Defence lawyer argues teen felt 'outmatched, overpowered' before killing Hannas Braun in Iqaluit

In the defence's version of the 2019 shooting of Hannas Braun in Iqaluit, Wayne Panipakoocho was a frightened teen who felt outmatched by the man approaching him — so he shot him in the leg.

But he didn't mean to kill Braun, the defence argued during closing statements on Thursday afternoon; he only meant to stop him from attacking him.

"He's given, before this court, evidence that he felt outmatched, overpowered and you have a person that is seemingly acting in a way that is very concerning," said defence lawyer James Foord.

"I'm not saying it's a good thing. It is not a laudable thing, but he did direct the gun down for the purposes of stopping [Braun] without killing him, however misguided that might have been."

An Iqaluit courtroom heard the final arguments in the trial for the now 22-year-old Panipakoocho of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, late this week. He's accused of first-degree murder for the shooting of Braun on June 30, 2019. Foord asked Justice Susan Charlesworth to find his client not guilty of first-or second-degree murder.

The defence painted a picture of a young man from a small community who, while struggling with grief and depression, moved to a city where he knew few people, and in the absence of intervention, ended up relapsing into his alcohol addiction and falling into the "wrong influences" of some older people. 

On the night leading up to the shooting, the defence said Panipakoocho was particularly drunk. He was disgruntled with Braun being in his aunt's home where he lived with his cousin, and had asked Braun to leave, but the defence argues the victim would not go at first.

Foord argued Braun finally agreed, but then seemingly changed his mind.

"He turned and [Braun] moves fast towards him, and he was aggressive and [Panipakoocho] was scared."

After the shooting, Braun was found in medical distress and was taken to the Qikiqtani General Hospital, but he died shortly after from his injuries. Foord told the court it's significant that his client's immediate response when speaking with police following the shooting was to cry with growing "hysteria," and surprise to hear that Braun had died.

"There's an element of surprise and profound disappointment," Foord said.

The Crown, meanwhile, had a different theory about Panipakoocho's intent. The court heard the Crown's closing arguments Friday morning.

Crown prosecutor Abel Dion said there's evidence to support that the accused planned to kill Braun, if perhaps in a different manner than the way the situation unfolded. That includes Facebook messages where Panipakoocho says he would possibly kill Braun if he didn't leave.

As well, Dion argued there is evidence Panipakoocho was being willfully misleading when speaking with the officer when he said he didn't know the hunting rifle he used to shoot Braun was a strong weapon.