Michael Barisone: The Hawthorne Hill Shooting and 2022 Insanity Verdict

Michael Barisone’s shooting of Lauren Kanarek at Hawthorne Hill led to a 2022 jury verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity on the charges concerning her.

The shooting occurred on August 7, 2019, at the New Jersey training property. Kanarek survived serious injuries. Barisone was a prominent dressage trainer who had coached Olympic riders, and she was his student and tenant.

According to Court TV’s account of the criminal complaint, police had received repeated calls about landlord-tenant disputes before the shooting. The existence of those disputes is documented; an imagined account of what every interaction felt like cannot establish either person’s state of mind.

The complaint account described Robert Goodwin tackling and restraining Barisone while Kanarek called 911. Barisone was taken from the scene.

The Shooting and Legal Outcome

The Trial and Verdict

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office records that on April 14, 2022, the jury found Barisone not guilty by reason of insanity of one count of attempted murder and one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. It found him not guilty on the other two counts.

Court TV identifies the insanity verdict as concerning Kanarek and the other acquittals as concerning Goodwin. Its report says the judge ordered a civil commitment evaluation after the verdict. That was a treatment and risk-assessment process following the acquittal, rather than a prison sentence for these charges.

A&E’s July 2026 account describes the competing positions presented at trial: the defense argued temporary insanity, while prosecutors argued intentional violence. The verdict should not be replaced by an amateur diagnosis or treated as a determination that every allegation made during the dispute was true.

What Remains Distinct

Kanarek’s survival, the shooting, the disputed accounts of the relationship and the legal outcome are separate parts of the record. A jury’s finding on criminal responsibility does not erase the injuries she suffered. Likewise, acknowledging those injuries does not change the acquittals.

This account concerns the documented shooting and verdict. It does not infer motive from social media activity or claim that an imagined chain of escalating emotions explains the event.

🔎 If this story stayed with you, the author suggests these real cases next:

• The family man who vanished after committing an unthinkable crime inside his own home
• The luxury store that became the scene of a shocking and brutal murder
• The relationship that spiraled into one of the most disturbing crimes in recent memory

Explore more True Crime stories here: View all True Crime stories →