CAYUGA, Ont. — A courtroom in this quiet town fell silent late Thursday, April 24, 2025, as a jury delivered a crushing verdict: Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry were guilty of first-degree murder in the cold-blooded killing of Ontario Provincial Police Constable Greg Pierzchala. The 28-year-old officer, ambushed on a rural road in December 2022, never stood a chance.
The trial, which dragged on for weeks, laid bare a grim tale. Pierzchala, just months into his dream job with the OPP, was responding to a call near Hagersville on December 27, 2022. It was a routine day—until it wasn’t. McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry, both in their 20s, gunned him down in a calculated attack. Evidence piled high: shell casings, witness accounts, and forensic reports painted a scene of deliberate violence. The jury, after sifting through it all, took less than a day to decide. Their verdict came down like a hammer around 9 p.m.
McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry, who’d both pleaded not guilty, showed no emotion as the foreman read the decision. The judge didn’t hesitate—life in prison, no parole for 25 years. That’s the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Canada, and it hit them both. The packed courtroom, filled with Pierzchala’s family, fellow officers, and reporters, held its breath. Some wept quietly. Others just stared, processing the weight of justice served.
Pierzchala’s death rocked the tight-knit Haldimand County community and sent ripples across the province. He was young, eager, the kind of cop who’d stop to help with a flat tire or chat with kids on his beat. His loss left a hole—his parents, his colleagues, his friends all grappling with a void that won’t close. Outside the courthouse, OPP brass spoke for the family, their words measured but raw: this was a wound that’d never fully heal.
The case wasn’t just about one cop’s death. It exposed ugly truths about the system. McKenzie, court records showed, was out on bail for prior charges when he pulled the trigger. Stewart-Sperry, his accomplice, had her own tangled rap sheet. Their pasts, aired in court, sparked debates about bail reform and public safety, though those arguments stayed outside the jury’s focus. Inside, it was about facts: the gun, the intent, the act.
No one in Cayuga will forget this trial. It was a slog—weeks of testimony, forensic experts, and gut-wrenching details. The jury, ordinary folks from the area, carried the burden of deciding two fates. They didn’t flinch. Now, with the gavel down, McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry face a quarter-century behind bars before any shot at freedom. Pierzchala’s family, meanwhile, faces a lifetime without him.
The investigation began December 27, 2022. The trial started April 1, 2025. The verdict landed April 24, 2025. McKenzie and Stewart-Sperry were 25 and 30 years old, respectively, at sentencing. Pierzchala was 28 when he died.