The man accused of killing an OPP officer had initially been denied bail in another case

HAMILTON – The man accused of killing an Ontario provincial police officer was initially denied bail in a previous case and then granted after a review in the months leading up to this week’s shooting, records show. court documents.

Randall McKenzie, 25, and Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry, 30, face first-degree murder charges in the death of OPP Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala on Tuesday.

McKenzie was denied bail in December 2021, court documents show, while awaiting trial in Hamilton on a series of charges after he allegedly assaulted three people, including a peace officer, earlier that year. month. He was also facing a series of weapons-related charges, including carrying a handgun with a defaced serial number.

But after the decision was reviewed, McKenzie was granted bail in June under strict conditions, including that he wear a GPS monitor, report to police twice a week, live on his warrant and own no weapons. . She was ordered to only leave her residence with her bond for medical emergencies, to attend meetings with her attorney, or to attend counseling recommended by a local Indian center.

When he failed to appear for a court date in August, a warrant was issued for his arrest, the documents show. Court documents indicate that he has not appeared since in connection with that case.

The documents do not indicate the reasons for any of the bail decisions. A defendant can request that the reasons for a decision remain under the publication ban, although it is unclear whether that action was taken.

Speaking to reporters late Wednesday, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said he was “outraged” that McKenzie had been out on bail before he allegedly killed Pierzchala.

“I know there is a lot of interest in seeing changes made to ensure, where possible, that people charged with violent firearms-related offenses are not in those positions in the future,” he said during a news conference.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Carrique’s comments were the latest call for the federal government to address what he called the revolving door of violent criminals caused by “the failed bail system.”

“Too many innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of dangerous criminals who should have been behind bars, not on our streets,” Ford said in a statement.

“Enough is enough. More must be done to fix a system that too often sacrifices the safety of our public and police officers instead of cracking down on the perpetrators who repeatedly commit these heinous crimes.”

A 2022 study published by Cambridge University Press that reviewed hundreds of Ontario bail decisions found that the system was characterized by conditions and releases of guarantees that eroded the defendant’s presumption of innocence and the right to bail, although He noted that there have been some changes since the US Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed the bail principles in a 2017 decision.

In a 2020 decision, the Supreme Court acknowledged that there continued to be widespread problems with the continued imposition of conditions that are “unnecessarily unreasonable, unduly restrictive” and that “effectively cause the defendant to fail.”

The decision also reaffirmed that the law requires bail judges to pay special attention to the circumstances of defendants who are indigenous or belong to a vulnerable population that is overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

McKenzie is from the Onondaga First Nations of the Great River Territory Six Nations, a 2021 parole document says. At the time he was serving a sentence of nearly three years, the document shows, after robbing a restaurant at gunpoint. pistol and then stealing the owner’s vehicle in 2017 before turning himself in a month later.

The parole board said he had a history of violence, including domestic violence.

It was also apparent to the board, the document shows, that McKenzie had suffered “the negative impacts of colonialism.” He suffered abuse, addiction, and was cut off from his family and cultural community. McKenzie’s birth parents “struggled with alcohol,” he was adopted out of his care at age two and believed his grandmother attended residential school, probation documents show.

OPP said Thursday that Pierzchala’s funeral plans were expected to be announced in the coming days, with a procession scheduled to drive from Toronto to Barrie, Ontario, on Friday.

Police said the 28-year-old officer was ambushed when he responded to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ontario, Tuesday afternoon.

The suspects fled the scene after the officer was shot and stole a vehicle, police said. They were arrested later that day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 29, 2022.