2nd degree Banff murder conviction ‘He won’t bring my boy back’: Mother Achi-News

The man accused of stabbing lifelong Banff resident Ethan Enns-Goneau in 2022 is guilty of second degree murder.

A 12-person jury reached a unanimous decision finding John-Christopher Arrizza guilty early Friday afternoon after sequestering Thursday for deliberations following a seven-day trial in Calgary Court of King’s Bench.

About 20 members of the Enns-Goneau family who were present in court breathed a collective sigh of relief and celebrated quietly as the verdict was read.

“It won’t bring my boy back, but it’s something,” said Gloria Enns, Enns-Goneau’s mother.

“He was the sweetest, kindest person ever. It wasn’t perfect, but it was so great. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

Enns-Goneau was killed at Dancing Sasquatch in Banff on August 5, 2022. The court heard he was stabbed at least 11 times by Arrizza inside and outside the men’s bathroom in the early hours of the morning. .

Enns-Goneau was partying with a friend and was attacked while using the bathroom minutes after arriving at the Banff nightclub.

After leaving the courtroom on Friday, the Banff man’s family hugged each other in tearful hugs.

Brother Riley Enns-Goneau said hearing the outcome of the case was a relief. He and several family members were at the Calgary Courts Center for proceedings each day.

“Obviously we got the verdict we wanted but more than anything I’m glad it’s over,” he said.

26 people also tuned in via WebEx to hear the jury’s verdict, with many more tuning in throughout the trial – a testament to Enns-Goneau’s impact on the close-knit mountain town in its 26 years of life.

“Ethan lit up a room with his smile. He was always smiling. The only time you would ever see him not smile was for three minutes if the [Winnipeg] Jets or [Toronto] He lost birds of prey and every other time, he was happy-go-lucky,” Bunny Julius, owner of Missteak Melissa where Enns-Goneau worked for 13 years, told Camre Cymru in August 2022.

Arrizza’s defense counsel sought a lesser charge of manslaughter, arguing that the accused’s mental state was altered at the time of the crime due to days of drug and alcohol use, lack of sleep and not eating in the days leading up to the murder.

One of Arrizza’s roommates at the time described his roommate’s behavior in the week before the attack as difficult to deal with and as “protecting a child.”

His second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence, or 25 years in prison, with at least 10 years served before the chance of parole.

Sentencing arguments from the Crown and the defense will be presented before Justice Robert Hall in the future. Twenty-five victim impact statements had also been submitted by the final day of the trial and will be read during the upcoming trial.

&copy of 2024 Rocky Mountain Outlook via The Canadian Press