Several police officers and a woman who witnessed a speeding truck took the stand Wednesday at the trial of two people accused of killing Ontario Provincial Police Const. Greg Pierzchala.
Pierzchala was shot six times while responding to a vehicle in a ditch on Indian Line near Hagersville, Ont. on the afternoon of Dec. 27, 2022.
Randall McKenzie has been charged with first-degree murder in his death, as has Brandi Stewart-Sperry. The crown alleges McKenzie was the shooter and Stewart-Sperry aided in the murder.
On Monday, jurors at the Cayuga courthouse were shown surveillance video of a stolen Chevy Silverado fleeing the scene of the shooting.
Testimony on Wednesday focused on the truck’s eventual destination, a property on Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The crown previously told the jury that it was the home of McKenzie’s mother and other relatives.
Court was shown video from four CCTV cameras on the property.
Stewart-Sperry admits to being one of the people seen in the footage.Another person is believed to be the driver of the truck.
The two people got out of the truck around 2:46 p.m.
For approximately the next hour and a half, video captures them in and around the truck, as well as going into a trailer and another residence on the property.
Stewart-Sperry was seen trying to place tarps on the truck.The person believed to be the driver changed pants at one point, and can be seen wearing blue shorts for much of the video.Stewart-Sperry and the person believed to be the driver can be seen behind the Silverado for a period of time, in the area of the back passenger tire, which court had previously heard became flat during the drive.
Near the end of the video, the person believed to be the driver changed pants again.
The two are then seen walking away from the Silverado and heading towards a wooded area beyond the cameras’ view.
Shortly after, OPP officers and a canine unit arrived in the area.
Witness testimony
A woman who spotted the Silverado speeding through downtown Hagersville that day also took the stand.
Tiffany Cowie was in the area of King and Howard Streets and said she heard the vehicle before she saw it.
“It sounded like the cars up and down the road were being smashed,” she testified. “It was this screeching, crazy, crazy sound. It almost sounded like a freight train coming through town.”
Cowie described the Silverado as careening down the street and, at one point, going over a sidewalk. It then drove away, leaving two pieces of the running board behind. She later gave those to police.
“It was very surreal,” Cowie said.
Officer testimony
The final three witnesses on Wednesday were from Pierzchala’s platoon.
One described how Pierzchala responded to the call for a vehicle in the ditch on Indian Line because he was the closest at the time.
Not long after, the dispatcher came on the air and said she’d received a call about an officer being shot.
All three officers raced to the scene and tried to help Pierzchala as he laid on the road.
Two of them confirmed Pierzchala’s gun was locked in place in his holster and all other use of force tools were untouched.
The officers described Pierzchala as being in excellent physical shape and someone who worked out religiously.
According to his sergeant, Pierzchala had just learned he’d passed his probationary period with Haldimand County OPP the same morning that he was shot.
