The man accused of stabbing Ottawa police Const. Eric Czapnik to death early Tuesday made a brief court appearance Wednesday morning.
Suspended RCMP officer Kevin Gregson, 43, entered the front of the courtroom accompanied by two armed police officers.
His elderly parents sat together in the packed courtroom showing little emotion and their son made no attempt to make eye contact with them. The couple left the courthouse a few minutes after the hearing, refusing to speak with reporters.
Gregson, who will be kept at the Ottawa Regional Detention Centre until his next court appearance, was ordered by the court to have no contact with five family members, including his wife, former wife and two children.
Assistant Crown attorney Brian Holowka recommended that Gregson be placed in protective custody “because of suicidal thoughts,” which led Gregson to raise his eyebrows.
It’s not usual, however, for incarcerated police officers to be kept separate from the general prison population irrespective of any other factors.
When Justice of the Peace Richard Sculthorpe agreed with the Crown Gregson’s face tightened and he closed his eyes. He did not enter a plea and will appear in court again Jan. 7.
Gregson, who had been decorated for bravery as an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan, is facing charges of first-degree murder, robbery and using an imitation firearm in the commission of an offence in connection with the stabbing death Czapnik, 51.
Czapnik was killed in the early morning hours Tuesday as he sat in the parking lot of the emergency department at the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital. He had been stabbed in the neck. Gregson had no known connection to Czapnik.
Czapnik had only been a police officer for three years, having been recruited in his late 40s. It was a rarity in police circles, but the six-foot and well-built Czapnik, who had immigrated from Poland in 1990, had no trouble meeting all the requiremen
