Sheriff Was Ready To Commit Suicide After What He Saw

By the time Michael Barisone walked up to the farmhouse, he was already carrying a loaded handgun. Just minutes later, gunshots shattered the silence. When police arrived, they were met with a shocking scene outside the front porch. One of America’s most well-known horse trainers was lying on the ground. A man was on top of him, holding him down, claiming he had just stopped the shooter.

 A few feet away, a critically wounded woman was fighting for her life after being shot twice in the chest. Later, Michael said the only thing he could remember was arriving at the house with the gun. According to him, everything that happened after that was simply gone from his memory. Just hours before the shooting, he had been a respected Olympian, the owner of a successful equestrian facility, and one of the most highly regarded dress trainers in the United States.

 But over the previous months, his life had spiraled into a non-stop conflict. Police reports, accusations from both sides, public battles across social media, eviction attempts, complaints filed with government agencies, and an increasingly powerful belief that someone was deliberately trying to destroy his career, his business, and his life.

 The question wasn’t just who pulled the trigger. The real question was far more complicated. Was this a coldblooded attempted murder or the final breaking point of a man who had already lost touch with reality? Hey guys, let me grab you for just a second. I’m really curious where my audience is watching from. So, I’d love for you to drop a comment and tell me what city you’re in and what time it is for you right now.

 Thanks for taking a moment. Go ahead and share that in the comments. And now, let’s keep going. In the world of equestrian sports, Michael Barisone was considered a legend. At the height of his career, he coached multiple dress horses and riders to Olympic medals, and he even represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing himself.

So, what could have caused someone with that level of success and respect to end up just a few years later sitting in a New Jersey courtroom facing two counts of attempted murder? Michael Barisone was a remarkable figure in the sport. He was widely recognized as one of the finest dress riders in America. Professional dress is all about achieving perfect harmony between horse and rider.

 The name comes from a French word meaning training. And it’s a discipline that demands years of dedication, constant refinement, and relentless practice. There were very few trainers in the United States who commanded the same level of respect within the equestrian community as Michael Barisone. Representing Team USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was just one of many accomplishments in his long career as a competitor, coach, mentor, and expert in developing horses.

He genuinely loved his horses, and the work he devoted his life to. People who trained and worked alongside Michael described him as energetic, optimistic, driven, and incredibly competitive. He was the kind of coach who always supported his students, but he also believed in being honest and direct. And he was completely devoted to the sport he loved.

>> Can’t take a horse out in a Dport. You can’t show up and in five rides be the world champion. >> It takes two years of rides to be the world champion. >> And that’s a little bit what we have to work. Michael had turned his success into a thriving business. By the age of 54, he owned two major equestrian facilities.

 One in Florida, where he trained with horses during the winter, and a larger property in New Jersey known as Hawthorne Hill Farm. More than 40 horses were kept at Hawthorne Hill. Several Dress students also lived on the farm along with Michael, his girlfriend Mary, and assistant trainer Justin. During the summer of 2018, and again in 2019, Michael began coaching a promising amateur dress rider named Lauren Canarak.

 Michael and Lauren first met at a riding clinic in Florida, where they agreed that she would move to New Jersey and live on the farm as his student. Arrangements like that were common in the Dress world. Lauren paid for her training and for boarding her horses at the farm, while Michael provided her with a place to live and helped develop her skills as a rider.

 Lauren moved into an apartment on the upper floor of the farmhouse with her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin. Michael and his girlfriend, Mary lived downstairs, and from time to time, Mary’s children stayed there as well. For a while, everything seemed to work, but it didn’t last long. Before long, the relationship began to fall apart when Lauren started believing that Michael wasn’t living up to his side of the agreement.

 She had entered the partnership expecting world-renowned dress trainer Michael Barisone to personally mentor her. Instead, she discovered that Michael didn’t train any of his students entirely on his own. Some of her lessons were taught by Mary, an experienced rider herself, while many others were handled by assistant trainer Justin Harden, who was also a highly qualified professional.

 Lauren’s frustration continued to grow. In her view, the people training her weren’t the ones she believed she had signed up to work with. She clashed especially often with Mary Haskins. The two women seemed to disagree about almost everything from their approach to dress to just about every other aspect of life.

 Lauren was already an accomplished rider with dreams of competing in the Olympic Games. Thanks to the financial support of her father, Jonathan, a successful attorney from New Jersey, she had every opportunity to pursue those ambitions. But instead of Michael becoming her primary coach, that role was largely filled by Justin Harden, who had worked with Michael for many years.

Lauren complained that to Michael, she was nothing more than a source of income. Reports indicated that she was paying $5,000 a month for training, horseing, and housing at the farm. Even so, Lauren never developed into the worldclass athlete she had hoped to become. She and Robert increasingly felt like outsiders at Hawthorne Hill.

 They believed the other people living on the farm were bullying and humiliating them. The conflict between Michael and Mary on one side and Lauren and Robert on the other became more intense with each passing week. Eventually, Lauren took her complaints to social media. In her posts, she portrayed Michael Barisone as a bully, a racist, an anti-semite, and accused him of several other deeply disgraceful traits.

 By early August of 2019, after months of online posts and constant conflict, the situation had become unbearable. At around 2:00 in the afternoon on August 7th, Michael took a handgun out of the safe in his office. He got into his pickup truck and drove from the stable across the farm to the farmhouse where Lauren and Robert were waiting.

arrived at the scene. They first had to fight off Lauren and Robert’s dog before they could reach the house. They found Robert on top of Michael near the front porch, holding him down. Officers separated the two men and placed both of them in handcuffs. Lauren Canarak had been shot twice in the upper chest.

 She was rushed to the hospital without delay. Michael Barisone had suffered multiple head injuries along with several puncture wounds inflicted by Rosie, Lauren, and Robert’s dog. Once the initial chaos was under control, investigators began piecing together what had happened. Robert immediately told officers that Michael was the shooter.

 According to Robert, he tackled Michael to the ground to restrain him and stop him from hurting anyone else. Robert also said that Michael had tried to shoot him as well, but that shot missed. Lauren was in no condition to explain what had happened. She underwent life-saving surgery, spent about 3 weeks in the intensive care unit, and remained in a coma for 4 days.

 Michael Barisone, who was initially found sitting against a nearby pickup truck before being taken to the hospital, appeared confused, and spoke only in short, fragmented sentences. At that point, he remembered who he was, knew he was on his own farm, remembered driving to the farmhouse with the gun, and knew he had later woken up handcuffed to a hospital bed.

 but he insisted he had no memory of shooting Lauren Canar and couldn’t remember anything that happened before he pulled the trigger. Even so, while recovering in the hospital, police officers heard him repeat the same words several times. I had a good life. They destroyed my life over the past 6 months. They took everything away from me.

 I’m sorry this happened. The crime scene outside the farmhouse offered very little physical evidence, but the evidence investigators did recover would later play a crucial role in confirming or challenging the accounts given by the people involved. Even though Heavy Rain threatened to wash away important traces, detectives were able to document and preserve key pieces of evidence.

 They recovered two spent shell casings. A shattered pane of glass in the back door of the farmhouse revealed the path of at least one of the bullets. A 9 mm Ruger handgun was found lying on the ground to the right of a gravel pile. It was described as a lady’s gun. The firearm belonged to Michael’s friend, Dr.

 Ruth Cox, who also boarded horses at the farm. Michael Barisone’s cell phone was found on a table in the backyard patio area. Lauren’s phone and Robert’s phone were both lying near the base of a patio umbrella stand. Although Lauren was the one who called 911, she made the call using Robert’s phone instead of her own, even though both phones were right next to each other.

 Michael Barisone was never tested for gunshot residue to confirm that he had fired the weapon. Lauren and Robert were never tested either. Tensions at Hawthorne Hill had been building for months before the shooting. About a week before the incident, the conflict reached a breaking point. Living together in the farmhouse had become impossible.

 Michael and Mary moved into a room inside the clubhouse near the stables where they slept on couches while Lauren and Robert remained in the farmhouse. Mary’s 11-year-old son, who had been living with them for a period of time, was sent to stay with his father for his own safety. Throughout July and August, Michael became increasingly convinced that Lauren’s Facebook posts were intended as threats against him.

 That was one of the main reasons he decided to move his family out of the farmhouse. Michael and Mary also believed that Lauren and Robert had been secretly listening to their private conversations. They were further convinced that the couple was following them around the farm, especially at night.

 On July 31st, 2019, Michael made his first call to 911 after seeing Lauren and Robert on the farm after the agreed upon curfew of 9:15 that evening. >> Yeah, I own this place. I have some people who have been living on this place and they’re they were told to not be in the horse barn after 9:00 p.m. And they’re in the horse barn. They’re scumbags and I want them warned.

 They have chased us out of our house and I need this deal with tonight. All right, that was 41. >> There is a client. We have a horse table and I asked her to go home for the evening and she won’t leave the morning and she’s screaming at me, disturbing the peace for the second time in 3 days. >> How can I partner? Someone help.

 Just stay on the line. I need some more information from you. Okay, >> thank you. >> 4 days before the shooting on August 3rd, Michael Barisone called 911 again. >> These people are on our place. They have been living in our house in one of the apartment units. They are clients here at our horse stable.

 The situation is getting worse and worse and worse. The police have been here twice in the last 3 days. They’re nuts. They’re stalking us. They’ve they’re harassing us. Last night, there was a Facebook post, which is what this woman does. She’s >> Okay. >> The Facebook post says, “My split personalities are going to take over and I am not control of what they do.

 We are in fear for our lives.” >> No, no, I understand. But what is going on right now? Are they >> Nothing. That’s why I’m calling you. I talked to a couple my lawyer. He said, “Call them right away. Get something going.” >> Okay. Um, are they there now? >> They’re down at the house we own, which is which is a third of a mile from where we are. We’re all hold the stable.

 We’re under siege here. >> The letter from Michael’s attorney demanding that Lauren and Robert move out of the farmhouse went ignored. From Lauren’s perspective, there was simply no way she could find a new place to live for herself and her five horses on such short notice. She also believed she was in danger.

 In a Facebook post, Lauren wrote that she was a petite woman in her early 30s who was being bullied by a man who stood 6’3 and that she feared for her own safety. One night, she noticed an unfamiliar vehicle on the farm. It’s entirely possible that it belonged to a security guard Michael had hired to protect his family from her.

Lauren also called 911 to report her concerns and what she believed was suspicious activity. this this at this blacked out SUV with like some guy smoking a cigarette in the front who I’ve never seen before except for last night at 3:15 in the morning and we overheard them talking about like getting guys to like hurt us, kill us, whatever.

 We told it to the officers this afternoon. >> Are you or anyone else in danger right now? >> We feel very much that he could be seeing as though it happened the other night. The Morris County authorities largely dismissed the complaints from both sides. They concluded it was a civil dispute between private individuals rather than a criminal matter, so they saw no reason to pursue a deeper investigation.

 During the week leading up to the shooting, Michael Barisone called 911 four separate times. None of those calls resulted in any meaningful action. It wasn’t until the final call to Hawthorne Hill made by the wounded Lauren Canar that investigators were forced to fully examine everything that had been happening. Michael Barisone was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder.

 One for the life-threatening injuries suffered by Lauren and another for the shot prosecutors alleged was fired at Robert Goodwin. Michael’s own injuries were already obvious during the earliest court proceedings. By the time the case finally moved toward trial in 2022, it had become even more apparent that Michael Barisone’s [music] condition had deteriorated dramatically.

 When the trial began in late March, he was only a shadow of the man he had once been older, disheveled, hunched over, and visibly overwhelmed. Michael entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. It’s a defense that’s used only rarely and succeeds even less often. To win an acquitt on both attempted murder charges, Michael’s attorney, Ed Belinkus, had to convince the jury that a successful businessman, millionaire, worldrenowned horse trainer, and respected Olympian had suffered a severe mental breakdown at the age of 57 and because of that could

not be held criminally responsible for his actions. Upon hearing that threat, Michael Barisome calls 911. Washington Township responds. He says, “I am in fear of my life of this woman.” The police do nothing. Barisone tries to show him the paperwork, the the background check that he got, the threat he post. It’s a civil matter.

 They do nothing. >> If police had thoroughly investigated Michael’s complaints, they likely would have discovered that Lauren Canarak was far from as blameless as she appeared. She already had a criminal history. Among other things, it included stalking and harassment, including repeatedly using social media to make both indirect and direct threats against people she considered her enemies.

 At the time of these events, Lauren was also facing at least one unresolved criminal case in North Carolina, where she had previously lived, involving allegations of cyber stalking. However, during Michael Barisone’s trial, all of that information was ruled inadmissible and could not be presented as evidence. In other court filings, Michael’s defense team also described incidents in which Lauren, after deciding someone was her enemy, allegedly filed false reports with child protective services, law enforcement, and other government

agencies. Lauren’s father, Jonathan Canarak, threatened Michael with legal action if he forced Lauren off the farm. Even so, Michael’s attempts to evict Lauren and Robert were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, his paranoia continued to grow. Michael even began repeating some of the same language Lauren had been using in her Facebook posts.

Lauren often wrote about being at war. It looks like it’s time to start a war. If you keep poking a sleeping beast long enough, sooner or later it’s going to wake up. She referred to her dog Rosie as her night army and wrote about carrying out an armed attack. Even so, it appeared that Lauren’s most powerful weapon wasn’t a gun at all, but anonymous complaints filed with government agencies.

 A week before the shooting, municipal inspectors arrived at Hawthorne Hill and declared every building on the property unsafe and unfit for anyone to live in. As a result, Lauren and Robert were able to avoid being forced out of the farmhouse, while Michael was ordered to leave the stables and ended up sleeping outside on a mattress.

 Fire inspectors also came to examine the stable after Lauren reported that a malfunctioning heater posed a danger to the horses. The final blow for Michael came on the day he took the handgun from his office safe and drove to the farmhouse. That day, investigators from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency arrived at the stable to look into allegations that he had abused his girlfriend’s children.

The agency, which investigates reports involving child abuse and neglect, opened the case after receiving a referral from Safe Sport, the organization responsible for investigating abuse allegations in Olympic and Parolympic sports in the United States. The formal written complaint had been submitted by Lauren Canarak and Robert Goodwin.

 Lauren Canarak set in motion the final what I call the cudigra. She did the worst thing any human being could do to another human being. She falsely accused him of sexual misconduct with his girlfriend’s son. You’re you’re asked to return a verdict. It will not be about Warren [music] Ken. It will not be about Rob Goodwin.

 It will not be about Mary Haskins. It will not be about any [music] other person except this man. So, you may hear things that you don’t like about Warren [music] or Rob or Mary Haskins or any of these other people, but saying nasty things, misbehaving, if you want to call it that, none of that is a justification to get shot.

 None of it creates a necessity for that person to be killed. No, we’re here on this trial because of the defendant’s choice on August 7th, 2019. His choice to get a gun, a pink and black 9mm handgun, to point that gun at Lauren and pull the trigger twice and then to turn it on Rob and pull the trigger [music] again.

>> The jury also heard testimony from Michael’s girlfriend, Mary Haskins Gray. She described how Michael’s mental state rapidly deteriorated in the days leading up to the shooting. Lauren’s Facebook posts themselves were not admitted into evidence. However, the court did allow testimony about the effect those posts had on Michael and how they intensified his growing paranoia.

 Did any of the clients take precautions with regards to protecting their horses based on these social media posts? >> Yes, sir. >> What did they do? >> Uh, slept in front of the hor’s stalls and some of the ladies were super concerned about the status and the barn and what was the threats being made. It’s your testimony that [clears throat] grown women would actually sleep in front of the horse stables.

>> Correct. >> Because they were concerned for their own hor’s safety. [music] >> Correct. >> And can you tell me what effect did you observe that have on Michael Barisel? I mean everything just was materializing more and more every day um that she was doing and he was absolutely unraveling. >> Likewise, the results of the background investigation into Lauren Canarak and Robert Goodwin, which Michael had commissioned from a private investigator, were also ruled inadmissible and could not be presented as evidence at trial. Can you tell me

what impact that had on Michael Barisome when he got that background check on both of those people? >> We were horrified these people were living on our property and were unaware of these things. >> Were you afraid of them? >> I was. Yes. >> Was Michael Barisone terrified of them? >> Yes, sir. >> Psychiatrist Dr.

 Steven Siming and neurossychologist Dr. Charles Hassan testified that Michael was suffering from a rare psychiatric condition known as persecuto delusional disorder. It’s a disorder in which a person develops persistent false beliefs about reality, even when clear evidence contradicts those beliefs. Michael had become convinced that Lauren and Robert were carrying out a coordinated campaign against him.

 He genuinely believed they were determined to destroy his business, his horses, his family, and the people closest to him. >> Specifically, he was delusional. He harbored a series of interconnected false beliefs which guided his thinking and his actions. >> And what did with those respect to those delusions, what did he believe was going to happen to him? He believed that Lauren Canarak and her associates had come up with an elaborate plan to destroy him and kill him.

>> Michael Barzone had struggled with mental health issues for more than 20 years. During that time, he saw a psychotherapist on and off, and those medical records became part of the foundation for the defense experts conclusions. The case history also included reports that Michael had been abused by his father during childhood.

The experts also reviewed more than 19,000 pages of Lauren Canar’s social media posts. The material filled six large boxes of documents. Her online campaign against Michael Barzone had begun more than a year before the shooting. >> Was it brought to your attention that there were over 19,000 pages of of social media posts from Warren? >> Oh, well, yes. That’s why I told Mr.

Barisone. There is no way you’re [music] going to get me to read 19,000 pages. I have better things to do. If you want me to do this, you’re going to have to boil this down to a 100 pages and then I’ll read it. >> When discussing Michael’s memory loss, Dr. Siming offered two possible explanations. >> Got hit on the head, which is probably the most likely reason that he lost memory.

 uh during the confrontation it happened very quickly and what happened is not very [music] clear but one of the things uh seemed to be that Robert Goodwin hit him on the head with his cell phone and he suffered a hematoma behind his ear and some other head injuries that’s the most likely reason that he lost his memory. Now when when people are in states of high anxiety like that like any anybody can remember like being say in a car accident or being the victim of a crime sometimes memory is not completely clear [music] for everything that happens because

anxiety is so high. However, I think the most simple explanation is he got hit on the head. >> The prosecution called forensic psychologist Dr. Schlesinger to challenge the defense experts conclusions. Doctor Schlesinger testified that he saw no evidence suggesting Michael was suffering from psychosis or had lost touch with reality. He also stated that Dr.

 Hassan had overlooked one of the psychological testing indicators that could suggest Michael was falsely claiming to have memory loss. >> The respondent may not have answered in a completely forthright manner. The nature of his responses might lead the evaluator to form a somewhat inaccurate impression of the client based upon the style of responding below.

 And then it goes on the next page. And again, this is in capital letters. The test results potentially involve considerable distortion. >> Dr. Schlesinger also told the jury that the evaluation revealed signs suggesting Michael Barisone was trying to portray himself in an unusually negative or pathological way.

 In other words, the results indicated he may have been attempting to appear more mentally unstable than he actually was. >> Please state your name. I’ll spell your last name for the record. >> My name is Robert Goodwin. G O O D W I N. When Robert Goodwin took the witness stand, he gave the jury a detailed account of what happened that day during his encounter with Michael.

>> Lauren said, “I’ll go talk to him and uh walked down the stairs and walked over to Michael. Did you see how close she got to him?” >> Guess she just got around the bush and uh within 4T. That’s when Michael raised up the gun and shot her twice. Well, she turned and ran and he ran. kind of looked like he was chasing after her, but [music] then he pointed the gun at me and fired a shot at me.

>> Robert testified that after diving into the doorway to avoid the bullet, he launched himself at Michael and landed a powerful flying blow that briefly stunned the attacker. >> Turned around and I didn’t know if he was going to chase after Lauren, but as soon as he gave me his back, I took advantage of it.

>> And what did you do? >> Put him in a choke hole. >> And what happened when you put him in the choke hole? Uh, he passed out very quickly >> between you and I >> actually uh so I was I was going to go back there. Um, so as he turned around and went to runway, I jumped I jumped on his um I threw my arm around his neck and I put him in the choke hold and at that time that’s when I saw the gun come up again.

Do >> you remember what what the state of the gun looked like or what the >> So I’m not I’m not very familiar with guns. So, um, uh, it was it was looked like it was jammed at that point. That’s what I thought. I thought at that point when he when it came up, you know, when I first saw it come up, I thought he was coming to shoot me.

 Um, and then [music] when I saw the barrel and the the slide kick back, um, I [music] wasn’t that concerned about it. But, >> attorney Ed Balinkis challenged that version of events. At what point during the struggle? he asked. Did Robert realize the slide was locked open, meaning the gun was no longer capable of firing? And was Robert deliberately downplaying his knowledge of firearms to justify why he continued tackling Michael to the ground, choking him, and striking him in the head over and over again.

 You >> indicated yesterday that you’re not really familiar with guns. [music] Correct. >> I don’t know if I said I was unfamiliar with them or I’m not a gun guy. What’s the difference in your mind? >> I mean, I’ve used guns before. I know how to use a gun. I know about gun safety. >> For instance, you’re a Marine, correct? >> Correct.

>> You were trained with inspector weapons, correct? >> Correct. Didn’t you tell the police that the reason why you decided to charge at Michael Barisone is because you saw that the slide was back and realized that the weapon had no bullets in it. Did you punch him in the face? >> When Michael was coming back too, he was very he was trying to get back up.

 I did punch him. >> How many times? >> And I did hold him down. [music] How many times did you punch Michael Barisone in the face? >> Enough to get him to not get access to the gun [music] anymore. >> Do you have any idea how many punches that took? >> I mean, this is a fight for my life. So, was I concerned about how many times I was punching the man that is trying to get up? I was not.

 And I no I do not know how many times I punched him in the face. Fact of the matter is he was trying to get back up. >> And did you punch him on the side of the head in both ears >> specifically? [music] I do not know. >> Have you seen any pictures of what Michael Barisone looked like after you got done punching him and hitting him? [cough and clears throat] H Belinkus questioned Robert’s credibility on more than just that one incident.

During cross-examination, he raised several other issues that, in the defense’s view, could affect how believable Robert’s testimony really was. Robert was also questioned about recordings of Michael’s private conversations that he and Lauren had somehow obtained. That issue became one of the most confusing and controversial parts of the trial because it involved confidential conversations that by all appearances should never have been accessible to anyone else.

 At some point, it became obvious not only to Michael, but also to several other people that conversations taking place inside the stables lounge and in Michael’s private office were somehow being overheard. According to witness testimony, this raised growing questions about exactly how those conversations had been recorded or obtained.

 Lauren was able to quote Michael’s private conversations almost word for word, which only made him even more disturbed. To Michael, it became yet another sign that his private conversations were somehow finding their way into the hands of other people. On top of that, Lauren regularly posted verbatim excerpts from those conversations online.

 The posts would remain visible long enough for Michael to see them. Then they would soon disappear. According to the defense, those posts only deepened his anxiety and reinforced his belief that he was being watched. During questioning, Lauren and Robert told their attorney that all of the recordings had come from Lauren’s personal locker inside the stable.

 They insisted they had never installed any listening devices anywhere on the property, even though many of the recorded conversations had taken place inside Michael’s private office. However, the transcript of their meeting with their attorney appeared to suggest they were withholding something. The defense pointed to that document, arguing that its contents left serious unanswered questions about where those recordings had actually come from.

Michael later hired a company that specialized in detecting hidden surveillance devices to search the property, but the inspection found nothing. Despite an extensive search, investigators were unable to locate any device that could explain how those private conversations had been recorded or obtained.

 testified yesterday that every single recording that you made in the stable area, and I’m referring to that big building [music] that includes where the horses are housed, the club room, and the office were made from Lauren Canarak’s locker. >> Yeah. Or or in my pocket in transport. Okay. >> Okay.

 Okay. And and Lauren Canarak tells that to the lawyer. Correct. >> Yes. >> And then after she says that, did you say at least at least [clears throat] that recording? Anyway, ha. After that, Lauren Canarak took the witness stand to tell her version of what happened. In the courtroom, her testimony became one of the most important moments of the trial because she had been directly involved in the events and was expected to describe in detail what, according to her, had happened in the days leading up to the shooting and on the day of the tragedy itself. Although she was unquestionably

one of the victims in the case, there were also moments during the trial when she had to defend or explain her own actions. Throughout her testimony, the attorneys repeatedly questioned her about her decisions, her conduct, and her previous conflicts with Michael, requiring her to explain in detail several incidents that the defense believed were important to the case.

 In her own words, Lauren described how she believed she had been treated differently and unfairly at Hawthorne Hill. She argued that this treatment steadily intensified the conflict and became an inseparable part of the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragedy. According to Lauren, that was what life at Hawthorne Hill had really been like throughout that difficult period.

um just like tossed to the side and then I was just there to pay money and board my horses and nothing more. Sometimes [music] it seemed like it mattered and he was interested in, you know, our progression. Other times it was just take this kind of thing. >> Would you say you were treated differently if you acted differently with respect [music] to riding a horse? Yes.

>> With respect to the way you dressed? >> Yes. [music] >> The way you use social media? >> Yes. >> Did you ever make a complaint to Safe Sport? >> I did. >> What was the general basis of the complaint or the reason that you called to make a complaint? >> There were a few. Um, mainly it was severe bullying.

 Um, like torturous bullying. [music] And there was also some stuff in there about body shaming. Um, and that’s [music] pretty much it. It was mostly just bullying and scare tactics and things like that and just a a show of, you know, power over someone smaller. Basically, >> Lauren denied ever accusing Michael Barisone of abusing children.

 During her testimony, she insisted she had never made such allegations, even as the defense tried to challenge that claim. Defense attorney Ed Belinkus presented Lauren with records from a search history recovered from her phone on two separate dates. The records showed searches for the anonymous hotline operated by New Jerseys Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

According to the defense, those searches were relevant to evaluating her earlier actions and directly contradicted her testimony that she had never made those allegations. Lauren suggested that someone else may have used her phone after it had been stolen. That was how she explained the searches, denying that she had conducted them herself.

 The defense in turn argued that her explanation was another factor the jury should consider when deciding how credible her testimony was. >> Those records that you in fact were searching for Dyson’s anonymous hotline. >> The doubt in my mind is this. Earlier that year, Justin Harden, Michael’s assistant trainer, had stolen my phone at [snorts] a restaurant and we caught him like we called it and we found him in his vehicle breaking into my phone and going through it just like a month or two before around. So, [music] while yes,

it’s possible that I was just simply searching for a hotline number or just s making inquiries online, [music] it’s also possible that Justin Harden, who does possess phone technological skills that I do not, after having stolen my phone and broken into it just right before this, may have been able to do things [music] with my phone that I did not.

 The defense then began pressing Lauren to explain the sequence of events in detail. Step by step, the attorneys walked her through everything she did after the gunshots were fired, trying to reconstruct every moment as accurately as possible. They focused especially on her movements and exactly how she used the cell phones during those critical minutes.

 Lauren testified that she was holding Robert’s phone when she was shot. According to her, she dropped it after being hit. She then went inside, picked up her own phone, but never used it. After that, she went back outside, retrieved Robert’s phone, and used it to call 911. She then returned to the front porch once again to retrieve her own phone and used it as a weapon, striking Michael with it while he was lying on the grass.

 That was the sequence of events she described to the jury. The defense carefully examined each step, attempting to determine whether her account was consistent with the other evidence and the [music] circumstances presented throughout the trial. >> Somewhere in between after I told 911 I’d been shot, Rob was, you know, you could hear him struggling with Michael.

At that time, I grabbed my phone. Um, I was covered in blood. I crawled somewhere, whether it was an inch away or half of a foot away. Wow. >> To get my phone, thinking the only way that I could help the situation [music] is by helping to make sure no one else gets shot or killed that day, which is why I had my phone and was hitting Michael on the head with it or you’re with it.

How long >> were you beating Michael Barisome with your phone? >> Maybe a matter of seconds. >> Lauren’s testimony, much like Robert’s, differed in several respects from the statements they gave police immediately after the shooting. Throughout the trial, the defense repeatedly highlighted those inconsistencies, arguing that key details in both of their accounts had changed from the initial explanations they provided to investigators in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

 Those discrepancies became one of the central points of the defense’s case as Michael’s attorneys sought to challenge the consistency and credibility of the two primary eyewitnesses. >> Did you say these exact words? I used my seven minutes to help Rob keep the 6 foot4 MB subdued by breaking my iPhone on his cheek and in his ear. >> Probably said that. Yeah.

>> Seven minutes you claim to be beating Michael Barisome. Isn’t that Are you sure that that didn’t go on before any shots were fired? >> Did what go on? You got to clarify it. >> The beating talked by the dag, the dog, and her slamming her phone into his head. During his closing argument, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Shellhorn urged the jury to view the case in the simplest possible terms.

 He argued that there was no need to get lost in the long history of conflict or examine every dispute that had built up over the course of many months. Instead, he asked the jurors to set aside the complicated details of the years conflict between Michael and Lauren. He urged them to disregard the numerous 911 calls, the complaints filed with local authorities, law enforcement, and child protective services.

 According to the prosecutor, all of those issues only distracted from the one question the jury actually needed to answer. In his view, Michael’s actions that day spoke for themselves. He argued that the sequence of events clearly revealed Michael’s intent and required no complicated explanations or speculation. Michael took the handgun from the safe, loaded it, and then drove to the farmhouse where Lauren and Robert were living to confront them.

 According to the prosecution, those were deliberate and intentional actions that directly led to the shooting. The prosecutor argued that the very fact Michael knowingly chose a deadly weapon, a handgun, allowed the jury to conclude that he intended to kill someone. That became the foundation of the state’s case as prosecutors urged the jury to focus not on the months of conflict between the parties, but on the decisions Michael made immediately before the gunshots were fired.

I would ask that you not return a verdict based on any sympathy, disgust, [music] or emotion, but that you return a verdict that’s based on reason, based on facts, and based on the law. And I would suggest if you do that, you will return a just verdict for guilty. >> The defense, on the other hand, presented a far more complex and much broader version of events.

 They portrayed Michael as a man who had been systematically and psychologically broken down by Lauren Canarak and her boyfriend Robert Goodwin through what they described as a deliberate campaign to destroy his reputation. According to the defense, the pressure didn’t build overnight. It continued for months, growing more intense over time and taking an increasingly severe toll on Michael’s mental state.

 The defense further argued that Lauren and Robert had given false statements to police, pointing to what they described as numerous inconsistencies between their initial accounts and the testimony they later gave under oath in court. Those discrepancies became a major part of the defense’s case as Michael’s attorneys argued that important details in their stories simply did not match.

 When it came to the most critical moments of the shooting, the jury had only Lawrence and Robert’s word. There were no independent eyewitnesses who could directly confirm or contradict their account of what happened during those crucial seconds. And according to the defense, there was no reason to accept their testimony without question.

 The attorneys argued that the many inconsistencies left far too many unanswered questions to rely solely on their version of events. Ed Belinkus walked the jury through several key contradictions. Step by step, he examined individual pieces of evidence in an effort to show that the prosecution’s theory still contained significant unresolved issues.

He questioned how the cell phones ended up exactly where they were found if Laurens’s version of events was accurate. According to the defense, that detail did not fully align with her account and required further explanation. He also challenged whether a third shot had ever been fired at Robert Goodwin at all.

 In the defense’s view, the prosecution had failed to present enough convincing evidence to prove that allegation beyond question. Finally, he suggested that Lauren and Robert may have attacked Michael before he ever fired the gun. With that argument, the defense offered the jury a completely different interpretation of what happened that day, directly challenging the prosecution’s central claims.

They say three shots [snorts] were fired. Look at the photos and all the evidence that comes before you. They only found two shell casings. Where’s the third? You can’t have a shot without a shell casing. If there is no third shot, there is no attempted murder on Robert Goodwin. How did Michael Barisone’s phone get on that table on that round [music] metal table by the bush? No one talked about him having a phone in his hand.

 Cataract and Goodwin never talked about Robert Goodwin having a phone. If you’re going to shoot somebody, if you’re coming down there to kill somebody, why would you have your phone in your hand? >> The prosecution called 15 witnesses during the trial. They included several police officers, detectives from the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Mary Haskins Gray, Lauren Canarak, and Robert Goodwin.

 Their testimony was intended to help the jury reconstruct the full sequence of events and understand exactly what happened on the day of the shooting. The defense in [music] turn called 23 witnesses. They included Michael’s employees, local government officials, medical experts, and several former Olympians. each offered a different perspective on Michael, describing his character, his professional reputation, his behavior, and his mental condition in the months leading up to the tragedy.

 Michael Barisone himself chose not to testify. After both sides rested their cases, the matter was handed over to the jury. The panel of 12 jurors deliberated for approximately 18 hours. Throughout those lengthy discussions, they carefully weighed the testimony, examined the evidence, and considered the opinions of the expert witnesses.

 The medical testimony, in particular, appeared to play a central role in their deliberations. Judge Taylor received a note from the jury asking for clarification about when each of the medical experts had first examined Michael after the shooting. That request suggested the jurors were evaluating not only the experts conclusions but also the timing of their examinations.

 The following day, the jury asked to hear nearly 3 hours of trial testimony again. Only after reviewing that testimony did they resume deliberations, carefully reconsidering all of the evidence before reaching their final decision. When the verdict was finally announced, it became clear that the jury had accepted the defense’s central argument.

 They concluded that Michael was suffering from a delusional disorder that had so severely distorted his thinking that he had lost touch with reality, was living in a state of paranoia, and genuinely believed his own life was in danger. That finding ultimately became the deciding factor in the verdict and shaped the outcome of the entire trial.

With regard to count one, attempted murder of Lauren Canarak, what is your verdict? >> Not guilty by reason of insanity. >> With regard to count two, attempted murder of Robert Goodwin, what is your verdict, sir? That >> Michael was completely acquitted on the charge involving Robert Goodwin. It appears the prosecution was never able to convincingly prove that a third shot had actually been fired.

 That allegation remained one of the most disputed parts of the case, and the evidence ultimately fell short of proving it beyond a reasonable doubt. On September 7th, 2022, Michael returned to court. This time, he looked very different from how he had appeared during the main trial. He was clean shaven, neatly groomed, and appeared far calmer than he had in the previous months when his condition had repeatedly raised concerns.

 After the hearing, the judge ordered that Michael be transferred to a psychiatric hospital with a less restrictive level of security. There, he was to continue receiving treatment under the supervision of mental health professionals while undergoing further evaluation of his psychiatric condition. The plan was for him to remain at the New Jersey psychiatric facility for at least another 6 months.

 At the end of that period, doctors and the court would reassess his condition and determine what steps should come next. Meanwhile, the legal battle between the parties was far from over. Lauren Canarak filed a civil lawsuit against Michael Barisone over the shooting. Michael responded by filing a counter suit challenging the claims made against him.

 In addition, he filed a separate lawsuit against the police officers involved, arguing through his attorneys that they had failed to take appropriate action despite his repeated requests for help in the days leading up to the shooting. According to the defense, those warnings were not taken seriously, even though they believed the situation had already reached the point where law enforcement intervention was necessary.