BANFF – Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind” due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.
The fact that Arrizza, 24, caused the death of 26-year-old Banff resident Ethan Enns-Goneau is not up for dispute, said defence lawyer Katherin Beyak, but the jury of his trial must decide whether the Thornton, Ont. man knew his actions on Aug. 5, 2022, would cause the victim’s death.
Once the accused had “a handle on his sobriety,” while being detained at the Banff RCMP detachment, Arrizza wrote on the wall of his cell with blood from a self-harm wound on his arm, “Ethan, I’m sorry,” Beyak noted to jurors, who were provided photo evidence of the message.
“I am not suggesting that Mr. Arrizza should be excused for what happened or that Mr. Enns-Goneau is in any way responsible himself for what happened,” said Beyak, who is arguing for a reduced charge of manslaughter from second-degree murder for her client.
“But at the end of the day, I’d like you, ladies and gentlemen, to ask yourselves given the evidence that you’ve heard of cutting, sleep deprivation, a lack of food, inferential evidence of consumption of intoxicants, your chance to observe video [of Arrizza’s behaviour], and what I would suggest appears to be an extreme state of intoxication on the part of Mr. Arrizza, are you able to say beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended the death of Mr. Enns-Goneau?” she said in her closing arguments.
In addition to the accused displaying intoxicated behaviour in CCTV footage recorded at the Dancing Sasquatch that night, one of Arrizza’s roommates testified in Calgary Court of King’s Bench that he was “not all fully there” and “all over the place” in the days prior.
“As part of that, and what is perhaps most indicative – other than spray painting rocks – that Mr. Arrizza was in some sort of altered state of mind, is that in the course of that time period, he drew on the wall of his own home in blood,” said Beyak.
The accused’s roommate, Zachary Laivovitz, noted his housemates discovered a bloody pentagram drawn on a wall of their home in the days leading up to the attack on Enns-Goneau.
Laivovitz described their roommate’s behaviour in the week prior to the offence as difficult to deal with and like they were “babysitting a child.”
“He was just really physically not there and just making a mess of the house and just really disrupting the roommates,” said Laivovitz.
Arrizza had moved to Banff from Ontario in June, about two months before the incident at Dancing Sasquatch.
In CCTV footage played in court, Arrizza can be seen stabbing Enns-Goneau three times to the torso outside the men’s washroom shortly after the Banff man arrived at the nightclub with friend Bobby Lavery in the early morning hours while bar-hopping. He died of his injuries in hospital about 30 minutes later, at 2:09 a.m.
A medical examiner report found multiple other wounds inflicted on Enns-Goneau that were not caught on CCTV footage at the nightclub, suggesting a struggle began inside the washroom.
“What you have to decide is that when Mr. Arrizza is stabbing Ethan – at any time, from stab one to 11 – he intended to cause Ethan's death, or he intended to cause serious bodily harm that was likely to cause death,” Crown prosecutor Patrick Bigg told the jury in closing arguments.
The accused claims he was “scared” and that he had been attacked in the washroom. In police custody, shortly after the stabbing, he can be heard telling former Banff RCMP Cst. Sheldon Silveira that he “pulled out a weapon that I never had intention of using.”
“I pulled the knife, which maybe I shouldn’t have, but I definitely got scared when someone started grabbing me and pushing me against the wall in the bathroom and I’m there alone,” Arrizza is recorded saying in the back of the officer’s police cruiser outside the nightclub.
The Crown argued in defence of Enns-Goneau and what were described as defensive wounds to Enns-Goneau’s hands in a medical examiner’s report of his body.
Bigg also noted Enns-Goneau begins undoing his pants before entering the washroom, as seen on camera.
“What does that tell you? That tells you he’s going for that purpose,” he said to the jury.
“It’s not until 76 seconds later that he’s violently pushed out, having already been stabbed eight times.”
Dancing Sasquatch bouncer at the time Scott Quakenbush also testified in court that he heard the accused say he had been attacked. Quakenbush and Lavery began administering first-aid to Enns-Goneau before EMS arrived and while another bouncer, Ethan Ward, had Arrizza detained on the ground outside the washroom prior to being arrested by police.
In his testimony, Silveira said he observed what appeared to be old self-harm wounds to the accused’s arm and leg, in addition to a fresh gash on his right hand.
While Arrizza is sitting in the officer’s police cruiser, he can be heard asking Silveira if Enns-Goneau is still alive, to which the officer said he was unsure but that he was “not doing well” and “not breathing.” Arrizza can be heard voluntarily telling the officer he “feels bad, but not really” and asks how many times he “hit” Enns-Goneau.
Defence counsel for Arrizza noted a toxicology report of Enns-Goneau showed he was also intoxicated at the time of the offence – at four to five times the legal blood alcohol content permissible to drive. The report also found traces of cocaine.
While being kept in a cell block at the police detachment as he waited to connect with a lawyer in Ontario, Arrizza’s behaviour was further described as “bizarre” by his legal counsel.
Video played in court shows the man removing his clothes, pacing around the cell, throwing his underwear at cell cameras and later, wrapping and tightening a garment around his neck and writing on the walls in blood from his arm.
“All things considered, members of the jury, I urge you to find that Mr. Arrizza should be held accountable for his actions that night. He should be held responsible for the death of Mr. Enns-Goneau. He should be found guilty of manslaughter because he didn’t intend to murder Mr. Enns-Goneau,” said Beyak in closing.
“If you’re stabbing somebody with a large knife multiple times near vital organs, I’m going to suggest the common sense answer is it demands a strong inference. It demands that the person knew of those consequences and intended those consequences,” said Bigg.
The 12-person jury trial began last week and is expected to conclude Friday. Court of King's Bench Justice Robert Hall is presiding.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.