Trial of Sgt. Ryan Russell’s accused killer begins

The trial of a man accused of driving a stolen snowplow that killed Toronto police Sgt. Ryan Russell two years ago began Monday with opening statements.

Richard Kachkar was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of dangerous driving. He has pleaded not guilty.

“This is not a whodunit,” Justice Ian MacDonnell told the jury on Monday morning. “There is no dispute Mr. Kachkar was driving the truck that killed Sgt. Russell.”

“This case will centre around Mr. Kachkar’s state of mind,” he said.

CityNews reporter Pam Seatle is tweeting from the trial.

MacDonnell also instructed the jury members to ignore everything they’ve heard about the case and to make their decision based on evidence.

Details of the snowplow chase and Russell’s death emerged during the Crown’s opening statement.

Crown lawyer Christine McGoey told the jury that Kachkar, who was barefoot, stole the snowplow from two employees who had stopped by a Tim Hortons at the corner of Parliament and Cole streets at 5:20 a.m. on Jan. 12, 2011.

Kachkar, who was a qualified snowplow and heavy equipment operator, took off in the snowplow terrorizing motorists for nearly two hours on Avenue Road near Dupont Street.

A GPS in the snowplow tracked him and the information was relayed to police as he drove through the glass window of a car dealership and hit cabs and other vehicles with the plow’s blade.

Russell left 52 Division that morning to deal with calls about the snowplow. He arrived on Avenue Road and interviewed the cab drivers before activating his cruiser video camera which showed the snowplow gunning for his vehicle.

The cruiser camera showed the snowplow going northbound on Avenue, doing a U-turn and heading directly at Russell’s car.

Russell, who got out of the cruiser, fired three rounds but only one shot hit the snowplow.

Witnesses said the snowplow hit the officer in the legs, causing him to fall and strike his right temple “with such force that his skull was fractured.” He died at 6:40 a.m.

Kachkar “meant to cause Russell’s death,” McGoey said. “He committed first-degree murder.”

After hitting Russell, Kachkar continued driving around in the snowplow and hit more cars and a garbage truck at 7:11 a.m. ETF officers followed Kachkar and stunned him with a Taser three times, but he kept going. One ETF officer was injured during the chase before Kachkar was finally apprehended.

Kachkar was shot twice and hospitalized with injuries to his face and arm.

During questioning, Kachkar told police that everyone was mad at him and that he didn’t recall much of what happened but that he was confused and sorry. He had asked someone at a homeless shelter in St. Catharines, “Do u think if I do something bad god will still love me?”
During his takedown, he said he didn’t want police to put a microchip in him.

Tests indicated he didn’t have alcohol or drugs in his blood.

Widow speaks

Russell’s wife Christine was in court Monday along with her family and Mike McCormack, head of the Toronto Police Association.

In a brief statement outside the courthouse, Christine Russell thanked the public for the support.

“Our healing is stopping and the pain is back,” she said. “It’s not easy to sit there and sit so close to someone you know has done so much harm.”

She said she would speak candidly about the trial once it was over.

Other witnesses

On Monday, Daniel Da Silva, the operator of the snowplow,  testified that he and his co-worker chased after Kachkar when they saw him leave the Tim Hortons for the snowplow, but they couldn’t reach him.

During cross-examination, Kachkar’s lawyer asked Da Silva if he recalls describing Kachkar as “mentally unstable” to police.

“Yeah, well I got a sense there was definitely something not right about him,” he said.

“He had an absent stare,” he said. “I’m not a doctor but he had no shoes and he stole my snowplow.”

The trial before a jury of six men and six women is expected to last two months.

With files from Pam Seatle and Marianne Boucher