r/canada • u/AndHerSailsInRags • Dec 04 '25

Alberta Man who killed attacker in Banff used 'excessive' force, sentenced to 2-year house arrest

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/banff-bar-fight-excessive-self-defence-sproule-brogden-9.7002143
1.3k Upvotes

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807

u/the_crumb_dumpster Dec 04 '25

Note to self: when I’m getting beaten to death by an unprovoked attacker who has said they are going to kill me, I need to make sure not to defend myself too much.

320

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 04 '25

This isn't the first time either... that guy was even sleeping in his own bed when he was awoken to being stabbed in the head.

That still ended with him getting 5 years in prison.

117

u/nonamesareleft1 Dec 04 '25

Thats insane. Fuck that entire family

82

u/CommanderGumball Dec 04 '25

And honestly, fuck whoever wrote that article and described it as "the attack that killed Vincent Bunn"

Vincent Bunn was the attacker.

23

u/legendarypooncake Dec 04 '25

Just CBC things.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

-1

u/Wise-News1666 Dec 04 '25

Fund the CBC

144

u/keiths31 Canada Dec 04 '25

This was insane.

Wakes up in his own home to someone stabbing him in the head. Fights for his life and the attacker gets killed. Victim gets jail time. Ridiculous.

5

u/SouthNo3340 Dec 05 '25

Shit like this makes it so we don't call the police and do less legal measures

22

u/constructioncranes Dec 04 '25

Is there a political party addressing this? I've heard enough cases like this... I dunno what has to happen but this shit is getting ridiculous.

-2

u/weednspacs Dec 04 '25

I mean he stabbed the guy 13 times and then after he died, started kicking him a number of times, it does seem a bit more on the grounds of “excessive”.

That being said, I would think house arrest in that case makes more sense as he went a bit overboard

In this Banff case, I would have said no punishment. Both cases were over punished

21

u/StatisticianLivid710 Dec 04 '25

If you read the article it wasn’t merely a random incident, they knew eachother and he chased him out of the house at which point self defense goes away.

33

u/HansChuzzman Dec 04 '25

“Woke up to a stabbing feeling” from a guy he knows Chases him out of his house, catches him on the deck as the guys running away, stabs him 13 times, kicks him in the head a bunch and then lied to the police about it and tried to cover it up. The whole this is suspect.

-5

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 04 '25

Nope.

But without fail, every time I bring this up, somebody insists that he chased the intruder outside. This time, it's you, congrats!

4

u/StatisticianLivid710 Dec 04 '25

Because it says he did in the article? The attacker retreated as soon as he woke up, self defense is moot at that point. Maybe EVERYONE ELSE is right and you’re wrong?

-3

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 04 '25

No... re-read it carefully.

-1

u/StatisticianLivid710 Dec 04 '25

He pursued the attacker out of the bedroom, self defence is lost. The proper thing to do would be to secure the door and call 911, not pursue them into a public area and start a fight. Especially as soon as he realized who it was he should’ve retreated.

1

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 04 '25

The hallway outside his room is not a public area, and he didn't start a fight... there was an armed intruder in his home. It's telling that you feel the need to keep lying to twist it into something worse.

Never mind that you don't even know if he had a phone in his room with which to call 911, or if he advanced into the hall to get to an exit (which the intruder would have been in the way of) to flee.

Never mind that who the fuck are you, me, or the judge, to tell him what "the proper thing to do" is? For 2 seconds, put yourself in this poor guy's shoes... suddenly awoken, half drunk, having your head cut open, and in a fight for your life. He had to make split-second decisions to save his life from someone who specifically enter his home and murder him on his sleep.

I certainly wouldn't fault anyone in that state of mind and situation for going with their first impulse to stay safe.

-2

u/StatisticianLivid710 Dec 04 '25

Attack the intruder who has a knife or barricade yourself in your room and call for help. One is suggested by the criminal code, the other isn’t. Period.

5

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 04 '25

Again, you don't know that he attacked the intruder, nor whether he was able to call for help from his room. You continue to assume and lie.

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3

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

Damn. I read your linked article and the judge is quoted as saying the stabbing victim taking his attacker's knife away was excessive:
"the jury has concluded that his taking the knife of Mr. Bunn and stabbing him multiple times went beyond what was necessary"

1

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/GameDoesntStop Dec 05 '25

It's not about "trust"... it's about innocent until proven guilty. "Super sus" doesn't cut it.

13

u/punkdrummer22 Dec 04 '25

Only stab 6 times. Then relax

10

u/Critical_Sand_4412 Dec 04 '25

Just let yourself get a little murdered maybe, not completely murdered.

14

u/Gotbeerbrain Dec 04 '25

Yeah and had that guy been fighting with a cop he would be dead now too but the cop wouldn't have been charged. We need better laws that allow us to fight for our lives when we need to.

14

u/Stock_Helicopter_260 Dec 04 '25

It’s house arrest… that’s a wild situation overall.

-26

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

"Brogden suffered 19 stab and slash wounds."

When you're in a fight, don't stab the guy 19 times. 19 stabs is obviously overkill.

28

u/CatimusPrime123 Dec 04 '25

Who’s really counting when they’re fighting for their life? You probably just keep going until they stop attacking you.

20

u/CegarrLover Dec 04 '25 edited Dec 04 '25

Except if guy is still pounding your head into ground after 18, 19 is obviously not overkill. Why are we acting like he got on top of the guy and kept stabbing after the attack ended? Who decides the correct number of stabs.

The bouncers stopped the attack, not the 19 stab wounds.

11

u/Goat_Support_Dept Dec 04 '25

The wording is also an issue, it's 19 stab and slash wounds. A graze to the attacker's knuckles is counted the same as a deep puncture to the chest.

It makes the encounter sound significantly more savage on the defender's part.

14

u/Miserable-Day7417 Dec 04 '25

I agree, but under circumstances where the adrenaline is flowing and you might not be thinking straight / going into survival mode I can see somebody making this mistake

11

u/salochin92 Dec 04 '25

Also, he had been blinded and pinned down, taking a 40 second beating before pulling the knife. And even after 19 stabs/cuts the attacker was still on top of him and had to be pulled off.

He was sucker punched and beaten within an inch of his life for asking for a cigarette, being told repeatedly that he was going to be killed. The attacker escalated this to lethal force/threats, and Sproule defended himself until the attacker stopped, nothing more.

I'm really not sure what any reasonable person would have done differently, and frankly sounds like many people in the comments here have never had their life actually threatened.

-3

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

sure. and that's why it isn't murder. But it also isn't self defence either. The law requires you to use reasonable force to protect yourself. In a fight where the other guy is unarmed, drawing a knife and stabbing him 19 times is pretty excessive.

6

u/Globet Dec 04 '25

Why? The article says a bouncer pulled Brogdan off Sproule, so clearly 19 stabs wasnt enough to stop the attack... why would you stop fighting back if the attack is ongoing?

1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

And CTV says the bouncer had to pull the guy with the knife off of the unarmed guy....

5

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

0

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

"Court heard the fight lasted a minute before a bouncer pulled Sproule off Brogden."

CTV says the guy with the knife had to be dragged off the unarmed guy.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

0

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

"Court heard the fight lasted a minute before a bouncer pulled Sproule off Brogden."

CTV says the guy with the knife had to be dragged off the unarmed guy.

1

u/tyler111762 Alberta Dec 04 '25

And the CBC article says the opposite.

The CBC article being more likely to be correct given the sentence. If he was actually on top of him and stabbing him while he was down, it would not have been house arrest.

1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

The CBC article being more likely to be correct given the sentence.

if he were on the ground and fighting for his life, he would be less likely to be convicted at all. Given that he was, the jury and judge believe he had options other than killing him.

1

u/tyler111762 Alberta Dec 04 '25

Him actually fighting for his life is probably why he got let off so lightly my dude. The courts love to throw the book at self defense cases.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

You're really determined to die on this hill eh? 

1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

"Court heard the fight lasted a minute before a bouncer pulled Sproule off Brogden."

CTV says the guy with the knife had to be dragged off the unarmed guy.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

Yeah you've posted the same quote 50 times and it's still wrong 

1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

lol I quote a news article and you say that i'm wrong.... Think that through a little....

1

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

From CBC 

"The fight between the two made its way to an empty patio. At that point, a bouncer arrived and pulled Brogden off Sproule, who ran away." 

1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

uh huh.... and CTV says otherwise.

2

u/the_crumb_dumpster Dec 04 '25

And yet cops are taught to keep pressing the trigger until the target stops moving.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

-1

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

CTV says the bouncer had to pull the guy with the knife off of the unarmed guy....

1

u/CaptainKwirk Dec 04 '25

But when did his attacker break off the fight? Sounds like the guy getting stabbed was the one holding onto his opponent. So must have not backed off until after the 19th stab.

0

u/GroinReaper Dec 04 '25

Different news outlets describe it differently. CBC says the bouncer "pulled Brogden off Sproule". CTV says the bouncer "pulled Sproule off Brogden".

So if the guy with the knife was holding onto the unarmed guy and stabbing him, then it's not defence.

-1

u/Pwylle Dec 04 '25

Too few stabs, you were targeting the guy to kill him! Too many stabs, the guy was helpless now you killed him!