Killer leaves DNA behind after dog freaks during 'execution,' Crown tells jurors
Nakita Baron, 31, died while husband Talal Fouani was shot in the face but survived
The criminal behaviour of a man targeted in an execution-style ambush should not be considered by jurors in the first-degree murder and attempted murder trial of Michael Arnold, jurors have been told.
The target, Talal Fouani, survived the shooting, but his wife, Nakita Baron, an unexpected passenger in the vehicle that day, was fatally wounded by a bullet to the heart.
The four-week jury trial for the accused shooter began this week.
Arnold, 36, admitted in an agreed statement of facts to shooting Fouani and Baron as the pair sat in their Bentley in the southwest neighbourhood of Evergreen.
But when defence lawyer Kathryn Quinlan offered a plea of manslaughter on Monday, prosecutor Hyatt Mograbee and co-counsel Greg Whiteside declined and proceeded to trial.
'He chose to eliminate Nakita'
Fouani pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2023, but Mograbee told jurors that they are not to consider whether the murder is connected.
"This is not a case about money laundering," said Mograbee in her opening statement on Monday.
"It is human nature to wonder about the connection … but you do not have to figure out whether or not there is any connection to this case."
In her address to jurors, Mograbee suggested Fouani was the intended target and called the killing a "calculated and intentional execution."
"[Arnold] would do what he had to do to eliminate Talal and anyone who was with him, including his wife," the prosecutor said.
"He chose to eliminate Nakita rather than risk her escape and the possibility of incriminating him after he shot her husband in the head."
'A complete ambush'
On the morning of Aug. 18, 2022, Arnold arrived in Evergreen in a Mitsubishi Eclipse stolen in Edmonton, Mograbee told jurors.
Disguised as a construction worker and with a small dog in tow, Arnold laid in wait for hours.
As Fouani and Baron got into their car, Arnold approached.
Security footage from the neighbour's home that captured the shootings was played for jurors.
It shows Fouani lowering his window as Arnold walked up to the driver's side.
Arnold then took aim and fired, hitting Fouani in the throat and then Baron in the chest.
"It was a complete ambush," said Mograbee.
Baron had been struck by a bullet to the heart and died instantly.
Dog reacts to chaos
Fouani was shot in the face. The bullet went through his teeth and tongue and lodged in his neck, according to an agreed statement of facts.
"In the chaos that followed, something unexpected happened," said Mograbee.
"[Arnold's] own dog, startled by the violence, shrieked and became uncontrollable."
The video shows that in the seconds after the shooting, Arnold dropped his gun and the magazine fell out and slid down the street.
"In a hurry to scoop up his dog, he ran away, leaving the magazine on the road," said Mograbee, who told jurors they will hear evidence that police later found Arnold's DNA on the magazine.
Recording found on phone
Arnold discarded several items — his construction worker disguise, a bullet and his bank card — in Cochrane, a town about 20 kilometres northwest of Calgary. The stolen vehicle was found the next day on fire in Edmonton.
According to Mograbee, Arnold also wiped his phone, "but even the most meticulous plans can unravel," she said.
After seizing his phone, investigators discovered a recording.
Mograbee told jurors they would hear about a message in which Arnold "talks about the shooting as a job and that the job paid more than he owed."
The judge told jurors it will be up to them to determine the meaning of the recording.
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