The first witnesses have been called at the trial of two people charged with first degree murder in the death of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Greg Pierzchala.
Pierzchala was 28-years-old at the time he was shot while in the line of duty on Dec. 27, 2022.
He had just successfully completed his probationary period with Haldimand County OPP.
Pierzchala had been called to Indian Line and Concession 14, near Hagersville, Ont. for a report of a car in a ditch. He was shot responding to what would have seemed like an ordinary call on a winter day.
On Thursday, the first witnesses were all people driving by who saw the vehicle in the ditch and stopped to try and help before police arrived.
Before calling on witnesses, the Crown laid out its case against the two accused, Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry.
The two were sitting in separate prisoner’s boxes for the trial.
According to the Crown, Pierzchala was shot six times.
The Crown is alleging McKenzie fired the gun and that Stewart-Sperry intentionally aided in the murder.The first degree murder charge is because Pierzchala was a police officer.
Court heard the shooting was captured on Pierzchala’s body camera and witnessed by two women who came to the scene.
The Crown said the shooter used a handgun hidden in the front pocket of a sweater.
After Pierzchala was shot, the pair allegedly stole a vehicle from one of the women who stopped at the scene, nearly running over Pierzchala’s body as it lay on the ground.
The vehicle was captured on various pieces of video, driving at high speeds through Hagersville, and then to an address in Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, where the vehicle eventually was found.
McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry were arrested later that night, in a wooded area, in a search that involved an OPP helicopter with a thermal imaging camera.
Images from the arrest show McKenzie throwing something away before walking out of the woods with his hands up.
Police later recovered a Glock 19 handgun in the area.
Testing identified McKenzie’s DNA on the gun.
When he was arrested, he was wearing a hoodie with a front pocket that had a hole in it. Gunshot residue was also found.
Police also found text messages on McKenzie’s phone.
“I can’t have love when all I can do is talk about shooting out with cops,” one text, written one week before the incident, read.
The trial is expected to last six or seven weeks.
“It’s a challenging time for members of the Ontario Provincial Police, families and the law enforcement community,” said Sgt. Ed Sanchuk with the OPP, outside of the Cayuga courthouse.
