Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry have been discovered responsible of first-degree homicide within the 2022 capturing demise of Ontario Provincial Police Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, and have been instantly sentenced to life in jail with no probability of parole for 25 years.
The jury in Cayuga, Ont., handed down the decision late Thursday after deliberating for about six hours following a four-week trial.
Pierzchala was shot on Dec. 27, 2022, whereas responding to a automobile in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ont., close to Brantford.
McKenzie, 28, and Stewart-Sperry, 32, had each pleaded not responsible. The Crown had argued that McKenzie was the shooter and that Stewart-Sperry deliberately helped him.
Superior Court docket Justice Andrew Goodman stated McKenzie’s actions have been “stunning” and he expressed sympathy for Pierzchala’s household.
“I’ve informed the jury that they have to be goal, however frankly, Mr. McKenzie, your actions right here have been callous, cold-blooded, and an assassination of a younger officer within the prime of his life, simply beginning out in his profession,” Goodman stated. “There isn’t a excuse in any respect to your actions on this regard.”
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Goodman stated he hopes the decision will present “some measure of closure” for the Pierzchala household.
“I actually am so sorry,” McKenzie informed the court docket when requested if he wished to say one thing. “What occurred … that ought to by no means occur to no person.”
Stewart-Sperry didn’t deal with the court docket.
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A press release from OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique and the Pierzchala household referred to as the trial “an extremely difficult interval” for the drive and Pierzchala’s family members.
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“This verdict is a vital step as we deal with transferring ahead with persevering with the essential work Greg began and contributing to the eternal affect he had on so many individuals, personally and professionally,” the assertion learn.
Video footage of the capturing captured on Pierzchala’s physique digicam was a key piece of proof within the trial.
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The trial heard from a number of witnesses, together with some who had stopped along side the highway after recognizing the automobile within the ditch, regulation enforcement officers concerned within the investigation and kin of McKenzie who testified that they had seen the accused pair the afternoon of the homicide.
It additionally heard testimony from gun specialists and forensic scientists, together with one skilled who informed the court docket that gunshot particles have been discovered contained in the entrance pocket of a hoodie collected from McKenzie.
Neither McKenzie nor Stewart-Sperry elected to take the stand through the trial, and their legal professionals didn’t name any proof.
The trial heard that the automobile within the ditch Pierzchala responded to had been stolen from a restaurant parking zone in Hamilton the day past, and that a number of stolen objects, together with automobile allow papers and a automobile key fob belonging to different folks, have been present in Stewart-Sperry’s backpack on the time of her arrest.
The Crown argued that the pair deliberately killed the officer and fled from the scene as a result of that they had “dwindling choices” to keep away from arrest.
Prosecutor Fraser McCracken argued that the officer’s physique digicam footage reveals Stewart-Sperry stepping ahead between Pierzchala and McKenzie so the latter might prepared the gun.
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However in his closing arguments to the jury, Stewart-Sperry’s lawyer Scott Reid stated the prosecution’s case towards his consumer was counting on hypothesis and there was no proof she knew McKenzie had a gun or that he would shoot the officer.
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McKenzie’s lawyer had additionally tried to forged doubt on the Crown’s arguments within the case, arguing in his closing remarks that some witnesses’ descriptions of the shooter didn’t match his consumer’s look on the time of the incident.
The trial heard that the Glock 19 handgun used to shoot Pierzchala had a number of DNA profiles on it — together with McKenzie’s — and that it had been trafficked into Canada from the US.
Pierzchala’s demise sparked calls from police leaders and politicians to limit entry to bail for violent, repeat offenders.
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On the time of McKenzie’s arrest, court docket paperwork confirmed he was denied bail on unrelated assault and weapons prices months earlier than the capturing, however was launched after a evaluate. A warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to indicate up for a court docket date, months earlier than Pierzchala’s killing.
Premiers from all 13 provinces and territories despatched a letter to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau calling for reforms to the nation’s bail system. The letter was initiated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford following Pierzchala’s demise.
The jury didn’t hear these particulars on the homicide trial.
In December 2023, a federal regulation handed requiring repeat offenders accused of violent crimes involving weapons to show they don’t seem to be a security or flight danger, a reversal from the onus on the prosecution to show that within the bail course of.
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