Whittington man Haig Arslanian learns fate on manslaughter charge
A Whittington man who fatally shot his brother in the family home has learnt his fate.
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A Whittington man who fatally shot his brother in the family home has been found not guilty of manslaughter.
Haig Arslanian, 41, walked free after he was cleared of the charge in the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, with Justice Rita Incerti finding he shot his youngest brother David Arslanian in self-defence.
“On the totality of the evidence, I am satisfied that the prosecution has not excluded the reasonable possibility that Haig believed firing the shots at David was necessary to defend himself from really serious injury or death,” Justice Incerti said.
Justice Incerti said while the shooting was “conscious, voluntary and deliberate…(and) dangerous”, Haig did not intend to shoot David.
She said he fired two shots in “rapid succession” as David likely lunged for him.
With the not guilty finding, Haig was able to walk free after the verdict was handed down.
A jury found Haig not guilty of murder in July but was unable to come to a unanimous decision on the alternate charge of manslaughter.
During a judge-alone trial, the court heard Haig and his youngest brother David were arguing about David’s alleged drug use and theft from a family-run butcher shop when Haig went into his room, retrieved a shotgun and shot him twice at close range.
Haig admitted to fatally shooting his brother in October 2020 but claimed it was in self-defence as he feared for his own life.
“(Haig) acted in lawful and justified self-defence when he shot his brother … and it was reasonable in the circumstances as he perceived them,” Haig’s lawyer, Jason Gullaci, told the court in October.
The court was told David had been living away from the Boundary Rd family home for two weeks after his violent assault on Haig.
David choked Haig until he went “absolutely red … he couldn’t breathe”, and had to be pulled off by their father, John Arslanian.
On October 5, David returned home, seemingly in “good spirits”, but was greeted by an “anxious, annoyed and angry” Haig.
In text messages shown to the court, Haig told his oldest brother, Armand Arslanian, he was “shaking and angry”.
“Do I whack the c--- while there’s no one here to help him?” Haig asked his brother in the texts.
In a triple-0 call played to the court after the gunshots shocked their quiet street, David’s mother Sevan Arslanian told the operator he “won’t wake up” and “please get someone here”.
“Wake up David, please wake up. I love you, David. David, wake up … is anyone coming?” Sevan could be heard over the call.
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Originally published as Whittington man Haig Arslanian learns fate on manslaughter charge
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