Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A Calgary drug dealer who fatally shot a client during a failed crack cocaine exchange was defending himself and should be found not guilty, his lawyer argued Tuesday in final submissions to the jury.
Paulos Berhe is on trial for second-degree murder and attempted murder.
On Dec. 18, 2023, Donald Lyons, 43, was killed and his girlfriend, Amber Beach, was injured after being shot in Lyons’ truck.
Berhe has admitted to shooting both victims but testified in his own defence, telling jurors he was fighting for his life as he said the pair was attacking him while in the front seat of Lyons’ truck.
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard that on the night of Dec. 18, Lyons and Berhe made plans to meet at the Portico Hookah Lounge in the city’s southeast.
Lyons texted Berhe that he wanted to buy $9,000 worth of crack cocaine.
Lyons and Beach then drove to the bar and parked outside. Berhe got into the back seat.
Berhe says he was the first victim
Berhe testified that Beach attacked him with a knife, stabbing him repeatedly.
He told jurors that Lyons then threw a blanket over his head, and when he managed to get it off, he was “staring at the muzzle of a gun,” said defence lawyer Allan Fay.
According to Berhe, once he saw the gun pointed in his face, he reached for his own handgun and shot at the couple in self-defence, killing Lyons and injuring Beach.
But in her testimony, Beach told a different story.
She told jurors that Berhe shot both her and Lyons from the back seat without warning.
‘Unbelievable’ testimony
“Amber Beach is not to be believed,” countered Fay.
He said Beach’s story was “unbelievable,” and that she and Lyons planned to rob Berhe.
The defence lawyer painted Lyons as “a violent abuser” who had previously pinned Beach to the ground and burned her with a crack pipe he’d heated to the point of being “red hot.”
“[Lyons] used violence to get what he wanted — in this case a large amount of crack cocaine,” said Fay.
“Donald Lyons had no money … why would he expect Paulos Berhe to hand over drugs?”
‘Convictions should follow’
Prosecutor Peter Mackenzie urged the jury to reject the self-defence theory and pointed out that the night of the killing, Berhe had armed himself with a loaded gun.
“This drug deal went bad, and Paulos Berhe dealt with the bad drug deal by shooting Donald Lyons and Amber Beach.”
He called Beach an “excellent witness.”
“If you accept her evidence, conviction should follow,” said Mackenzie.
On Tuesday afternoon, Court of King’s Bench Justice David Labrenz will deliver his final instructions on how jurors are to apply the law to their deliberations. They will then be sequestered until a verdict is reached.