of the scene. It suggested a very vicious
Speaker 1: struggle rather than a quick and controlled attack. Nothing of
Speaker 1: value appeared to be taken. There were no signs of theft,
Speaker 1: no indication that robbery had been a motive. Nothing like that.
Speaker 1: Some time later, after the attack, a neighbor noticed that
Speaker 1: something was wrong. On the morning of September tenth. The
Speaker 1: neighbor saw that the door to Hannah's trailer was left open,
Speaker 1: which was unusual, so concerned that something might be wrong,
Speaker 1: they contacted police, and when officers arrived and entered the home,
Speaker 1: they discovered Hannah's body inside, along with the horrific bloody scene.
Speaker 1: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the RCMP, secured the
Speaker 1: area and forensic teams were quickly called in. They documented
Speaker 1: the damage to the door, the blood pattern inside the trailer,
Speaker 1: and the position of Hannah's body. The sheer brutality of
Speaker 1: the assault alone stood out immediately. Even the experienced officers
Speaker 1: on scene had a little trouble with this despite it,
Speaker 1: Although their efforts everything, they couldn't do much. There was
Speaker 1: no obvious suspect. It didn't lead anywhere right away. Hannah
Speaker 1: had lived alone, she had known enemies. There was no
Speaker 1: clear personal dispute that explained what had happened.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Her ex husband and another individual who had recently been
Speaker 1: released from custody, were briefly considered as possible persons of interest,
Speaker 1: but both were eventually ruled out. At the time, police
Speaker 1: had a little to work with beyond the physical evidence
Speaker 1: that was left behind. There were no public reports of
Speaker 1: suspicious vehicles in the area, no witnesses that came forward
Speaker 1: with information about seeing someone enter or leave her home,
Speaker 1: and no clear motive that had been identified. So without
Speaker 1: a suspect or a clear direction, investigators focused on processing
Speaker 1: the crime scene and collecting every possible detail and preserving
Speaker 1: what they could so that it might be used later
Speaker 1: when they do find a suspect. In the days that followed,
Speaker 1: officers continued working the case quietly, but no one knew
Speaker 1: yet that this would be only the first part of
Speaker 1: something much larger. At this point, Hannah's murderer stood alone,
Speaker 1: but within five days that would change.
Speaker 2: I didn't know too much about Hannah's murder, but I
Speaker 2: just have to say that I feel like murders in
Speaker 2: small communities, really small towns, just hit so much harder
Speaker 2: than in bigger cities. Like I've lived in quite a
Speaker 2: few small towns growing up, and yeah, something like this
Speaker 2: happening when everyone knows each other. I don't know, it
Speaker 2: just hits so much different.
Speaker 1: Well, it's like hitting within a community rather than like
Speaker 1: a large city. Large cities don't get me wrong, it's
Speaker 1: just as tragic when someone passes away and gets murdered.
Speaker 1: But it's so much easier to overlook.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so much easier.
Speaker 3: You probably didn't know the person kind of thing, yeah,
Speaker 3: or just assume you know they you know what, they
Speaker 3: got themselves in a bad situation, like all those things
Speaker 3: that you can shrug off.
Speaker 2: But in a.
Speaker 1: Community like this, it's your neighbor, it's your your cousin's friend,
Speaker 1: or someone you went fishing with last.
Speaker 2: Year, or the lady that works at the thrift store.
Speaker 1: Those sort of things, so it becomes much more personal
Speaker 1: and close to home. And you're right, it hits so
Speaker 1: much harder, so much harder.
Speaker 2: Well, and even a bit more scary, I suppose to,
Speaker 2: because the suspect pool, you know, is a little bit less,
Speaker 2: so it's like who did this? Yeah? Now.
Speaker 1: In the early morning hours of Monday, September fourteenth, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: the town of Blairmore was quiet, in the way it
Speaker 1: usually was at that time of day. There was a
Speaker 1: little movement in the community, and anything unusual tended to
Speaker 1: kind of stand out. It was some time between three
Speaker 1: and three thirty AM when several neighbors living near Terry
Speaker 1: Blenchett's home were awakened by an unfamiliar sound. One resident
Speaker 1: later told police that he heard what sounded like metal
Speaker 1: being struck or kicked, possibly sheets of roofing material that
Speaker 1: had been stacked nearby. Others reported hearing noise coming from
Speaker 1: the alley behind the houses, and when some of them
Speaker 1: looked outside, they noticed a white commercial style van parked.
Speaker 2: In the area.
Speaker 1: One neighbor even said that it was sitting in the
Speaker 1: driveway of an elderly resident who didn't drive, which made
Speaker 1: the presence of it just a little more unusual. And remember,
Speaker 1: Blairmore is a small town here, people were accustomed to
Speaker 1: seeing familiar vehicles. This one, on the other hand, it
Speaker 1: stood out much more. But as much as it was odd,
Speaker 1: the sound that followed, well, it was even more so.
Speaker 1: At least one neighbor reported hearing what sounded like a
Speaker 1: child crying or maybe whimpering. The noise was faint but
Speaker 1: noticeable in the stillness of the early morning. Some witnesses
Speaker 1: believe they may have heard an adult voice as well,
Speaker 1: possibly trying to calm the child, though no one could
Speaker 1: be certain now at the time that this was actually happening,
Speaker 1: there was no clear reason to be believe that a
Speaker 1: serious crime was taking place. Blairmore was considered a very
Speaker 1: safe community. Strange noises could be explained by many ordinary situations.
Speaker 1: You know, someone leaving for work, early vehicle problems, or
Speaker 1: maybe a late night delivery. Who knows. This is a
Speaker 1: plethora of different things, and without any obvious signs of
Speaker 1: danger or concern, people simply just went back to sleep.
Speaker 1: Some witnesses did say they saw the van leave the area,
Speaker 1: though several later told police that it drove away quickly
Speaker 1: heading west. One neighbor noticed that the vehicle had an
Speaker 1: unusual antenna described as a buggy whip style antenna on
Speaker 1: the back of the van with a blue tip. At
Speaker 1: approximately three point thirty one am, surveillance footage from the
Speaker 1: Best Canadian Motor Inn captured a white van traveling westbound
Speaker 1: on twentieth Avenue two. The vehicle it matched the general
Speaker 1: description given by witnesses. An additional footage from a gas
Speaker 1: station in the town of Coleman had also recorded a
Speaker 1: similar van days earlier, near the time of Hannah's murder.
Speaker 1: Later on that same morning, William Blanchett was driving through
Speaker 1: the Crow's Nest pass on his way from Elkford, British Columbia,
Speaker 1: to Calgary, Alberta, where he was planning to have some
Speaker 1: work done in his vehicle. As he passed through Blairmore,
Speaker 1: he decided to stop and visit his son and granddaughter. Now,
Speaker 1: William had often helped care for his granddaughter Haley while
Speaker 1: his son, Terry was at work, and the two stayed
Speaker 1: in very close contact. When William arrived at Terry's home,
Speaker 1: he saw his son's car parked in the driveway, which
Speaker 1: made him assume that Terry and Haley were, of course inside,
Speaker 1: so he walked up to the front door and he knocked,
Speaker 1: expecting to be let in, but there was no answer.
Speaker 1: He sent Terry a text message to let him know
Speaker 1: he was there, and after waiting briefly and not receiving
Speaker 1: any reply, he assumed that he might have just stepped
Speaker 1: out and decided to continue on his way. So William
Speaker 1: drove to the neighboring community of frank to get some fuel.
Speaker 1: While at the gas station, though he tried to call
Speaker 1: Terry several times, but each call went straight to voicemail.
Speaker 1: Now this began to worry him. Terry was usually quick
Speaker 1: to answer or return some calls, and, combined with the
Speaker 1: unusual unanswered, knocked the door with his car in the
Speaker 1: driveway in the lack of response. All of this just
Speaker 1: made William uneasy, and he decided to return to the
Speaker 1: house to check again. When he drove back to Terry's home,
Speaker 1: he noticed that the front door was left unlocked. Now,
Speaker 1: Terry often left it that way. That was nothing unusual,
Speaker 1: even just when leaving briefly sort of thing right. And
Speaker 1: the unlocked door, now, though, it added a little bit
Speaker 1: of a more another layer to this. If he were
Speaker 1: to just, you know what, have an unlocked door, that's
Speaker 1: one thing. But he's not answering the door. He's not
Speaker 1: answering calls, and there's an unlocked door. Things started to
Speaker 1: not feel right every time something else popped up. He
Speaker 1: opened the door and went inside and immediately noticed how
Speaker 1: quiet the house was. Now with a two year old
Speaker 1: living there, the home was rarely completely silent. He called
Speaker 1: out Terry, and then he called out to Haley, but
Speaker 1: there was no one that responded. As he walked through
Speaker 1: the main floor, William began to notice some things. He
Speaker 1: saw Terry's comforter lying on the floor, between the bedroom
Speaker 1: and the bathroom, and he noticed what appeared to be
Speaker 1: blood on parts of the kitchen floor and nearby surfaces.
Speaker 1: There were signs that something had clearly happened, although he
Speaker 1: did not yet understand what he was seeing. With each
Speaker 1: step through the house, his concern grew more and more.
Speaker 1: He continued towards the bathroom, which was dark, and when
Speaker 1: he turned on the light, that's when he saw his
Speaker 1: son lying on the floor between the toilet and the vanity.
Speaker 1: Terry's body was partially wrapped in a blood soaked blanket,
Speaker 1: and there was blood on the floor and surrounding area.
Speaker 1: It was obvious right away that Terry had suffered a
Speaker 1: serious head injury, but worse of as William stared down
Speaker 1: at him, he saw that his son's throat had been cut.
Speaker 2: I forgot that the dad found him.
Speaker 1: He rushed to Terry's side and tried to lift him,
Speaker 1: hoping that there might be still a chance that he's alived,
Speaker 1: But as soon as he made contact with his son's skin,
Speaker 1: Terry was cold. He was already dead. William was devastated,
Speaker 1: but he immediately began searching for his granddaughter Haley. He
Speaker 1: ran upstairs frantically calling her name as he moved through
Speaker 1: the house, and when he reached her bedroom, that's when
Speaker 1: he found that her crib was empty. The bedding, blankets, pillows,
Speaker 1: and toys were usually inside, but they were missing too,
Speaker 1: and he also noticed blood on the bedroom door and
Speaker 1: on one of her dolls, as well as bloody footprints
Speaker 1: on the stairs and parts of the floor. In that instant,
Speaker 1: it was clear to William that Haley had been taken.
Speaker 1: At approximately eleven ti twelve am, William dialed nine one
Speaker 1: one and reported what he had found.
Speaker 2: This scene would just be not okay for like a parent,
Speaker 2: parents aren't supposed to lose their children. So I just
Speaker 2: can't even imagine him going into this, this just complete
Speaker 2: crime scene and finding his son dead and his granddaughter missing,
Speaker 2: Like holy shit, it just freakin' rips my heart out.
Speaker 1: It's gut wrenching. Yeah, And honestly, it's beyond a crime scene,
Speaker 1: Like this is a murder scene.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, brutal one, Yeah, no, it would have been.
Speaker 2: You know, no one should, like even investigators, gosh, having
Speaker 2: to go into these houses and their lives are never
Speaker 2: going to be the same after seeing all the shit.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Emergency responders and RCNP officers were sent to the house immediately,
Speaker 1: and when they arrived, officers saw all the blood smears
Speaker 1: throughout the home, beginning in the bedroom and continuing into
Speaker 1: the bathroom. Drag marks were also on the floor that
Speaker 1: showed that Terry had been attacked in his bed and
Speaker 1: then pulled through the house. Investigators also documented the blood
Speaker 1: evidence in Haley's room, including stains on her crib, personal belongings,
Speaker 1: all which suggested that whoever had taken her had blood
Speaker 1: on their hands and clothing at the time, which means
Speaker 1: it was the same person who had killed Terry. Within hours,
Speaker 1: the house was declared a major crime scene and RCMP
Speaker 1: Major Crimes Unit investigators based in Calgary were contacted and
Speaker 1: dispatched to Blairmore. By the afternoon, police began canvassing nearby homes,
Speaker 1: speaking with neighbors and checking whether anyone had seen Haley
Speaker 1: that morning. Officers were going door to door asking if
Speaker 1: anyone heard unusual noises or anything that had happened overnight
Speaker 1: seen suspicious activity. They also checked with friends, family members,
Speaker 1: and child care contacts to rule out the possibility that
Speaker 1: Hayley had been picked up by someone that she knew now.
Speaker 1: At the same time, officers worked to contact information for
Speaker 1: Haley's mother, Cheyenne Dunbar, who was living in Edmonton at
Speaker 1: the time. Investigators soon learned that Cheyenne had not been
Speaker 1: seen or spoken to Terry or Haley that morning and
Speaker 1: had no idea that anything was wrong. She was, of
Speaker 1: course shattered to learn that her daughter was missing and
Speaker 1: that Terry had been killed. She was heartbroken, but she
Speaker 1: also immediately began cooperating with investigators and provided any information
Speaker 1: that she could about the custody agreement that she and
Speaker 1: Terry had. There was recent communications maybe you know what,
Speaker 1: maybe whatever, who might have access to Terry's home, things
Speaker 1: like that she's trying to share, and as evidence continued
Speaker 1: to be reviewed, police focused on narrowing down the likely
Speaker 1: time frame of the abduction. Based on witness statements and
Speaker 1: early findings, They determined that Haley had most likely been
Speaker 1: taken from the home at approximately three point thirty am,
Speaker 1: which meant that she'd be missing for several hours before
Speaker 1: Terry's body had even been discovered, which greatly increased concern
Speaker 1: for her safety. By two fourteen PM, an Amber alert
Speaker 1: was issued across the province of Alberta. The alert included
Speaker 1: a description of Haley, including her age and the fact
Speaker 1: that she'd been abducted from her home. The Amber Alert
Speaker 1: also asked the public to report any sightings immediately and
Speaker 1: warned and also warned them that she might be in
Speaker 1: danger now. Given Blair Moore's location near the British Columbia
Speaker 1: border and its proximity to major highways leading south, police
Speaker 1: feared that whoever had taken Haley could attempt to flee
Speaker 1: the area, and an hour later, at three point fifteen pm,
Speaker 1: the Amber Alert was expanded into British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and
Speaker 1: the United State of Montana. Since Haley was abducted during
Speaker 1: the night, police were faced with a possibility that she
Speaker 1: could be already hundreds of kilometers away, so URCMP officers
Speaker 1: worked urgently to piece anything they could together, any information
Speaker 1: that might indicate how she been taken, where she might
Speaker 1: be taken and now. Witness statements collected earlier from the
Speaker 1: day had neighbors mentioning that they saw that white van
Speaker 1: in the area, those noises during the early mornings, those
Speaker 1: sort of things, and investigators reviewed these accounts carefully and
Speaker 1: started comparing them to each other in order to determine
Speaker 1: whatever they were describing to see if it was the
Speaker 1: same vehicle in the same incident, and it seemed very
Speaker 1: much so like they were. They saw a white commercial
Speaker 1: style van leaving the area at around three thirty am
Speaker 1: at a high rate of speed, with a large antenna
Speaker 1: on the back with something blue on the end. Although
Speaker 1: no one had managed to record a license plate number,
Speaker 1: the consistency of the details suggested everything was connected. Based
Speaker 1: on this information, RCMP updated the Amber alert to include
Speaker 1: a description of the suspected vehicle and the public was
Speaker 1: asked to watch out for it and report any sightings immediately.
Speaker 1: Investigators also began reviewing available surveillance footage from businesses and
Speaker 1: hotels in the area. This is, of course, when they
Speaker 1: found the CCTV footage showing the white van traveling westbound
Speaker 1: at approximately three thins one on the morning of the abduction,
Speaker 1: as well as the one recorded earlier in the day
Speaker 1: that also showed a similar van in the area around
Speaker 1: the time of Hanna's murder. Although this connection was not
Speaker 1: publicly discussed at the time, it was noted by investigators
Speaker 1: and was added to the growing file of evidence. Now,
Speaker 1: as the Amber alert spread, tips began to pour in.
Speaker 1: RCMP dispatch centers received calls from people who thought they
Speaker 1: had seen similar vehicles on highways and parking lots and
Speaker 1: at rest stops, and of course all of them had
Speaker 1: to be checked out. Search teams were also deployed throughout
Speaker 1: the region. Officers, volunteers, search and rescue personnel checked wooded areas,
Speaker 1: rural roads, abandoned buildings and campsites. Helicopters and areily units
Speaker 1: had been up in the air to scan remote terrain
Speaker 1: in what would have been very difficult areas to access
Speaker 1: on foot. The rugged geography of the Crow's Nest Pass
Speaker 1: made the search especially challenging, as large areas of forest
Speaker 1: and mountain trains surrounded the communities now. Meanwhile, anxiety continued
Speaker 1: to grow amongst the residents. Parents kept their children indoors.
Speaker 1: Schools and businesses began discussing safety measures, and many people
Speaker 1: followed news updates very closely throughout the day and the night.
Speaker 2: I hadn't thought about this before, but it just dawned
Speaker 2: on me. Being in a small community too, there would
Speaker 2: be or you know, places that just have more wilderness
Speaker 2: and stuff. There would be less footage like camera footage, Yeah,
Speaker 2: capturing things.
Speaker 1: Hey, definitely one gosh.
Speaker 2: Which would make it just so much harder. Hmm okay.
Speaker 1: Now, social media also became flooded with posts sharing Haley's
Speaker 1: photo and details of the Amber alert too. This is
Speaker 1: a place, like you kind of said, it's small town, right,
Speaker 1: so people talk more than like there is news. Really
Speaker 1: words spreads fast personally in conversations on social media, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing, And that's what's happening here. People are
Speaker 1: trying to figure this out, spreading any information they could
Speaker 1: and helping in any way they can. Now in Blairmore,
Speaker 1: there was one business that would stand out amongst this case.
Speaker 1: It was called Prestige Cleaners. It was a family owned
Speaker 1: dry cleaning business that had operated in the community for decades,
Speaker 1: and they owned several white commercial vans that were used
Speaker 1: for deliveries. Now, these vehicles actually matched the description provided
Speaker 1: by witnesses, including the distinctive antenna mounted on the back.
Speaker 1: The business was owned by brothers Kevin and Larry Siretsky,
Speaker 1: who had taken over operations from their parents after years
Speaker 1: of working in the family company. Now, as news of
Speaker 1: the Amber alerts spread through the town, Kevin and Larry
Speaker 1: heard descriptions of the van police were looking for, and
Speaker 1: so they went to take a look at the ones
Speaker 1: that they owned, and that's when they realized that one
Speaker 1: of their company vehicles fit the profile almost exactly. This
Speaker 1: realization prompted them to check their fleet records and inspect
Speaker 1: the vehicles a little more closely. And when they reviewed
Speaker 1: their logs, they noticed something troubling. One of the vans
Speaker 1: had been used for deliveries on September eleventh, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: and it so dominant reading had been recorded at that
Speaker 1: time and was standard practice for the business. When they
Speaker 1: checked the same van after hearing about the abduction, though,
Speaker 1: the odometer showed additional kilometers that could not be explained
Speaker 1: by any authorized use. Now, the Shiretzki family were very
Speaker 1: much so aware that Larry Siretzky's son Derek had a
Speaker 1: history of using company vehicles without authorization.
Speaker 2: Good for them, though, I just have to say for
Speaker 2: going and checking and note because and they're still trying
Speaker 2: to figuring this out, knowing that they're going to.
Speaker 1: Know like who is involved, Yes, for sure.
Speaker 2: So I feel like some business owners would maybe just
Speaker 2: keep it to themselves potentially, So this is good now.
Speaker 1: Derek was twenty two years old at the time. He
Speaker 1: had worked at Prestige Cleaners for a period but had
Speaker 1: recently quit. Family members knew that he still had access
Speaker 1: to the building and was familiar with the vehicles, so
Speaker 1: concerned about what all this could mean, both Kevin and
Speaker 1: Larry contacted the RCMP and informed them about the missing
Speaker 1: van and the unexpected mileage. They also gave investigators permission
Speaker 1: to seize and examine the vehicle as part of the investigation, and,
Speaker 1: as it would turn out, their cooperation provided police with
Speaker 1: their first solid physical lead.
Speaker 2: Good job Now.
Speaker 1: When RCMP forensic teams examined the van using luminol, a
Speaker 1: chemical that reacts with blood and glows under UV light,
Speaker 1: investigators detected multiple bloodstains throughout the interior. Blood was found
Speaker 1: on the steering wheel, door handles, window cranks, light switches,
Speaker 1: floor surfaces, and inside the cargo area. A large smear
Speaker 1: on the floor even contained two bare footprints, suggesting that
Speaker 1: someone had stepped in blood inside the vehicle. Investigators also
Speaker 1: noticed the floor mats from the rear section of the
Speaker 1: van were missing too.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: At the same time, while this was all happening, Derek's dad,
Speaker 1: Larry Suretsky, began noticing changes in his son's behavior. Derek
Speaker 1: seemed nervous, withdrawn and unwilling to really explain anything, and
Speaker 1: during a conversation about the missing child and the ongoing investigation,
Speaker 1: Derek even made a statement that immediately alarmed his father.
Speaker 1: He told Larry that Haley was quote in heaven.
Speaker 2: End quote oh shit.
Speaker 1: When pressed for clarification on this, Derek became incoherent and
Speaker 1: began speaking in ways that made little sense. His responses
Speaker 1: shifted between vague statements to gibberish, and he didn't offer
Speaker 1: any clear explanation for even what he meant by that.
Speaker 1: Larry was growing increasingly concerned, and he contacted police again
Speaker 1: and told them that his son had said something disturbing
Speaker 1: and he needed to be questioned.
Speaker 2: This right, there is a reason just like to not
Speaker 2: have kids, in my opinion, because I don't know if
Speaker 2: I would be able to deal with that.
Speaker 1: That's it's definitely, I mean, that's gonna be so rare.
Speaker 2: It's a rarity, for sure, but still but.
Speaker 1: Even still mean that could be a sibling or an
Speaker 1: uncle or an aunt, or parents who commit a murder
Speaker 1: just as easily as it is your own child, I.
Speaker 2: Guess, but I just think I would. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I would just be like, I'm out, I'm done.
Speaker 1: Fair enough, I can't blame you for that.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: By the time investigators finished processing the van, they began
Speaker 1: focusing their attention directly on Derek. By this point, police
Speaker 1: even had enough information to actually justify searching his living
Speaker 1: spaces and examining his personal belongings a lot more closely.
Speaker 1: Derek lived in an apartment in Blairmore, located next to
Speaker 1: the dry cleaning business. Officers quickly obtained a search warrant
Speaker 1: and entered the residence for any sign of the missing
Speaker 1: child or evidence that might explain her disappearance. From the
Speaker 1: moment they began searching, it became clear that the apartment
Speaker 1: contained potential evidence. Investigators noticed what appeared to be blood
Speaker 1: on the inside doorknob of the front entrance, as well
Speaker 1: as droplets on the floor or leading into the living room.
Speaker 1: Additional stains were found on walls and nearby staircases leading
Speaker 1: to the second floor. In the upstairs bathroom, police located
Speaker 1: blood on a cupboard and nearby surfaces. During the search,
Speaker 1: officers also discovered latex gloves that appeared to have blood stains,
Speaker 1: along with a pair of boots that were found to
Speaker 1: have containing human blood on them too. Several tools and
Speaker 1: weapons were also located in the apartment, including a hatchet,
Speaker 1: box cutters, and multiple knives. Police also found books related
Speaker 1: to cannibalism, serial killers, medical anatomy, and violent crime, which
Speaker 1: were noted and cataloged as part of the investigation.
Speaker 2: He really went out of his way to clean up
Speaker 2: any evidence, inn't he Not really, No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: It seems like he did try and clean, but it
Speaker 1: was sloppy cleaning, Like the inside of the van, there
Speaker 1: was no obvious signs of blood. It was like you
Speaker 1: had to use the luminol on that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: And I think there's a good chance that investigators had
Speaker 1: caught up with him far before he had a chance
Speaker 1: to continue cleaning. Is possibly a way of looking at it,
Speaker 1: that's true, But either way, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: evidence left behind.
Speaker 2: I kind of hope one day, I don't know, this
Speaker 2: is so morbid, so I apologize, but it would be
Speaker 2: very interesting to have the opportunity to use that spray lumino. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because you just see that on documentaries and stuff, and
Speaker 2: it just like I just imagine the anticipation of like
Speaker 2: spraying it and wondering what you're gonna find, and then
Speaker 2: all of a sudden it just fucking lights up, right
Speaker 2: like that would.
Speaker 1: Just I don't know, I'd be scary.
Speaker 2: It would be scary, but it's kind of interesting in
Speaker 2: the same sense for sure. Now.
Speaker 1: Some handwritten materials in the apartment also provided additional insight
Speaker 1: into derek state of mind too. Investigators recovered a notebook
Speaker 1: containing a list that include names such as Hannah, Terry, Shy,
Speaker 1: and the Hideous Baby, along with phrases such as sleepers
Speaker 1: for the dogs and medicine Fresh. Of these entries were
Speaker 1: crossed out. Names of deceased like Terry were crossed out,
Speaker 1: but so were Quote, the Hideous Baby, and Shy. Now
Speaker 1: Shy likely refers to Cheyenne, who was very much so
Speaker 1: alive and was Haley's mother, But as for the rest, well,
Speaker 1: let's just keep talking.
Speaker 2: That's so alarming.
Speaker 1: A calendar was found with handwritten notes including phrases such
Speaker 1: as set me free and strength written across several dates
Speaker 1: in early weeks of September twenty fifteen on a coffee
Speaker 1: table inside the apartment, police found graffiti scrawled across it
Speaker 1: that read one shot, one kill and this is not
Speaker 1: the end. Death is only the beginning.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Investigators searched here, and they also searched the home of
Speaker 1: Derek's mother in Coleman. This is where he sometimes stayed,
Speaker 1: and in his room they located two hammers, a baseball bat,
Speaker 1: and rolled up mats that appeared to be similar to
Speaker 1: the ones in the missing floormats for the van. Needless
Speaker 1: to say, evidence was mounting fast, and as police continued
Speaker 1: gathering physical evidence, they also paid close attention to Derek's
Speaker 1: behavior along the way. Family members described him as quiet
Speaker 1: and withdrawn, someone who largely kept to himself. He also
Speaker 1: had a history of minor criminal charges, though including breaking
Speaker 1: and entering in possession of stolen property, and he was
Speaker 1: unemployed at the time of the murders. He seemed to
Speaker 1: be a young man who was struggling to find his
Speaker 1: stability in his life, and by the end of September fifteenth,
Speaker 1: it was obvious to investigators that they were no longer
Speaker 1: dealing with circumstantial concerns or vague suspicions. Even so, Haley,
Speaker 1: the most important piece of the puzzle while she currently
Speaker 1: had still not been found. Now, while investigators were processing
Speaker 1: all the evidence and building the case and searching for Haley,
Speaker 1: an unexpected development was unfolding. A new lead came in
Speaker 1: from another member of Derek's family who had noticed something
Speaker 1: disturbing on some private property. It was on September fifteenth
Speaker 1: when Shane Suretsky, Derrek's cousin, returned to a family owned
Speaker 1: ranch property near the Crow's Nest passed after being away
Speaker 1: for several days. The property had been used by members
Speaker 1: of the Suretzky family for camping, hunting, and recreational purposes
Speaker 1: for years. It was remote, surrounded by trees and very
Speaker 1: rugged terrain, and rarely visited by anyone outside the family.
Speaker 1: When Shane arrived at the site, he noticed something that
Speaker 1: almost immediately struck him as wrong. Near one of the campsites,
Speaker 1: a fire pit appeared to have been recently used, which
Speaker 1: was unusual. There was no one who was supposed to
Speaker 1: have been there staying at the ranch at that time.
Speaker 1: The fire pit even still contained warm ashes and freshly
Speaker 1: burnt debris, suggesting the fire had been burning there not
Speaker 1: long before he had arrived, and as he looked closer
Speaker 1: that the remains of the fire, Shane noticed something in
Speaker 1: the ashes, something that didn't resemble ordinary treeh being burned
Speaker 1: or would. Amongst the burnt material, he saw what appeared
Speaker 1: to be small bones and pieces of fabric. Given the
Speaker 1: ongoing search for Haley in the widespread media coverage, Shane
Speaker 1: immediately thought about the possibility of what that fire pit
Speaker 1: could contain, and rather than disturbing anything, he immediately contacted authorities.
Speaker 1: RCMP officers were dispatched to the ranch and arrived shortly
Speaker 1: after receiving the call. Now, while all this was going down,
Speaker 1: Derek was being held for questioning in relation to Terry's
Speaker 1: death and Hailey's disappearance. By this point, police had already
Speaker 1: gathered substantial physical evidence linking him to the case, but
Speaker 1: they still needed to establish exactly what had happened.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: During interviews with RCMP investigators, Derek initially well. He stated
Speaker 1: things that were inconsistent and very difficult to follow. He
Speaker 1: gave vague answers, changed deep tails repeatedly, and sometimes spoken
Speaker 1: ways that didn't seem connect did to the questions he
Speaker 1: was even being asked. At times, he claimed that he'd
Speaker 1: been influenced by voices or supernatural forces. In other moments,
Speaker 1: he suggested that he had acted under the control of
Speaker 1: the devil. It was very clear that Derek was suffering
Speaker 1: from some sort of mental struggles, but investigators worked carefully
Speaker 1: with him and the questioning continued. Now, Derek gradually began
Speaker 1: to break down and in tears. At one point, with
Speaker 1: an investigator kneeling in front of him encouraging him to speak,
Speaker 1: he acknowledged his involvement in the crimes. He admitted that
Speaker 1: he entered Terry Blanchette's home during the night of September fourteenth,
Speaker 1: using forced entry to gain access. According to his statements,
Speaker 1: he attacked Terry with a blunt object later identified as
Speaker 1: a crowbar, and then he proceeded to slit his throat.
Speaker 1: After killing Terry, he abducted Hailey from the home and
Speaker 1: placed her in the white van belonging to Prestige Cleaners.
Speaker 1: Derek told investigators that he drove Hailey to the family
Speaker 1: owned ranch property in the Crow's Nest pass. He described
Speaker 1: taking her to a campsite that he was familiar with
Speaker 1: from previous visits. But the thing is he didn't just
Speaker 1: tell them. Investigators asked him to lead them to the site,
Speaker 1: and he did exactly that. They arrived at the property
Speaker 1: where police were already beginning to investigate the scene from
Speaker 1: the tip off from Derek's cousin. There, he walked them
Speaker 1: through the property and stopped next to the fire pit,
Speaker 1: looking at the smoldering embers. He said there he had
Speaker 1: built a fire and next admitted to killing Haley by
Speaker 1: strangling her to death. Afterwards, he said he dismembered her
Speaker 1: body there by the fire, collected her blood in a
Speaker 1: plastic container, and burned her remains, And there he stood
Speaker 1: next to the flames as they were burning Haley's body,
Speaker 1: and Derek admitted to drinking her blood in order to
Speaker 1: gain a little bit of her energy. He also explained
Speaker 1: that he had returned to his apartment after the crimes
Speaker 1: and attempted to clean himself up as well as his belongings.
Speaker 1: As part of his confession, Derek also described the weapons
Speaker 1: he had used, and throughout the whole time, Derek appeared
Speaker 1: detached and unemotional. At other times he became very agitated
Speaker 1: or spoke in those religious or symbolic type languages, speaking
Speaker 1: just talking about God and the devil and being controlled
Speaker 1: in what they were doing. It wasn't him, it was them,
Speaker 1: and investigators documented these changes very carefully, very aware that
Speaker 1: his mental state would certainly become a very important issue
Speaker 1: in court proceedings. By the end of the interviews, police
Speaker 1: had obtained a detailed account of how Derek had moved
Speaker 1: from Terry's home to the ranch property, and what he
Speaker 1: had done at each location, and how he had attempted
Speaker 1: to cover up his actions.
Speaker 2: Oh, it takes her breath away. It's like a gut
Speaker 2: punch what he did to that sweet, sweet little baby.
Speaker 1: It's disgusting in so many ways. Yeah, I can't believe.
Speaker 1: And then he sat there as she's burning, drinking her blood.
Speaker 1: That makes me want to fucking throw up.
Speaker 2: Yeah it is.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 2: I say this almost every episode. It doesn't seem like
Speaker 2: that could be true. How on earth could someone actually
Speaker 2: fucking do that.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna quote you directly. I can't even fathom this,
Speaker 1: or can't even fathom someone doing that. Yeah, the word fathom.
Speaker 2: I don't know. It just brings tears to my eyes.
Speaker 2: That someone is just that, Like we live among people
Speaker 2: that pure evil.
Speaker 1: Now, I don't get me wrong, Derek's responsible. Derek did this,
Speaker 1: but clearly he's suffering in certain ways on his own.
Speaker 1: That too, on its own, is scary as shit.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that whatever is going on there killed a
Speaker 2: little innocent baby, well two years old, still pretty much
Speaker 2: a baby. And the dad, Yeah, like, what the actual
Speaker 2: shit is happening in this scut.
Speaker 1: It's beyond fucked now. The investigator secured the entire property,
Speaker 1: of course, when he was arrived in telling them and
Speaker 1: showing this by the fire police were already there securing
Speaker 1: the property, and they began a careful examination of the
Speaker 1: fire pit and surrounding campsite. Forensic specialists were brought in
Speaker 1: to collect any potential evidence and documented the scene in details.
Speaker 1: And as investigators sifted through the ashes, which were still warm,
Speaker 1: one investigator reportedly even burning his hand collecting pieces out
Speaker 1: of the fire, their fears were confirmed. They recovered several
Speaker 1: bone fragments that appeared to be from a child. They
Speaker 1: recovered pieces of burned clothing and other materials that suggested
Speaker 1: human remains had been present in the fire. Forensic teams
Speaker 1: worked for hours to collect every fragment that they could teeth,
Speaker 1: rib bones, femurs, broken pieces. They recovered everything. Now, police
Speaker 1: still hadn't made a public announcement about the discovery. They
Speaker 1: first needed to confirm the identity of the remains through
Speaker 1: forensic testing and notify Hailey's family before releasing any information. However,
Speaker 1: unfortunately DNA testing was not available through these bones, they
Speaker 1: were burnt far too much and they could not confirm
Speaker 1: the identity of Haley. However, through the confession through Derek
Speaker 1: leading them there, they were able to confidently say that
Speaker 1: it was in fact her.
Speaker 2: Gosh, it must have just been like a roaring fire.
Speaker 1: Hey, it would have been large, yes, But as it
Speaker 1: sat right now, as far as the public knew, there
Speaker 1: was the possibility still that Haley was alive, but it
Speaker 1: was looking grim. More than twenty four hours had passed
Speaker 1: and many people were beginning to fear that Haley would
Speaker 1: not be found alive. That didn't mean that they didn't
Speaker 1: hold out for any hope. Hundreds of residents gathered that
Speaker 1: night for a candlelight vigil, hoping for good news and
Speaker 1: showing support for the family. The vigil took place in Baltimore,
Speaker 1: not far from Terry Blanchett's home. Community members brought candles, flowers,
Speaker 1: and handwritten messages. Parents stood with their children, neighbors stood
Speaker 1: with neighbors and strangers comforted one another. Shortly after nine pm,
Speaker 1: RCMP Victims Services representatives arrived at the vigil looking for
Speaker 1: Haley's mother. It was there that they informed her and
Speaker 1: Hailey's family that they had located her remains earlier that
Speaker 1: day at her rural property near Blairmore words spread quietly
Speaker 1: through the crowd, and within minutes almost everyone was in tears.
Speaker 2: Gosh, what a terrible announcement to have to make it
Speaker 2: her vigil, I know, right, heartbreaks. I mean, there would
Speaker 2: probably be no time, no good time to ever have
Speaker 2: to make that announcement. But still, that just seems like
Speaker 2: it is a frickin' hammer across your face. Really, Like
Speaker 2: that's terrible.
Speaker 1: Well, what do you do? Do you do it at
Speaker 1: the vigil? Do it after the vigil? Do you do
Speaker 1: it when they're quietly sitting at home, like trying to
Speaker 1: go to bed. Do you do it in the morning
Speaker 1: when they've likely not slept all night and they're probably
Speaker 1: contacting more people or looking or doing things, putting up posters,
Speaker 1: missing posters.
Speaker 2: When I mean, they would have had like a lot
Speaker 2: of support at that time, right for sure?
Speaker 1: And you're right, like, when is the good time. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's hard work, but I mean they're there to do it,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that there are, you know le those
Speaker 1: people to do that job, because it's not going to
Speaker 1: be an easy one, no now. Later that same evening,
Speaker 1: RCMP Superintendent Tony Hamori held immediate briefing to confirm what
Speaker 1: they had already feared. At apparent approximately ten pm, he
Speaker 1: announced the body of two year old Haley Dunbarblench had
Speaker 1: been found in a rural location near Blairmore. He explained
Speaker 1: that the discovery had been made during a police search
Speaker 1: based on information obtained through the investigation, that the scene
Speaker 1: had been secured and forensic teams were processing the area.
Speaker 1: He also confirmed that the public was no longer being
Speaker 1: asked to look for a white van and that the
Speaker 1: Amber alert had officially been called off. At the same time,
Speaker 1: he made it very clear that many details would not
Speaker 1: be released immediately, as the investigation was still ongoing and
Speaker 1: charges had not yet been finalized. At that point. He
Speaker 1: did say a male suspect who had been arrested earlier
Speaker 1: in the day remained in police custody and was being questioned.
Speaker 1: He said his identity would be made public Once those
Speaker 1: formal charges were officially laid, and for Haley's mother, Cheyenne Dunbar,
Speaker 1: and for Terry's family, the announcement marked the end of
Speaker 1: any remaining hope that she would be returned safely. Within hours,
Speaker 1: messages of sympathy began appearing online and in local memorials.
Speaker 1: Flowers and stuffed animals were placed near Terry's home and
Speaker 1: in public spaces throughout the region. On September sixteenth, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: RCMP formally charged Derek Seretsky with two counts of first
Speaker 1: degree murder in the death of Terry Blanchette and Haley
Speaker 1: Dunbar Blanchett. Police stated that they believed the murders had
Speaker 1: been planned, and his identity was released to public for
Speaker 1: the first time, ending days of speculation. Now, while Derek
Speaker 1: had provided a general account of what he claimed had happened,
Speaker 1: police could not rely on his statements alone. Every detail
Speaker 1: needed to be verified independently, and forensic teams conducted an
Speaker 1: extensive examination of everything they could. They found that the
Speaker 1: blood found in the home, the van on tools, and
Speaker 1: items in Derek's home were consistent with both Terry and
Speaker 1: Haley's DNA. Scientific evidence removed any doubt that the crimes
Speaker 1: were connected and committed by the same person. Now, while
Speaker 1: all of this had come to lights, another question began
Speaker 1: to be asked. Five days before Terry was murdered and
Speaker 1: Haley was kidnapped and murdered, a sixty nine year old
Speaker 1: woman named Hannah MacTech had been found dead in her
Speaker 1: home in Coleman and nearby community in the Crow's Nest past.
Speaker 1: At the time, her death had been treated as a
Speaker 1: separate case with no obvious connection to anyone or anything,
Speaker 1: But now the question was could Derek be responsible for
Speaker 1: this as well? Now, Hannah lived alone and was known
Speaker 1: in the community as quiet and an independent woman. But
Speaker 1: she had strong personality and according to people who knew her,
Speaker 1: she was not easily intimidated, and on the morning of
Speaker 1: September ninth, twenty fifteen, she was found dead in her
Speaker 1: home after neighbors became concerned and contacted police. Officers who
Speaker 1: responded discovered that she had been violently attacked, and an
Speaker 1: autopsy later revealed that Hannah had suffered five blunt force
Speaker 1: injuries to the head and two stab wounds to the
Speaker 1: neck and superficial cutzecaw across her throat. Now, the combination
Speaker 1: of blunt force and sharp force injuries immediately suggested the
Speaker 1: attack had been personal or very intense at the very least,
Speaker 1: and at first police had few solid leads when this occurred. However,
Speaker 1: when Terry was found murdered and Hailey disappeared on September fourteenth,
Speaker 1: resources were immediately redirected because finding a missing child while
Speaker 1: it became top priority, and so Hannah's murder investigation was
Speaker 1: put on hold. But after Derek was arrested and her
Speaker 1: remains were discovered, while the team returned to Hannah's case
Speaker 1: with a fresh perspective, the similarities between the two scenes
Speaker 1: stood out almost immediately. Terry had been beaten and stabbed,
Speaker 1: Hannah had been beaten and stabbed. Both attacks involved extreme violence,
Speaker 1: and both appeared to have been carried out by someone
Speaker 1: willing to take very significant risks. A major breakthrough in
Speaker 1: the potential correlation came on September twenty fourth, when officers
Speaker 1: reviewed a photograph taken inside Derek's apartment. The photo showed
Speaker 1: a handwritten list, a handwritten list that we already talked about.
Speaker 1: It said, medicine fresh. It followed several crossed out entries,
Speaker 1: and among them were the names of Hannah, Terry, and
Speaker 1: quote the Hideous Baby, which investigators were believed referred to Haley.
Speaker 1: This indicated that Derek was in fact responsible for Hannah's
Speaker 1: death too, and that he had been thinking about his
Speaker 1: victims ahead of time, and that may he may be
Speaker 1: you know what, tracking his actions for investigators. This document
Speaker 1: was one of the strongest pieces of evidence tying him
Speaker 1: to all three of the killings. The police also learned
Speaker 1: that Hannah lived next door to Derek's grandparents, which placed
Speaker 1: him in close proximity to her home and gave him
Speaker 1: reason to be in the area without raising any sort
Speaker 1: of suspicion. During later interviews, Derek would ultimately admit to
Speaker 1: killing Hannah as well. He told police he broke into
Speaker 1: her home, struck her with a baseball bat, and stabbed her,
Speaker 1: and when he was asked directly whether this murder was
Speaker 1: kind of a practice for whatever he was going to
Speaker 1: do later to Terry and Haley, he replied that it was.
Speaker 1: He directly acknowledged that he'd used his first killing to
Speaker 1: build confidence for others.
Speaker 2: Oh, that is just so hard to hear that he
Speaker 2: murdered her to practice like, are you fucking kidding me?
Speaker 1: I know, well, even if you look, there was superficial
Speaker 1: cuts across her neck, almost like he's seeing what sort
Speaker 1: of pressure he needs to apply to cut a throat.
Speaker 1: And then when it comes to Terry, he was successful
Speaker 1: because he knew a little more how to do it.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I am not okay. That is just
Speaker 2: not okay.
Speaker 1: Perhaps he even went and got a sharper knife. Perhaps
Speaker 1: he sharpened his knife because the other one just wasn't
Speaker 1: good enough. So he realized what he was doing, how
Speaker 1: he needed to do it, got ready and executed it
Speaker 1: properly the next time. And when I say properly, I
Speaker 1: mean properly in his own fucked up mind.
Speaker 2: Holy shit. I don't know if you're going to say
Speaker 2: something about this too, but I I remember hearing something
Speaker 2: about Terry had like given him a dirty look or
Speaker 2: something that he perceived that he had given him a
Speaker 2: dirty look at one point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's I don't really go over that because that's
Speaker 1: kind of it's so gray, but that is essentially his
Speaker 1: reasoning for targeting them. Yes, he knew Cheyenne, who was
Speaker 1: Hailey's mother and Terry's ex a long time ago, and
Speaker 1: he had seen them in town, Terry in town or something,
Speaker 1: and thought that Terry had given him a dirty look,
Speaker 1: So then he was angry towards him and just decided
Speaker 1: to murder him.
Speaker 2: Gosh, which is so messed up. I bet you anything.
Speaker 2: Terry didn't even He was probably just busy or thinking
Speaker 2: about something, or thinking about Oh man, I forgot to
Speaker 2: get milk or something, or maybe.
Speaker 1: It's like a is that guy familiar I might recognize?
Speaker 1: Who knows? Right?
Speaker 2: Gosh, the reasoning behind these killings is just.
Speaker 1: One of the most absurd motives I've ever heard.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now, In April twenty sixteen, Derek was formally charged with
Speaker 1: first degree murder in Hannah's death as well.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: In the weeks following his arrest, Derek Siretzky's behavior became
Speaker 1: a major concern for both investigators and court officials. Correctional
Speaker 1: staff and medical professionals were tasked with monitoring his physical
Speaker 1: and mental condition inside custody, and almost immediately questions began
Speaker 1: to arise about his stability. Then, on September twenty third,
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, just one week after he was charged with
Speaker 1: two counts of first degree murder, his mental state took
Speaker 1: a turn. Derek was rushed from the Lethbridge Correctional Center
Speaker 1: to hospital after suffering a medical emergency. Sources later reported
Speaker 1: that he had attempted to take his own life while
Speaker 1: left alone to shower. He was found by guards and
Speaker 1: transported to Chinook Regional Hospital, where doctors placed him in
Speaker 1: a medically induced coma and for a couple days, his
Speaker 1: condition remained uncertain, but on September twenty fifth, officials confirmed
Speaker 1: that he had been brought out of the coma and
Speaker 1: was recovering under medical supervision. He was eventually returned to
Speaker 1: custody once doctors determined he was physically stable. Now during
Speaker 1: this period, reports emerged that Derek had lost a significant
Speaker 1: amount of weight and appeared increasingly withdrawn. Correctional staff noticed
Speaker 1: changes in behavior, including long periods of isolation and limited
Speaker 1: communication with others. Now, As the case moved forward, defense
Speaker 1: lawyers began raising concerns about whether Derek was mentally fit
Speaker 1: to stand trial, and soon the court ordered him to
Speaker 1: go for a thirty day psychiatric assessment. The goal was
Speaker 1: determined whether he understood the charges against him and could
Speaker 1: meaningfully participate in his defense. Psychiatrists evaluated Derek over several weeks,
Speaker 1: reviewing his medical history, interviewing him directly, and observing his
Speaker 1: behavior and custody. During these assessments, he continued to reinforce
Speaker 1: these religious and supernatural explanations for his actions, repeated peated
Speaker 1: claims that he'd been influenced by the devil or directed
Speaker 1: by God. He also spoke about having stopped taking prescribed
Speaker 1: antipsychotic medications before the killings as well. It was heavy stuff,
Speaker 1: and the doctors requested the assessment period be extended for
Speaker 1: another thirty days, to which the judge approved. Ultimately, on
Speaker 1: November twenty fifth, twenty fifteen, the court ruled that Derek
Speaker 1: was in fact mentally fit to stand trial. Medical experts
Speaker 1: concluded that despite his disturbing statements and past medical health issues,
Speaker 1: he understood the nature of the proceedings and was capable
Speaker 1: of working with lawyers now. Although he was deemed fit,
Speaker 1: questions about his mental states still did not disappear during interviews.
Speaker 1: In later testimony, he continued to shift blame towards those
Speaker 1: outside forces rather than fully accepting his responsibility. At times
Speaker 1: he expressed regret. At other times, he minimalized his actions
Speaker 1: or spoke in detached symbolic language. Prosecutors would later argue
Speaker 1: that these patterns reflected attempts to avoid accountability rather than
Speaker 1: genuine psychological impairment.
Speaker 2: That's so interesting because just you know, sitting here listening
Speaker 2: to this, I would not have thought he would be fit,
Speaker 2: stand fit, like he drank the blood of a child
Speaker 2: and stuff. He doesn't seem like he as well. But
Speaker 2: then he also could, like you're saying here, being playing
Speaker 2: into that, which is really messed up.
Speaker 1: Well, it's not so much that he's playing into it.
Speaker 1: It's that, yeah, he's messed up, but he still understands
Speaker 1: what he did. He still understands the consequences. He still
Speaker 1: understands what the trial and the defense and the prosecution
Speaker 1: is all about. He understands it. Okay, he's saying, I
Speaker 1: get it. It wasn't me. The devil did it. The
Speaker 1: devil made me do it. I had no control, but
Speaker 1: I totally know what's going on.
Speaker 2: Huh.
Speaker 1: He's coherent's he's there, he understands, he's rational, but there's
Speaker 1: it's like a flip side to him where it's almost
Speaker 1: like he's getting possessed. I mean he's not, but it's
Speaker 1: like he's getting possessed, and that possession is making him
Speaker 1: say and do things gosh and act in ways and
Speaker 1: you know, kind of like an extreme bipolar and extreme
Speaker 1: situation of schizophrenia something along those lines. Those are not diagnoses.
Speaker 1: Those are just kind of examples I'm trying to share
Speaker 1: to kind of put that perspective on it. It's like there's
Speaker 1: two sides to the coin, and no matter what side
Speaker 1: he's on, he at least understands what's going on around him.
Speaker 2: To just listen to someone though, hey, that's speaking that
Speaker 2: way would be I don't know, very alarming.
Speaker 1: Oh this sends a chill up my spine thinking about
Speaker 1: it now, regardless of whatever he said.
Speaker 2: Though.
Speaker 1: After nearly two years of investigations, forensic testing, psychiatric evaluations,
Speaker 1: and legal motions, Derek Suatzky's trial finally began in the
Speaker 1: spring of twenty seventeen. Proceedings started in Lethbridge in early May,
Speaker 1: with pre trial hearings injury selections taking place before testimony
Speaker 1: he officially began, but by the end of the month,
Speaker 1: a jury had been seated and the trial moved into
Speaker 1: its main face. Now from the onset, it was clear
Speaker 1: that the case would be emotionally difficult for everyone involved,
Speaker 1: and prosecutors warned durors that they would be presented with
Speaker 1: very disturbing evidence, including crime scene photographs, forensic reports, and
Speaker 1: video recordings of Derek's own statements. The Crown's case focused
Speaker 1: on building a detailed chronological account of how the three
Speaker 1: murders unfolded. Prosecutors presented evidence beginning with the death of Hannahmacatech.
Speaker 1: Sorry almost got her name wrong there. It's a difficult
Speaker 1: name to pronounce, so and on September ninth, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: followed by the murder of Terry Blanchette and the abduction
Speaker 1: of Haley on September fourteenth, saying that the killings were
Speaker 1: not isolated incidents, but more so instead part of a pattern. Now,
Speaker 1: one of the most significant pieces of evidence john in
Speaker 1: court was video of Derek's police interviews and is recorded
Speaker 1: reenactment at the Rant property.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: The footage was played in court under strict conditions, and
Speaker 1: several jurors were visibly distressed, and at times proceedings were
Speaker 1: even paused to allow them time to recover. Medical experts
Speaker 1: also testified about the injuries suffered by the victims. Pathologists
Speaker 1: described the extent of Terry's wounds, including multiple blunt force
Speaker 1: injuries and several cuts to his neck. In Hannah's case,
Speaker 1: doctors explained how she'd been struck and stabbed, likely while
Speaker 1: trying to defend herself. Because of the condition of Haley's remains,
Speaker 1: a precise cause of death could not be determined, but
Speaker 1: evidence supported Derek's confession that she had in fact been strangled.
Speaker 1: What evidence that is I could not find, but apparently
Speaker 1: quote unquote evidence supported it now. RCMP forensic specialists presented
Speaker 1: detail findings from the crime scene too and Derek's apartment.
Speaker 1: They explained how blood pattern showed Terry had been attacked
Speaker 1: in his bed, dragged through his house and dena. Evidence
Speaker 1: linked Haley's blood to Derek's boots, and there were traces
Speaker 1: of blood on the door handle's floor, clothing, and more,
Speaker 1: which all helped establish his movements after the murders. Investigators
Speaker 1: also testified about the discovery of the handwritten list in
Speaker 1: Derek's apartment. The crown argued that the list showed planning
Speaker 1: intent and supported the charge of first degree murder. Family
Speaker 1: members and friends of the victims were called to testify
Speaker 1: as well. Cheyenne Dunbar described her relationship with Terry, their
Speaker 1: shared custody agreement, and her past friendship with Derek. She
Speaker 1: told the court that she had not been in contact
Speaker 1: with him for years and had never suspected he was
Speaker 1: capable of violence. Terry's relatives and friends spoke about his
Speaker 1: dedication as a father and his efforts to build a
Speaker 1: stable life for Haley. The defense, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: didn't dispute that Derek had committed the killings. There was
Speaker 1: too much evidence not to mention his recorded confessions. Their
Speaker 1: strategy instead focused on his mental state now in the courtroom.
Speaker 1: Derek's lawyers argued that his history of mental illness, medication issues,
Speaker 1: and unusual beliefs affected his ability to form intent. They
Speaker 1: suggested that he had been experiencing psychological deterioration in the
Speaker 1: weeks leading up to the crimes. Psychiatrists and psychologists were
Speaker 1: both called on both sides to discuss Derek's mental health.
Speaker 1: Some experts acknowledged that he had struggled with mental illness.
Speaker 1: Others testified that despite this, he still understood his actions
Speaker 1: and their consequences. Throughout the trial, Derek remained mostly quiet.
Speaker 1: He rarely showed visible emotion and often avoided eye contact
Speaker 1: with witnesses. Observers noted that there were moments when he
Speaker 1: appeared very detached and others when he seemed to follow
Speaker 1: the testimony extremely closely. By the time the closing arguments approached,
Speaker 1: jurors had reviewed weeks of testimony, hundreds of exhibits, and
Speaker 1: hours of recorded footage, and in late June of twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: the jury was given its final instructions by Justice William
Speaker 1: Tilleman and sent out to deliberate. After approximately only three hours,
Speaker 1: the jury returned to the courtroom with its verdict. Derrek
Speaker 1: Sretzki was found guilty on all counts of first degree
Speaker 1: murder for the death of Hannah MaCTec, for the death
Speaker 1: of Terry Blanchett and the death of Hailey Dunbar Blanchett,
Speaker 1: as well as one more account of committing an indignity
Speaker 1: to a dead body in relation to the cannibalism of
Speaker 1: Hailey Dunbar Blanchett. Following the verdict, the court moved to
Speaker 1: the sentencing phase. Because first degree murder in Canada carries
Speaker 1: a mandatory life sentence, the main issue before the judge
Speaker 1: was whether that period of parole ineligibility would be served
Speaker 1: consecutively with each case. Now at the time, the law
Speaker 1: allowed judges to stack parole ineligibility periods for multiple murders,
Speaker 1: meaning an offender could be required to serve far more
Speaker 1: than twenty five years before ever receiving eligibility for parole.
Speaker 1: Before sentencing was imposed, Victim impact statements were read in court.
Speaker 1: These statements gave family members and loved ones an opportunity
Speaker 1: to describe how the crimes had affected their lives. Cheyenne
Speaker 1: Dunbar spoke about the loss of her daughter and the
Speaker 1: permanent change that it had caused. She told the court
Speaker 1: that grief, anxiety, and depression had become daily struggles. She
Speaker 1: told them how every milestone Haley would ever have reached
Speaker 1: would forever remind her of what had been taken from her.
Speaker 1: Terry's sister, Amanda Blanchett, addressed the court as well. She
Speaker 1: said that Derek had stolen not just one life, but
Speaker 1: the future of an entire family. She spoke about the
Speaker 1: pain of losing her brother and the horror of knowing
Speaker 1: what her niece had to endure. Friends and relatives of
Speaker 1: Hannah MaCTec also, while he submitted some statements One close
Speaker 1: friend described how Hannah's death had shattered the sense of
Speaker 1: safety in the community and left lasting emotional scars. She
Speaker 1: told the court that forgiveness was in in the face
Speaker 1: of such violence. When it was time for sentencing, Justice
Speaker 1: Tillman addressed the court. He stated that Derek had shown
Speaker 1: no regard for human life, community standards, or the rule
Speaker 1: of law. He described the crimes as terrible and incomprehensible,
Speaker 1: and emphasized the lasting harm that they had caused. The
Speaker 1: judge imposed three life sentences to be served consecutively, and
Speaker 1: he ordered that Derek would not be eligible to apply
Speaker 1: for parole for a total of seventy five years, effectively
Speaker 1: ensuring that he would never be released.
Speaker 2: Dang, dang, that's a good sentence.
Speaker 1: The sentence was one of the harshest available in Canada
Speaker 1: at the time. With sentencing complete, Derek was formally transferred
Speaker 1: to a feder a federal prison system sorry to begin
Speaker 1: serving his life sentence. But like many people convicted of
Speaker 1: serious crimes, he of course exercised his right to appeal
Speaker 1: both his conviction and his sentence. About a month after
Speaker 1: the verdict, his legal team filed formal appeals arguing that
Speaker 1: there were errors that had been made during the trial
Speaker 1: that the censing imposed was in was unconstitutional. One of
Speaker 1: the main arguments raised by the defense focused on the
Speaker 1: consecutive parole ineligibility periods. Defense lawyers argued that such a
Speaker 1: sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and violated the
Speaker 1: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They claimed that denying
Speaker 1: any realistic chance a parole removed incentives for rehabilitation and
Speaker 1: stripped inmates of hope for eventual reintegration into society. The
Speaker 1: Alberta Court of Appeal reviewed those arguments, and in November
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty they dismissed the appeal and upheld both
Speaker 1: his convictions and his sentence. However, the legal landscape shifted
Speaker 1: again in twenty twenty two. That year, the Supreme Court
Speaker 1: of Canada ruled that the provisions allowing judges to impose
Speaker 1: consecutive periods of parole ineligibility from multiple murders was in
Speaker 1: fact unconstitutional. The court determined that such sentences violated the
Speaker 1: Charter because they eliminated any meaningful possibility for parole of life.
Speaker 1: As a result of this decision, individuals who had received
Speaker 1: stacked parole ineligibility periods became eligible to apply for parole
Speaker 1: after serving twenty five years, regardless of the number of
Speaker 1: murders they had committed. The ruling applied retroactively, affecting cases
Speaker 1: across the country, including Derek's. And that decision makes my
Speaker 1: stomach turn.
Speaker 2: Well, that is so messed up because then it just
Speaker 2: like doesn't even matter how many people you kill, really.
Speaker 1: Correct, because you are allowed to apply for parole after
Speaker 1: twenty five years, So.
Speaker 2: Matter what, Yeah, if you freaking kill one person or
Speaker 2: you killed ten, it's like you get you can apply
Speaker 2: for parole at the same fucking time.
Speaker 1: Exactly. Just messed up, which means honestly, like in this case,
Speaker 1: Derek can apply for parole after twenty five years, but
Speaker 1: I do have to state approval is not automatic and
Speaker 1: many applicants are denied repeatedly, Yes.
Speaker 2: Which is good, and I feel like he would be denied.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would hope so many times.
Speaker 2: I would think.
Speaker 1: Now, for the families of Terry, Haley and Hannah, that
Speaker 1: really meant that, beginning in early twenty forties, they could
Speaker 1: be required to relive the case every two years. If
Speaker 1: Derek chose to apply for parole. Each hearing would involve
Speaker 1: reviewing the crimes, submitting statements, and confronting the possibility of
Speaker 1: his eventual release. Victim advocates and family members across Canada
Speaker 1: criticized the decision, arguing that it placed additional emotional burden
Speaker 1: on those already affected by violent crimes. And I wholeheartedly
Speaker 1: agree with that.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that's punishing them. I also think every two
Speaker 2: years is unreasonable. Yes, I think that should be changed
Speaker 2: to say every five.
Speaker 1: Yes, I agree. Actually, you're right. You know what, if
Speaker 1: you have I'm going to go out on a limb
Speaker 1: and say this, if you receive one murder sentence, you
Speaker 1: get a parole of twenty five years. Maybe after that,
Speaker 1: you know what, because there's so many situations, right, and
Speaker 1: so maybe in that situation you get every two maybe,
Speaker 1: but if you are killing multiple it should definitely not
Speaker 1: be too. If they're bringing it down to twenty five,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking even twenty five and then every ten for parole.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because imagine even just changing that, that would save
Speaker 2: a lot of money in people's time. It would because
Speaker 2: two years two years is I am going to say
Speaker 2: it again, unreasonable. It's not very much time.
Speaker 1: And exactly as you said too. There's almost no difference
Speaker 1: now in serving a sentence of if you kill one
Speaker 1: verse a dozen, yeah, which is bonkers. So you need
Speaker 1: to create a system where that balances out if you
Speaker 1: want to level the playing field on the you know what,
Speaker 1: maybe one day I can rehabilitate, maybe one day I
Speaker 1: can get out. Sure, do that, but you still need
Speaker 1: to account for the severity of their fucking crimes and
Speaker 1: how long they will spend behind bars. Yes, you want
Speaker 1: to give them the parole, give them the fucking parole,
Speaker 1: but limit their fucking parole.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my god, damn it. Limited.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm getting I'm getting fucking angry. I'm starting to swear,
Speaker 1: so I'm getting angry. Anyways, regardless of the parle and
Speaker 1: legal decisions, the case is closed for now, and life
Speaker 1: in the Crow's Ness past slowly began to return to
Speaker 1: something resembling normal for residents of Blairmore, Coleman and the
Speaker 1: surrounding communities. However, the events of twenty fifteen left a
Speaker 1: lasting mark. The murders in the search for Haley had
Speaker 1: drawn national attention to a region that was normally quiet
Speaker 1: and close knit for many people who lived there. The
Speaker 1: sense of safety had been taken for granted and was
Speaker 1: permanently altered. In the months and years following the case,
Speaker 1: community members made deliberate efforts to focus on healing rather
Speaker 1: than the violence itself. One of the most visible examples
Speaker 1: of this was the creation of a playground and park
Speaker 1: in Blairmore named in Haley Dunbar Blanchette's memory, built through
Speaker 1: volunteer labor, labor and local fundrais seeing the park was
Speaker 1: meant to honor her life, becoming a place where families
Speaker 1: could gather and children could play, offering a small measure
Speaker 1: of hope in the aftermath of tragedy. Public memorials and
Speaker 1: private acts of remembrance continue as well. Vigils, anniversary gatherings,
Speaker 1: and charitable efforts help keep the victim's names present in
Speaker 1: the community without turning them into a symbol of fear.
Speaker 1: Residents often speak about the importance of remembering Terry as
Speaker 1: a devoted father and Hannah as a kind and generous
Speaker 1: neighbor who ain't going to take no shit from nobody's
Speaker 1: sort of attitude because fuck yeah, I love that, And
Speaker 1: rather than defining them only by their deaths, they're remembering
Speaker 1: them for Cheyenne Dunbar. Hailey's mother life after the case
Speaker 1: involved rebuilding in the face of overwhelming loss. In interviews
Speaker 1: following the trial, she spoke openly about the long term
Speaker 1: effects of grief, anxiety, and depression. Losing her daughter so
Speaker 1: suddenly and violently reshaped every aspect of her life. While
Speaker 1: she largely withdrew public attention later in the years, her
Speaker 1: testimony and statement during the trial reflected the depth of
Speaker 1: her commitment to preserving Haley's memory. Terry Blanchette's family also
Speaker 1: continued to navigate life without him. His sister, parents and
Speaker 1: extended relatives worked to keep his role as a loving
Speaker 1: father at the center of how he was remembered. Friends
Speaker 1: and former co workers frequently described him as someone who
Speaker 1: had been trying to improve his life and focus on
Speaker 1: his daughter, a narrative that stood in contrast to the
Speaker 1: violence that ended it. In Coleman, Hannah Macatac's absence was
Speaker 1: felt deeply among longtime residents and friends. She'd been a
Speaker 1: very familiar presence in town, and her death highlighted the
Speaker 1: vulnerability of elderly people living alone. Neighbours became more tentative
Speaker 1: to one another and informal support networks grew stronger in response.
Speaker 1: More than anything, though, the lasting legacy of the story
Speaker 1: in Crow's Nest Past is tied to the people who
Speaker 1: were law Ust, Terry, Hannah, and Haley are all remembered
Speaker 1: not for the violence inflicted on them, but for the
Speaker 1: lives they lived within their families and communities. The story,
Speaker 1: when followed from beginning to end, shows us how an
Speaker 1: ordinary place was disrupted by extraordinary harm, how three people
Speaker 1: were brutally killed, but it also shows how tragedy can
Speaker 1: be turned into remembrance. All three victims are gone, and
Speaker 1: another family lost their son to his actions and now
Speaker 1: he's sitting behind bars. Yet their loved ones all still
Speaker 1: hold on to their memories. They remember, they celebrate, and
Speaker 1: in some cases, thanks to their beliefs, they wait for
Speaker 1: the day they get to see them and embrace them
Speaker 1: once again in another life. And that's the story of
Speaker 1: Derek Suretzky.
Speaker 2: That one is just so maddening.
Speaker 1: It's very frustrating, to say the least two it is
Speaker 1: because there's.
Speaker 2: Just absolutely no point to any of that. It's fricking
Speaker 2: sucks that it.
Speaker 1: Happened, for sure, And I did kind of say it
Speaker 1: at the end. But even Derek's family, like, they're grieving
Speaker 1: heavily for what their son did, for what they lost
Speaker 1: their son. Not only that, but it was the family
Speaker 1: who turned him in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they had to make that choice, the right choice,
Speaker 2: but that would not have been easy.
Speaker 1: No. Now, don't get me wrong, He's still alive. But
Speaker 1: the other three unfortunately or not, but they did lose
Speaker 1: their son too.
Speaker 2: He's not alive in the same way. Yes, And I
Speaker 2: didn't know about the playground that they made. That is
Speaker 2: that is one of the most awesome memorials I think
Speaker 2: I've ever heard of. Isn't it for a child? Hey?
Speaker 2: That is really great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that. Anyways, I don't think I want
Speaker 1: to talk a whole lot about this one after the fact.
Speaker 1: It's fucking sucked. I Derek is one hundred percent responsible.
Speaker 1: I think I've made it very clear before my views
Speaker 1: on people with mental health issues committing murders. You still
Speaker 1: fucking did it. You should still be behind bars. I
Speaker 1: hope you get rehabilitated though, but you should still be
Speaker 1: behind fucking bars. So yeah, I'm gonna leave it at that.
Speaker 1: How about you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think everyone just needs a little bit of
Speaker 2: I don't know, to deflate a little bit right after
Speaker 2: this one, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think so.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for being here, and thank Nicole for
Speaker 1: telling me to do this case she recommended it to me. Sorry,
Speaker 1: we appreciate you all. If you want to check more
Speaker 1: about our podcast, we got a website which is actually
Speaker 1: getting revamped here by the way, it's been sitting old
Speaker 1: and stale for a long time, so we're getting that
Speaker 1: revamped slowly. We got social media's all that good stuff.
Speaker 1: You want to give us a review, we would appreciate that.
Speaker 1: It goes a long way with our independent podcast helps
Speaker 1: other people, you know what, look at the podcast think hey,
Speaker 1: I might want to listen to that too, So if
Speaker 1: you don't us, If you don't, though, that's cool too.
Speaker 1: We just appreciate you being here, so thank you, and
Speaker 1: of course, until next
Speaker 2: Time, stay wicked.