The former dressage Olympian arrested after being accused of shooting an award-winning equestrienne at close range at his 53-acre New Jersey farm reportedly told 911 dispatchers that he was ‘at war’ with the athlete because she was allegedly squatting on his property with her fiance.
Michael Barisone is said to have called 911 on his ‘clients’ just a week before the August 7 shooting at his Morris County farm.
He claimed that Lauren Kanarek and her fiancé – Robert Goodman – were failing to pay rent, were trespassing and were belligerent in the calls that were obtained by NJ.com.
‘They’re causing trouble, they’re stirring s— up. They’re here in our private horse facility, and these people need to be warned,’ Barisone said on a July 31 call.
‘This is a war and it’s going to be dealt with right now. I’ve had enough of these people. I need them gone.’
Michael Barisone is said to have called 911 on his ‘clients’ just a week before the August 7 shooting at his Morris County farm
He claimed that the two were mooching off the land and not paying rent.
Barisone told the dispatcher that Kanarek and Goodwin were living at his sprawling dressage facility without a lease and without paying rent.
‘They are clients who have become a menace to us,’ he said on the July 31 call. ‘These people are destroying our lives. These people are insane.’
Barisone referred to the duo as ‘squatters’ and claimed that they were ‘causing us hell.’
‘We used to live there but we left because we’re in fear of them,’ he said.
Barisone claimed that Lauren Kanarek and her fiancé were failing to pay rent, were trespassing and were belligerent
He called 911 on the next day to share that Kanerek was on the phone, screaming at her father.
The next day, he dialed 911 again, to complain that Kanarek, 38, was walking down the driveway while screaming on the phone with her father.
‘This is a situation going from bad to worse,’ Barisone asserted.
Reports indicate that Barisone called police four times before the shooting. Kanarek is said to have called police just once before the shooting.
Barisone told police in an August 3 call that his family were ‘in fear for our lives’ after the 38-year-old posted on Facebook that she was‘not responsible for anything my other personalities do when they’re threatened’
Barisone, 54, attacked 38-year-old Lauren Kanarek on Wednesday afternoon at Hawthorne Farm in rural Morris County, police say, leaving the national medalist fighting for her life.
Kanarek wrote on social media in the days before her shooting that her life was in danger.
The incident is said to have been sparked by a landowner-tenant dispute, The New York Post reports. Rosanna Williams told the paper: ‘As for what set this off, I can’t discuss it. The situation was very complex.’
Lauren Kanarek was shot twice at close range on Wednesday and was left fighting for her life
Former dressage Olympian Michael Barisone, 54, has been arrested after the award-winning equestrienne was shot at Hawthorne Farm in rural Morris County
She wrote on Facebook that she had been told to ‘sleep with one eye open’.
Kanarek said: ‘A certain known drunk has literally just informed me ‘sleep with one eye open’. Newsflash: I don’t sleep!!! But Ill B (sic) on the look out for any poorly aimed wine boxes’.
A day earlier she references being ‘bullied to the point of being afraid’.
She wrote: ‘I’m being bulled by a 6’3 man. Bullied to the point I’m afraid. It’s very complicated — I’m not sure of what I can say here — but it seems as if Safe Sport was created for exactly this reason.’
It is understood police had been called to the farm a number of times in the past week.
Friend Williams added: ‘She’s very kind. She’s been working really hard in the sport.’
The incident is said to have been sparked by a landowner-tenant dispute at the farm owned by Barisone. It is understood police were called to the farm a number of times in the past week
Kanarek wrote on social media in the days before her shooting that her life was in danger
Barisone, a member of the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing, has been charged with two counts each of attempted murder and weapons possession for the attack.
He trained Olympian Allison Brock, who won a bronze medal in dressage at the 2016 games in Rio for the US.
It is understood Kanarek was shot in the chest.
Two others, believed to be Barisone and Lauren’s fiancé, were said to have been injured but not from gunshots.