CANMORE – A man charged with the murder of a lifelong Banff resident made his second court appearance Wednesday (Aug. 24).
The hearing was adjourned to the first week of September, with John Arrizza remaining in custody. RCMP charged the 22-year-old with second degree murder Aug. 6 and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
Ethan Enns-Goneau, 26, was killed Aug. 5 at Dancing Sasquatch after he was stabbed in the bathroom after recently arriving at the bar with a friend.
Arrizza’s lawyer, Calgary-based defence attorney Katherin Beyak, said her client would remain in custody until the next hearing.
“He is content to remain in custody until that time and obviously given the nature of the charge, he can’t run a bail hearing in provincial court,” she said. “He is content to remain in custody until that time.”
Beyak said they are continuing to wait for disclosure – which allows for the exchange of information between the Crown and defence – and had originally sought a short adjournment in the hope it would be ready for the Aug. 24 hearing.
Arrizza didn’t appear at the court hearing, which lasted less than two minutes, but is held at Calgary Remand Centre until at least the next hearing. He briefly appeared via CCTV at first appearance Aug. 10.
On now deleted Instagram and Facebook pages, Arrizza had several videos skateboarding in places such as Queen’s Park in Toronto, Wasaga Beach and Barrie.
He attended Bear Creek Secondary School in Barrie and played in the Barrie Colts minor hockey program and a season with the North York Renegades of the Greater Metro Junior Hockey League in 2015-16.
Attempts by the Outlook to reach family and friends of Arrizza have been unsuccessful.
Multiple people who asked to speak anonymously to the Outlook said Arrizza was relatively new to the tourist community, having arrived in June.
Multiple people told the Outlook Enns-Goneau and the friend had only just arrived. The friend had gone to the bar, while Enns-Goneau went to the bathroom.
While the friend was at the bar, a doorman at Dancing Sasquatch ran to the bathroom and began performing CPR on Enns-Goneau and the friend – also a doorman at Melissa’s – went to Mount Royal Hotel to get a defibrillator and assist.
Police and paramedics responded at about 2:30 a.m. and took Enns-Goneau to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital where he passed away.
Friends and family have emphasized there was no fight and Enns-Goneau was ambushed in the nightclub.
Having been born and raised in Banff, he was well-known in the community, participating in sports such as rugby, soccer and hockey.
Since his death, Enns-Goneau has been remembered fondly by the entire Banff community.
A celebration of life was held Friday (Aug. 19) at Melissa’s Missteak, where Enns-Goneau worked as a bartender and been employed in different jobs since he was 13 years old.
The memorial service had multiple people in festive Hawaiian collared shirts
A memorial to Enns-Goneau is outside Dancing Sasquatch, with flowers, photos and messages written on the sidewalk to remember the lifelong Banff resident – who was often referred to as Sweet Baby E or Sweet Baby Ethan. He was also remembered for his kind, calm and friendly personality.
The Town’s flag was also lowered to half mast to remember Enns-Goneau.
Arrizza had been barred from Melissa’s Missteak following alleged online comments he made towards women who knew people that worked at Melissa’s, owner Bunny Julius told the Outlook earlier this month.
The business has scanners for people’s identification that will either come up to let the person in or if they have been barred. Julius said it allows any potential situation to be avoided and handled by doormen.
Enns-Goneau had no interaction with Arrizza, Julius said.
A post on Dancing Sasquatch’s website said the bar would be closed until further notice.
Enns-Goneau’s murder is the first in the Town since 1990 when 18-year-old Ryan Jason Love stabbed 23-year-old cab driver Lucie Turmel to take her nightly earnings of $130.
Love was sentenced to 20 years in prison and released in 2012.
A GoFundMe was created for Enns-Goneau's family with a goal of $4,000 and donations quickly surpassed the $4,000 goal. As of Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 24), the campaign had raised $80,000.
For more information, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/sweet-baby-e-memorial-fund.
For people in need of support, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital offers mental health services daily between 2 and 9 p.m. The emergency room is also available for support.
People can also contact Bow Valley Victim Services at 403-760-0197 and 2-1-1 can connect people to mental health or counselling support.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Banff RCMP at 403-762-2226.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 or online at https://crimestoppers.ab.ca.
