Woman accused in killing of OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala 'just along for the ride,' defence tells trial
CBC
Jurors in a Cayuga, Ont., courtroom heard Tuesday from a Crown prosecutor that Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry collaborated to ambush and kill Ontario Provincial Police Const. Greg Pierzchala in December 2022.
In his closing statement on Wednesday, Stewart-Sperry's lawyer, Scott Reid, said believing the Crown's narrative beyond a reasonable doubt requires "tunnel vision."
Reid told the Superior Court trial his client made bad choices, but those don't make her a murderer or a killer, and added that the shooter "used Brandi as a shield, unwittingly."
"This is a case about Randall, not Brandi. She's just along for the ride."
McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry are charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Pierzchala, 28. Both have pleaded not guilty. The trial began March 27.
Stewart-Sperry has admitted to being present during the shooting — which was captured by Pierzchala's bodycam. McKenzie does not.
The Crown alleges the three came into contact when the co-accused stole a car from Hamilton and crashed it in a ditch near Hagersville. After trying to get help from passersby to leave the scene, McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry, who were boyfriend and girlfriend, had two choices when a police officer arrived, Crown lawyer Fraser McCracken said Tuesday. They could surrender or "eliminate the threat."
Stewart-Sperry attempted to distract Pierzchala and hide McKenzie from view while he readied a handgun inside the pocket of his hoodie and fatally shot the officer, McCracken said.
On Tuesday, McKenzie's lawyer, Douglas Holt, argued there's reasonable doubt as to whether McKenzie was the shooter captured on video.
Reid said the shooter, no matter who it was, is a "coward" who "cut down a brave young officer" in the prime of his life.
Stewart-Sperry fled the scene of the crime with that shooter in another stolen vehicle, Reid said, but the choices she made later were more understandable than the Crown prosecutor has suggested.
In fact, Reid argued, evidence against Stewart-Sperry is "nothing more than speculation and conjecture."
Over the course of a couple hours, Reid contradicted multiple parts of the Crown's case.
McCracken said Tuesday that Stewart-Sperry was likely intoxicated during the shooting, but by fleeing and attempting to hide and repair their stolen getaway vehicle, she showed she knew what she was doing.
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