Professional skier Dean Cummings was found not guilty of second-degree murder after testifying that the shooting and killing of Guillermo Arriola on February 29th, 2020, was an act of self-defense.
According to his testimony, Cummings was working on a deal with Arriola to purchase property in New Mexico, but things turned sour. The athlete claimed that, on February 29th, Arriola’s attitude had changed and, after about 8 to 10 minutes of conversation, things got worse.
“I called him a scammer, and that really blew him off the top. That really made him angry.” – Dean Cummings, according to Law & Crime
Arriola reportedly attacked Cummings with an unknown object, and the skier shot Arriola while they were both struggling to take control of the gun. According to the direct examination of Cummings, Arriola appeared to be intoxicated, either from marijuana or alcohol, and he was later confirmed to be on cocaine at the time of his death.
Defense Lawyer Nicole Moss also held that the law enforcement’s investigation was incomplete and sloppy. Despite Cummings’ initially placing a call into the police department following the shooting, for example, the state never received it, though they did receive calls from another witness. Additionally, body cam footage had disappeared and a shooting reconstruction was never completed, all on top of other issues.
Dean Cummings exploded in popularity in the 1990’s, winning the World Extreme Skiing Championship in 1995. However, over the past several years, the skier has faced a severe decline, making claims of criminal syndicates attempting to ruin his life and other large conspiracies working to bring him down.
Image Credit: H2O Guides Alaska Heliskiing via Instagram
