OTTAWA -- The trial of an Ottawa Valley man accused of killing an Arnprior grandmother during a high-speed car crash got underway Wednesday.

Zachary Wittke, 22, is facing several charges, including first-degree murder, in the Sept. 2017 crash in Arnprior that killed 65-year-old Sheila Welsh.

Wittke is accused of stealing a truck and intentionally slamming into Welsh’s car. Wittke has pleaded not guilty. 

Welsh’s friend Donna Blimki testified on Wednesday. She alleged that hours before the fatal crash, she and her husband had their own run-in with the same truck in Renfrew.

Blimkie alleged the driver told the couple he would hit them before colliding with their vehicle.

The Crown says Wittke drove from Eganville, where he’s from, through Renfrew to Arnprior.

Welsh’s children attended the first day of the trial at the Ottawa courthouse on Elgin Street.

 

R v. WHITTKE - Eganville to Arnprior