Court hears: Accused murderer was ‘scared’ before fatal stabbing in Banff

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The defense of a man accused of killing a Banff resident in a nightclub in 2022 argues that the defendant's mental state at the time of the incident is the most important point for the jury to consider.

John-Christopher Arrizza, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of 26-year-old Ethan Enns-Goneau. His criminal trial began last week in the Calgary Court of King's Bench.

Enns-Goneau was killed outside the restroom at Dancing Sasquatch in the early hours of August 5, 2022. Video footage shown in court shows Arrizza stabbing Enns-Goneau three times – twice in the chest and once in the stomach – after he was forcibly pushed out of the nightclub's restroom into a basement hallway with his back to him and his pants down.

That evening, Arrizza told police he had been attacked in the washroom, that he was “scared” and thought Enns-Goneau would “overpower” him.

“So I pulled out a gun that I never intended to use,” he told RCMP Cpl. Sheldon Silveira in a video shot that evening from the back of a patrol car.

“I pulled out the knife, which maybe I shouldn't have done, but I was definitely scared when someone grabbed me and pushed me against the wall in the bathroom and I was alone there.”

Forensic pathologist Lucy Bradley, who conducted the autopsy on Enns-Goneau's body, told the court late last week of additional stab wounds and injuries that were not captured on CCTV and therefore must have occurred in the washroom. These included stab wounds to Enns-Goneau's hands “consistent with someone holding their hands in front of them in self-defence.”

Aside from a cut on his hand, Arrizza was not found to have suffered any other injuries that evening.

Several bar employees who testified in court said Arrizza had been searching for his wallet in the nightclub before the attack. Afterward, he continued to question police about his wallet and also asked about the whereabouts of his cellphone.

Before being arrested outside the nightclub's bathroom and told that he was under arrest for assault with a weapon, Silveira testified in court that the defendant told police out loud more than once: “I was messing with him” and that “it was me.”

As Arrizza was escorted from the nightclub to the officer's patrol car, Silveira described him stumbling and noted that his speech was difficult to understand at times during custody that evening.

Silveira said that in his experience, people who are “under the influence of intoxicating substances tend to downplay or not understand the seriousness of a situation.”

“I think that was evident in this situation. It was obviously a dire situation and the defendant's primary focus up to that point was his wallet and his cell phone.”

In a video taken from the back of the patrol car, Arrizza later asked the officer if Enns-Goneau was still alive. Silveira replied that he wasn't sure, but that he was “not feeling well” and “not breathing.”

Arrizza is heard voluntarily telling the officer that he is “feeling bad, but not really.”

He then asked Silveira how many times he had “hit” Enns-Goneau, to which the officer replied that he was not sure.

When Silveira reached the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment in Banff shortly after 2 a.m. – about 30 minutes after the attack on Enns-Goneau – other officers on the scene radioed him to inform him that Enns-Goneau had succumbed to his injuries and informed Arrizza that the reason for his arrest had been changed to murder.

Arrizza has pleaded not guilty to the charges but admitted to killing Enns-Goneau. Katherin Beyak is the lead defense attorney in the trial, which continues Tuesday (Sept. 17).