Witnesses to OPP officer’s fatal shooting testify at first-degree murder trial

Court was shown video of a stolen vehicle fleeing the scene after OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala was fatally shot six times. CTV's Krista Simpson reports.

Testimony continued Monday at the trial of two people accused of killing Ontario Provincial Police Const. Greg Pierzchala.

On Dec. 27, 2022, the 28-year-old was responding to a report of a car in a ditch near Hagersville, Ont. when he was shot six times. Pierzchala was on his own after recently completing his probationary period with Haldimand County OPP.

Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry are both charged with first-degree murder in his death.

The Crown alleges McKenzie fired the gun that killed Pierzchala, while Stewart-Sperry intentionally aided in the attack. Because Pierzchala was a police officer, they were both charged with first-degree murder.

Crown’s case

The Crown began presenting its case against McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry in a Cayuga, Ont. courtroom last week.

On Friday, jurors were shown footage captured by Pierzchala’s body camera as he responded to the call.

In it, Pierzchala could be seen getting out his vehicle at Indian Line, near Concession 14, with his notebook in hand.

“I’m just trying to figure what happened–,” he could be heard saying before shots were fired.

Some people who were in the courtroom when the footage was shown could be heard quietly crying after the video was played.

After Pierzchala was shot, McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry allegedly stole a Chevrolet Silverado belonging to Veronica Tobicoe, who stopped at the scene to offer help. The court was told it was later seen driving at high speeds through Hagersville and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

An OPP helicopter with a thermal imaging camera was used to find McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry in a wooded area. McKenzie was seen throwing something away as he walked out of the woods. A Glock 19 was later recovered and McKenzie’s DNA was found on the handgun.

The Crown said a hoodie McKenzie was wearing at the time of his arrest had a hole with gunshot residue on it.

Monday’s testimony

Two more witnesses and a detective with Ontario Provincial Police testified on Monday.

Michael Ehl told the court he watched a Chevy Silverado drive “erratically” away from the scene of the shooting. He tried to help the officer, who was groaning and lying on the ground.

Another witness, Paul Reichenbach, said he saw Pierzchala fall down and a man and woman getting into the Silverado. Reichenbach said he tried to block the vehicle as it was driving away but stopped when a woman yelled: “He’s got a gun! Let him go, let him go. He’s got a gun.”

Reichenbach slammed his truck into the Silverado and said the two were bumper to bumper.

“Smoke was rising, tires were squealing,” he testified.

The Silverado then took off towards Hagersville. Reichenbach followed and, as he described in court, the driver was “very unsafe” as they swerved around other vehicles on the road.

“We were probably doing anywhere from 90 to 120 [km/h],” Reichenbach told the court, adding that he stopped chasing the vehicle because he was worried people might get hurt.

The third witness to take the stand Monday was OPP Det.-Const. Paul Drake.

He showed jurors a video compilation of CCTV and security footage, as well as a 278-slide PowerPoint presentation detailing the Silverado’s alleged route and location of the cameras used to track it down.

The Silverado was later found abandoned on Mississauga Road, which the Crown previously explained was where McKenzie’s mother and several other family members lived.

The trial will resume Wednesday.

- With reporting by Krista Simpson