Family members weep as witnesses recount shooting of OPP officer Pierzchala
Shocking body-camera footage shown at trial of two people charged in Haldimand police officer's death
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Const. Greg Pierzchala hit a button and recorded his own death.
After pulling up to a collision scene on Dec. 27, 2022, the 28-year-old Ontario Provincial Police officer, who finished his probationary term that morning, started his body-camera that recorded his first and final words with Brandi Stewart-Sperry and her partner.
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“Guys, I’m giving you a heads up my body-camera is on so everything is audio and visually recorded.”
The shocking video is a critical component in the first-degree murder trial of Randall McKenzie, 27, and Brandi Stewart-Sperry, 32.
The neatly dressed couple have been sitting in two separate prisoners’ docks in the small Cayuga courtroom as the trial – expected to run for at least six weeks – proceeds under tight security.
On the video, as Stewart-Sperry begins explaining how she had ditched a vehicle on Indian Line, also known as Townline Road, near Hagersville, her companion – alleged by the Crown to be McKenzie – steps forward, raising a hand concealed in the pocket of his hoodie.
The court heard a first scream from Pierzchala as he was shot and then the video halted without showing the impact of a total of six bullets that hit him.
But it still was enough to bring many in the courtroom to tears, including Veronica Tobicoe, a witness who was just feet away from Pierzchala as he was shot.
Tobicoe told how, accompanied by her daughter, she had hurried from her mother’s nearby home with blankets to see if any victims of the collision needed assistance.
After a brief interaction with Stewart-Sperry and her partner, Tobicoe recounted how the couple tried to get in her locked truck as a police cruiser was approaching.
She was standing close to Pierzchala as he approached and told everyone his body-camera was on.
“I hear gunshots and see the guy with his pocket raised and hear bam-bam-bam and turned and saw that look in Greg’s eyes. He had been shot,” said Tobicoe, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I heard two more shots and looked back at the officer and he’s …,” Tobicoe paused to compose herself. “Sorry … he’s falling on the ground.”
Tobicoe said she immediately turned to her daughter ‘Tommy’ Hill: “Let’s go. He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun. Get behind the car.”
There was a pause as tissue was passed around in the gallery to family members of Pierzchala who were weeping.
Back at the scene, Stewart-Sperry and the shooter still couldn’t get into Tobicoe’s vehicle as the big truck automatically locked when Tobicoe pocketed her remote fob.
“The guy was standing by the driver’s door yelling ‘Give me the keys!’ I threw him my truck keys because I didn’t know if we were going to get shot or not. (Pierzchala) was hollering – like a hurt holler or a groan. I could still hear him as we were trying to get away.”
The shocking video recorded by Pierzchala was shown again in the afternoon as Tobicoe’s daughter took the stand to share her perspective. Each time it was viewed, Justice Andrew Goodman issued a warning about its graphic nature to give those in the gallery an opportunity to leave but no one moved.
Hill said two others who had stopped warned her they thought the couple was intoxicated or impaired and “we sent them on their way” as she and her mother wanted to be sure the couple remained at the scene until police arrived.
Tobicoe handed Stewart-Sperry a blanket and Hill noticed the woman had a bleeding lip.
“They seemed agitated and wanted to get out of there,” said Hill.
She watched the shooter keep his right hand in the pocket of his hoodie and fire “a bunch of shots” at Pierzchala before he began screaming for the keys to her mother’s Silverado.
“It took him a second or two to get (the truck) started. Greg was on the ground and you could hear him moaning and groaning. I thought they were going to hit him (as they drove off).”
Hill said as more people began to stop, one driver in a truck pulled up and she quickly told him to hit her mother’s truck, which he did but the couple sped off.
“That’s when I ran to Greg to try to help.”
Haldimand Crown attorney Fraser McCracken has told the court those involved have agreed Stewart-Sperry was the woman seen with the shooter in video footage and that McKenzie was a wanted man on the day of the shooting.
“He knew if he was arrested by police he would go to jail,” said McCracken.
The trial continues on Monday.
SGamble@postmedia.com
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