The Crown and defence gave final arguments in the murder trial of Paulos Berhe, in a shooting that killed a Calgary man and injured his girlfriend during what court has heard was a drug deal gone wrong.
Berhe, 30, is charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 18, 2023, killing of Forest Lawn resident Donald Lyons, 43. He is also charged with discharging a firearm with intent to wound Lyons’ girlfriend, Amber Beach.
Berhe, wearing a grey sweater over a brown collared shirt, sat in the prisoner’s box of a Calgary court room with his head down as lawyers for both sides made arguments focused on the credibility of key witness testimony and whether Berhe was acting in self-defence when he fatally shot Lyons and wounded Beach.
In his closing arguments, defence lawyer Allan Fay argued Lyons planned to use a revolver, with Beach’s assistance, to violently rob Berhe, and that his client acted in self-defence. He said Lyons had no money but was still expecting to obtain a half-pound brick of cocaine from Berhe, arguing there was no other plausible way for Lyons to get the drugs.
Fay said it would make no sense for Berhe, whom he described as a career drug dealer, to shoot and rob his own customers unless he was forced to defend himself.
“That’s bad for business. He’s a drug dealer,” Fay said. “His business as a drug dealer would be finished if word of something like this got out.”
Last week, Berhe admitted the shooting stemmed from a drug robbery gone wrong, but told jurors he was the victim, not the perpetrator, of the attempted heist.
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https://calgaryherald.com/news/paulos-berhe-trial-donald-lyons-murder-trial-closing-arguements
