OPP officer’s body cam captured him being shot near Hagersville, Ont., Crown tells murder trial

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) CONST wears a body camera lens. Greg Pierzchala will be shooting in the moment when she responded to a ditch outside Hagersville in December 2022, the royal family told the two defendants about the first-degree murder.

Crown Attorney Fraser McKracken also said Thursday that he would show the edited version of the video to the jury on Friday when he interviewed bystanders saying they witnessed the shooting.

Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry pair First-degree murder. Both defendants had their own defense attorneys for the trial.

At the time of Pierzchala’s death, he was 28 years old, police said he learned he had spent 10 months on probation with OPP.

The court began hearings after the royal family’s opening statement Thursday, and they said they were parked on the side of the road to help Mackenzie and Stewart Sperry after their cars finally entered the ditch.

McCracken said a couple went to Christmas dinner to call taxi or roadside assistance. A mother and daughter head to the gas station willing to provide the couple with an elevator.

The last person to stop to help Mackenzie and Stewart Sperry was Pierzarala, the court heard. Crown said Stewart Sperry helped Mackenzie when he picked up the trigger.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman presided over the trial. It was held in Cayuga, a neighborhood near Haggsville, and is expected to last for six weeks.

After the vehicle enters the ditch, others stop to help 2

McKracken outlines several instances of drivers pulling up near the town line and next to the franchise 14 with McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry, and then arrives in Pierzchala, which is stationed in the area.

McCracken said the officers saw two bystanders with the defendant. The court heard Pierzchala turned on his body camera before getting out and told others that he was recording their interactions and trying to figure out what was going on.

According to McCracken, Stewart-Sperry told the officer that she was looking at the map and turning. As she spoke, Mackenzie moved to Pierzchala. Prosecutors said he used a pistol to hide in his hoodie’s kangaroo pocket and used it to film Pierzchala with six times.

The royal family summoned four witnesses on Thursday. The attorney asked them to describe what happened when they stopped to help McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry.

According to the royal family, after Mackenzie shot the officers, he asked the onlookers for the keys and stole their cars and fled with Stewart-Sperry. McCracken said another passerby chased them in his car but couldn’t see where they were going.

Using the vehicle’s security system, police tracked the car to a home on Mississauga Road, credit Aboriginal Mississauga, McCracken said.

He said Mackenzie’s family lived in that house and some of his family, including his brother and Cousin, would be called to testify.

Police chasing defendants on foot and air, jury heard

The court was told that a family member warned the defendant that police had arrived and the two fled into the woods. While police were walking, an OPP officer in the helicopter tracked the couple with thermal imaging.

The two escaped together and then split. The royal family said Stewart Sperry surrendered soon after, and then surrendered.

According to McKracken, helicopter officers observed McKenzie discarding the gun, police recovered, and forensic scientists were believed to be the same custom pistol used in Pierzchala’s shooting.

McKenzie also has a phone call on him, including texts starting from December 14, 2022. At this point, it is uncertain if these texts are used as evidence.