Calgary reporter relays confusion of Alberta Amber Alert murder suspect's 1st court appearance

The man accused in the murder of two year-old Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and her 27-year-old father, Terry Blanchette, in the Alberta Amber Alert last week is now in hospital.

Derek Saretzky, 22, was found by Lethbridge jail staff in “medical distress” and was transported to hospital.

CTV Calgary reported that the family of Saretzky doesn’t know if his injuries are the result of an attack or a suicide attempt, while the CBC quoted unnamed sources as saying it was a suicide attempt.

Saretzky was supposed to have a court appearance on Wednesday, but ended up being a no-show.

Ian Campbell, a reporter with 660 News in Calgary, was at the courthouse. He said there was a lot of confusion in the room.

“Sheriffs hadn’t been told what was going on. They came and had to apologize to the judge saying ‘well, we thought he wasn’t coming.'”

Campbell said they’ve been trying to figure out what happened, but there are a lot of unanswered questions.

“If he was in such distress, why did it take so long for you to find him? Especially if he had a court appearance earlier in the morning? … We tried putting those (questions) to Alberta Justice. Alberta Justice right now, not being very co-operative. They won’t even confirm if this was Derek Seretezky.”

Campbell said there were purple ribbons tied on posts outside of the courthouse. A woman had showed up early to do it.

“She believed purple was the best-fitting colour for Hailey. And it also signifies, apparently, those victims who have been lost in a case of tragedy.”

Saretzky’s appearance has been pushed to next week.