jury finds deadly ambush of calgary couple outside their southwest home wasn't a planned execution
the deadly ambush of a calgary couple outside their sou...
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talal fouani and nakita baron.
nakita baron/instagram
the deadly ambush of a calgary couple outside their southwest home wasn’t a planned execution, a jury ruled friday evening.
the calgary court of king’s bench jury convicted edmonton-area man michael tyrel arnold of a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of nakita baron, who was killed in the front passenger seat of her husband’s bentley continental.
he had been charged with first-degree murder.
her husband talal fouani, who survived the attack despite being shot in the face, was the victim of a bid to end his life, jurors found, in convicting arnold of attempted murder for his shooting.
baron and fouani were in his bentley as it pulled out of the driveway of their home in the southwest community of evergreen on the morning of aug. 18, 2022, when a disguised arnold approached.
the confessed killer, who claimed the double shooting was a failed attempt to carjack the bentley, was wearing a construction worker’s vest, which allowed him to signal fouani to stop and roll down his driver’s-side window.
arnold, who was also walking his dog jazz at the time, walked up to the car and shot fouani in the face, before reaching in and firing a second bullet at baron’s torso.
the bullet struck her aorta, killing her almost instantly, while fouani survived the slug that struck his throat.
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in giving jurors their final legal instructions before they began deliberating shortly after lunch hour thursday, justice nancy carruthers said prosecutors hyatt mograbee and gregory whiteside had three possible theories for arnold’s attack on the couple.
they suggested arnold was hired by an unknown individual to kill both fouani and baron, arnold was hired to kill the husband but decided to eliminate baron if she emerged from the home with fouani, or he decided to kill her when he realized she was in the car and eliminated her as a potential witness.
a crucial piece of evidence was security footage from a camera mounted on the home of the couple’s next-door neighbour.
the video captured arnold calmly walking up to the car and using a hand gesture to get fouani to roll down his window.
arnold testified he had carefully plotted the carjacking of the bentley attending the area on multiple occasions before deciding to strike that morning.
he told defence lawyer kathryn quinlan he ordered fouani to “get out of the f— car,” as he approached the vehicle and panicked when the victim raised his hand, making the killer believe he was reaching for his handgun.
movement in his peripheral vision made him shoot into the car a second time, striking baron, he said.
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during his cross-examination, mograbee pointed out the video recording was able to capture baron’s scream just before the shooting and the loud booms of the two shots, but not a word from arnold.
in her final submissions she urged jurors to carefully review the video, noting you could even hear birds chirping on the audio.
arnold, 36, faces an automatic life sentence while the issue of his parole eligibility must still be determined.
x: @kmartincourts
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