**Portions of the content in this article may be distressing and traumatizing for some people.**
BANFF – A jury trial into the death of 26-year-old lifelong Banff resident Ethan Enns-Goneau commenced Thursday (Sept. 12) in front of a full courtroom in Calgary Court of King’s Bench.
John-Christopher Arrizza, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Enns-Goneau, who was killed at Dancing Sasquatch in Banff on Aug. 5, 2022.
The seven-day trial is set to hear from multiple witnesses, including close friend and co-worker of Enns-Goneau at Melissa’s Missteak, Robert [Bobby] Lavery.
Lavery was with Enns-Goneau the night of his death and helped administer first-aid after he was stabbed.
“I looked at Ethan on the ground and I said, ‘I love you, man, you’re gonna get through this.’ That was the last thing I said to him,” he said in his testimony.
In an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Ron Simenik told the court Enns-Goneau and Lavery made several stops at Banff establishments that night ending at the Dancing Sasquatch on Banff Avenue.
The two men entered the Banff nightclub at approximately 1:30 a.m. and immediately split up, with Lavery going upstairs to the bar area and Enns-Goneau heading to the basement restroom.
“Closed circuit television – CCTV – at the Dancing Sasquatch captures Enns-Goneau entering the restroom, and at one minute, 16 seconds later, he is seen being pushed out of the restroom by Arrizza, who is then seen stabbing him three times,” said Simenik.
Moments later, bouncers converged on the area, where Enns-Goneau had collapsed from his injuries and Arrizza was disarmed, detained by nightclub staff and subsequently arrested by RCMP. The knife used in the attack was secured and turned over to police, and along with CCTV footage, is being used as an exhibit in the trial.
Lavery was alerted to the incident while standing at the bar when he saw a bouncer rush past.
Tasked with security as a doorman at his place of work, Lavery instinctively followed the bouncer downstairs to see what the commotion was.
“By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, I could see one of the bouncers on top of the attacker and had him restrained, and the other bouncer was at the other end of the hallway attempting to start first-aid on him [Ethan],” said Lavery, who noted Arrizza was not known to him prior to the attack or, to his knowledge, Enns-Goneau.
The bouncer administering care to Enns-Goneau told Lavery to grab a first-aid kit.
“At that point, I kind of ran to the end of the hallway to where Ethan and the other bouncer were, did a quick little assessment of what was going on, and then ran back upstairs to grab the first-aid kit, which I knew where it was, because I’d worked at Sasquatch for a couple years prior,” said Lavery.
Subsequent EMS assessment of Enns-Goneau, which occurred around 1:38 a.m., observed stab wounds to his chest and abdomen, as well as a “large” laceration to his right hand.
Banff EMS advanced care paramedic Mackenzie Wardle attended the incident and immediately took over life-saving efforts being administered upon his arrival.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Wardle stayed with Enns-Goneau through transport and treatment at the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital. Despite best efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at 2:09 a.m.
Enns-Goneau’s death was the first of two fatal stabbings that occurred in the national park townsite less than one month apart.
On Sept. 3, 2022, Foothills County man Ryden Brogden, 27, was stabbed outside Dancing Sasquatch and taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries. John Sproule, of Lake Country, B.C. was arrested by RCMP that evening and charged the following day with second-degree murder.
Sproule’s trial is scheduled for February 2025.
Arrizza’s trial reconvenes Friday (Sept. 13). Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Hall is presiding over the trial.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
