Accused Says Crossbow Fired by Mistake

A man being tried for attempted murder testified Friday that he accidentally fired an arrow from a crossbow into his former lover’s head after the victim sexually assaulted him.

Jesse Solis, 24, said that Arthur Ekvall, 29, was forcibly pulling him into bed on the morning of June 8 when a crossbow that he thought was defective fired.

“It went off accidentally when my leg hit the bed,” Solis testified.

The arrow entered the back of Ekvall’s head at the base of his skull, leaving a large bump on his forehead where the tip of the arrow did not break the skin.

Under questioning from defense attorney Art Herrera, Solis said his rocky 15-month relationship with Ekvall included many fistfights and yelling matches.

Ekvall was spending the night at Solis’ apartment when he attacked Solis, getting “on top of me, on my back,” according to the testimony.

In the midst of the sexual assault, Solis said he somehow was able to struggle free. He ordered Ekvall to leave, he said, but an argument began.

Solis said that, after the phone cord was yanked from the wall, he armed himself with a loaded crossbow stored in his hall closet.

Earlier in his testimony, Solis said that he had purchased the weapon for his father and realized after putting it together the day before that the mechanism was defective. But under cross-examination, Solis admitted that he had taken the crossbow back to the sporting goods store where he bought it and left with a completely functioning weapon.

He never intended to use the crossbow, Solis said, he only wanted “to scare him away.”

Ekvall then went into the bedroom, lay down on the bed and asked for sex, Solis said.

Grabbing the arm that was not holding the crossbow, Ekvall pulled Solis toward him, according to Solis.

“That’s when I heard the bow and arrow release,” he said.

During his testimony Wednesday, Ekvall said that he was asleep during the attack and awoke with a sensation that his “brain had exploded” and saw Solis trying to reload the weapon.

During cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Hammes read from Solis’ diary, which indicated he had another lover while he was seeing Ekvall.

Solis’ testimony will continue Monday. The jury is expected to begin deliberations in the case Tuesday.