Details of police officer’s death revealed as murder trial starts

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At first glance, the two accused of the murder of OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala could be mistaken for a couple making a business deal.

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But Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry, sitting in two separate prisoner docks in Cayuga court Thursday, are charged with the first-degree murder of the young officer on Dec. 27, 2022 – an incident that shocked much of the province and all of the policing world.

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Looking nothing like the wild-haired dishevelled woman in photos released by police prior to her arrest, Stewart-Sperry wore a trim blazer and white shirt, her hair long and straight, with no sign of the splash of purple that adorned it two-and-a-half years ago.

McKenzie, in grey suit and black turtleneck sported glasses, a side-shaved head with a trendy slicked-back short pony tail on top.

As first evidence was called in the high-profile murder trial being held at the small Cayuga courthouse, family and friends of Pierzchala, the accused, and more than a dozen media representatives packed the small lobby of the rural courthouse, hoping for a seat at the trial’s opening.

McKenzie tucked himself into the corner of his dock on an angle so he could scan the court gallery, nodding at supporters.

Haldimand Crown attorney Fraser McCracken laid out his case with deadly details including how he would ask the 14 jurors to view Pierzchala’s body-cam video that showed him being shot.

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McCracken went through a list of witnesses he plans to produce – those who pulled over to the side of Indian Line, offering to help when they saw a car in the ditch, those who saw a stolen Silverado flying through Hagersville, the man who followed the Silverado, helping to lead police toward it, and family members of McKenzie who saw him after he landed at a Mississauga Road home looking for help with a blown tire.

For the first time, the public heard the details of Pierzchala’s death; six shots from a Glock-19 hit the new officer and he collapsed onto the road.

“It should have been a routine call for the OPP,” said McCracken.

The Crown attorney said the body-cam footage initially shows two people walking away from Pierzchala – one admitted to be Stewart-Sperry and the other the shooter, who McCracken alleges is McKenzie.

McCracken plans to show the video footage on Friday and asked the jury to “pay attention to the shooter and the words and actions of Brandi Stewart-Sperry” when they see it.

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But he laid out the entire scenario in advance.

“Guys, I’m giving you a heads up my body-camera is on, so everything is recorded,” Pierzchala tells the couple, who are standing partially behind a car.

Then the shooter comes around the vehicle with his right hand in the front pocket of his hoodie and begins firing, hitting the young officer in the chest, thigh, pelvis and abdominal wall.

McCracken said the chase of the couple in the stolen Silverado will be well-documented, including surveillance footage showing them landing at a relative’s home on Mississauga Road where McKenzie said he needed help fixing a blown tire.

The stolen car was quickly tracked by police thanks to an anti-theft GPS system and officers were soon closing in on the home.

A relative who was listening to a police scanner yelled at McKenzie that the police were coming, said McCracken.

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“By the time police arrived both were gone.”

But an OPP helicopter with thermal imaging tracked the couple in the nearby woods and led officers toward them.

“Brandi Stewart-Sperry came out and surrenders at 6:26 p.m. She had a backpack with stolen ownerships, keys, IDs and the keys to the stolen Silverado,” said McCracken.

With McKenzie still in the woods, officers heard a gunshot but then the man emerged with his hands in the air, wearing a hoodie with a gunshot hole in the front pocket.

Video will show him tossing away an object that was marked by GPS from the helicopter and later recovered. McCracken said it was the Glock-19 used to kill Pierzchala, according to the specialists who will testify.

And, said McCracken, McKenzie’s recovered phone will show photos of the Glock and text messages about how he thinks he’ll be “shooting it out with the cops.”

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On Thursday, the first witnesses told how they responded to seeing an SUV in the ditch.

Stacy Jacobs of Hagersville stopped and spoke to Stewart-Sperry who seemed anxious to have her leave, which she did, calling 911 from a nearby gas station.

“She didn’t want me there.”

David McKenzie (no relation to the accused) said he and his wife had no choice but to stop as Stewart-Sperry came “running out of the culvert waving her arms.”

The McKenzies tried to help by calling a tow truck and then a cab for the couple but neither business would respond. After leaving the area, they called police as well.

And Vanessa Tuck and her 93-year-old mother, Bernice Macleod, stopped to help.

Macleod said she got out and offered a ride to the couple but noted Stewart-Sperry seemed “high”.

“Two ladies walked by my daughter’s car and said ‘Do not give them a ride’ because the police were coming.”

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The women continued on to get gas at a nearby gas station.

“We came back in the same direction but it had been totally blocked out and that’s when I saw someone was laying in the road.”

Testimony in the trial, which is expected to continue for six or seven weeks, continues Friday.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

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