Domenic Micheli, Fired Gym Employee Allegedly Murdered Business Owner With Hatchet

The Nashville police are searching for a man who fled after hacking his former boss to death at a gymnasium Monday.

Domenic Micheli, 36, allegedly used a hatchet and another sharp weapon to attack 46-year-old Joel Paavola, who had fired him from his job 14 months ago. The victim was helping his clients work out at the Balance Training center, at a shopping center in the Belle Meade community, Nashville, when the attack took place, Fox News reported.

“Micheli brutally, savagely attacked Paavola at the front of the business," police spokesman Don Aaron said, adding that the second weapon could have been a knife of some sort or a second hatchet.

Paavola was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Just before the attack, the suspect was seen pacing back and forth in the garage parking of the fitness center. He was last seen driving a silver, older model Toyota Yaris. Authorities have warned civilians not to approach him as he may be armed and dangerous. If anyone spots the suspect’s car, he or she should get in touch with the police at 615-862-8600 immediately.

A before and after picture of the suspect was uploaded on the Nashville Police’s Twitter page, as the authorities requested for the support of the community in locating the suspect. The most recent picture taken of Micheli shows him with a thick beard and glasses.

Micheli briefly relocated to Oregon in August 2017 after getting fired and it is not clear how long he has been back in Tennessee. He was arrested in April this year by the secret service for driving his car to a checkpoint near the White House and refusing directives to move.

If and when caught, Micheli will be charged with murder, the police said.

After the fatal attack on Paavola, other business owners in the neighborhood were on the edge, voicing the need to have better security in the area.

“It makes you kind of look around and check your surroundings especially when you park downstairs because it’s kind of dark down there,” said Kevin Brown, whose business Music City Golf is located a couple of doors down from the fitness center where the attack happened, Fox17 reported.

Brown added that the surveillance cameras which are put up in the area only cover the stretch of the parking lot, not their shops.

“It’s not only for us," Brown said. "It’s for our customers too. This place is packed every day. Yeah. There are definitely some issues that have to be addressed."

He said a bunch of business owners had reached out to the property owner in order to discuss installing advanced security provisions near their businesses.

Randy Rayburn, a Nashville restaurateur who had worked out with the victim in another gym in the past, expressed his deepest condolences on Paavola’s death.

"I went through boot camp twice with Joel," Rayburn said. "Joel was one of the most enthusiastic and well-rounded people I've ever known in my life. He was just a wonderful father and human being."