‘I panicked’: Admitted killer on trial for murder testifies he accidentally shot couple
The man accused of murdering the wife of an organized crime money launderer testified he shot the couple after he “panicked” while attempting to carjack the victims’ Bentley.
Michael Arnold, 36, testified in his own defence on Monday, Day 10 of his first-degree murder trial.
Arnold started to cry after he described shooting Talal Fouani and his wife, Nakita Baron, on Aug. 18, 2022.
“I’m a f–ked up person,” Arnold told jurors.
Arnold has admitted to shooting Fouani and Baron as they sat in the front seats of their Bentley but testified he never planned to kill either one.
Fouani survived, Baron died from her injuries.
“You need to know that when he approached the Bentley and fired those shots, he had no intention of killing anyone,” said defence lawyer Jordan McDermott, who is co-counsel with Kathryn Quinlan.
‘Obsessed’ with stealing Bentley
The Crown’s theory is that Fouani, who had been recently charged with money laundering connected to organized crime, was the intended target and that Baron was eliminated to reduce the risk that she could identify the shooter.
But prosecutor Hyatt Mograbee told jurors they do not have to figure out whether there is a connection between Fouani’s money laundering and the homicide.
Arnold told jurors that he has struggled with drug addiction since he was a teenager. He said sold drugs and stole vehicles to feed his habit.
In the summer of 2022, Arnold took several trips from his home base of Edmonton to Calgary. At the time, crystal meth was Arnold’s drug of choice and he was using daily.
Security camera footage from the neighbours in the southwest community of Evergreen showed Arnold driving by Fouani’s home several times in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Arnold told jurors he had spotted the couple’s Bentley and became “obsessed” with the idea of stealing it.
On the night of Aug. 17 and into the morning of Aug. 18, Arnold, who had travelled to Calgary from Edmonton with his dog Jazz in a stolen car, parked near Fouani’s home.
On the morning of Aug. 18, Arnold put on a construction worker disguise.
As Fouani backed down his driveway with his wife in the passenger seat, Arnold approached with Jazz in tow.
Arnold testified his goal was to get Fouani out of the Bentley using a loaded handgun to threaten his victim.
“I say ‘get the f–k out of the vehicle, just get the f–k out,'” Arnold told jurors.
‘I panicked’
He said Fouani’s eyes widened and he stuck his hand out.
“I panicked and pulled the trigger and shot him,” said Arnold. “I’m not trying to blame him, this is 100 per cent my fault.”
CCTV footage shows a person approaching a vehicle as it backs out of a driveway seconds before shots are fired
Next, Arnold said there was movement in his peripheral vision.
“In my panic, I shot Ms. Baron.”
At the sound of the gunshots, Jazz began “shrieking,” and Arnold said he turned his focus to the dog.
“I was just trying to pick her up,” said Arnold.
Victim sent Arnold letter
In the chaos, Arnold dropped the gun. He picked it up but didn’t realize the magazine had fallen out. Police would later confirm Arnold’s DNA was on it.
Arnold said at the time, he was “so cooked” on drugs and was “obsessed with what I was trying to accomplish,” stealing the Bentley.
“I have a tendency to do dumb shit and it turned out extremely badly,” he told jurors.
After the shooting, Fouani sent him a letter while he was being held at the Edmonton Remand Centre, Arnold said.
He told jurors he never replied because of a no-contact condition preventing him from communicating with Fouani.
‘It’s not your fault’
The letter, said Arnold, made him feel “even worse” than he already did about the killing.
“He’s expressed fear, being afraid of his own shadow … I also heard him make reference … if he didn’t make Nakita come with him that day, she’d still be alive,” said Arnold.
“I want to tell him, it’s not your fault, it’s my fault.”
Arnold told his lawyer that he accepts responsibility for his actions that day and described his conduct as “extremely reckless and irrational and devastating” but he restated that he did not intend to kill Baron.
“Do you think you should be punished?” asked Quinlan.
“Yes,” Fouani responded.
Prosecutors Mograbee and Greg Whiteside will get a chance to cross-examine Arnold on Tuesday.
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