LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A man accused of killing a two-year-old Alberta girl and her father will require further psychiatric assessment before it is determined if he is fit to stand trial.
Derek Saretzky, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and Terry Blanchette.
He appeared via closed-circuit television in a Lethbridge, Alta., courtroom on Thursday.
Saretzky was initially sent for a 30-day review of his mental health, but the judge was told that doctors at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary require more time because "they were not yet done with their analysis."
The matter is to return to court Nov. 26.
Saretzky was charged in the two deaths in the Crowsnest Pass area of southwestern Alberta last month after Blanchette's body was found in his Blairmore home.
Hailey was discovered a day later in a rural area nearby after an Amber Alert that stretched across Western Canada and into the United States. Saretzky faces a separate charge of committing an indignity to the little girl's body.
There were no members of the Blanchette family in court Thursday, but purple ribbons, symbolizing Hailey's favourite colour, remained tied to parking meters outside the courthouse.
One of Saretzky's former co-workers made an appearance to provide him with moral support. She described him as "a good boy" when she worked with him at the Walmart store in Pincher Creek, Alta., a few years ago.
The woman, who refused to give her name out of fear she could be harassed, said she still finds it hard to believe that Saretzky was charged.
"It totally shocked us all. I have had a couple of people come up to me and say ... 'That's not Derek' and I said, 'I know.'"
The woman said she feels Saretzky has been abandoned by those who knew him. She also hopes the public isn't too quick to judge.
"The thing that gets me is people are so mean that they are threatening (the family) and it's not the family," she added.
"Just leave the family alone and wait until the justice system figures out what really happened and let's hope for the best."
