**Portions of the content in this article may be distressing and traumatizing for some people.**
CALGARY – A man facing trial for a 2022 second-degree murder in Banff told a jury multiple times he was “scared for his life” and was attacked which led to an Alberta man being fatally stabbed.
John Sproule told a jury at Calgary’s Court of King’s Bench Friday (Feb. 21) that he acted in self-defence after he said he was attacked by Ryden Brogden outside Banff’s Dancing Sasquatch nightclub.
During the fight between Sproule and Brogden, the latter – a 27-year-old Foothills County man from Priddis – was stabbed a dozen times, suffered seven wounds and later died at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital.
Sproule told the jury he and his brother Josh had been barhopping and were returning to their hotel – where other members of their family were – and stopped outside Dancing Sasquatch when Sproule said he asked Brogden for a cigarette on Sept. 3, 2022.
Brogden abruptly refused, telling Sproule to “fuck off” and pushed him which led to Sproule asking “what the fuck is wrong with you?,” Sproule told the jury.
The 23-year-old Sproule told the court Brogden was verbally confrontational with him and asked Sproule “did you want to get shanked?” that eventually led to him punching him, pulling Sproule’s shirt over his head and continuing to punch him outside Dancing Sasquatch, he said.
“I’m going to fucking kill you. You’re dead,” Sproule said Brogden told him multiple times while he was being punched, adding he was “scared for my life.”
Sproule, who worked as a driller in Fernie, told the jury he had bought the knife from a gas station near Fernie to help with his job – which the majority of his co-workers also did – and he carried it “religiously for work.”
Sproule said he pulled his work knife from his front right pocket because he was “scared for my life” and estimated he began frantically swinging it “for roughly five seconds” to try and stop being attacked. He said he didn’t stop swinging until a bouncer pulled Brogden away and another person pulled Sproule from the fight.
He said he couldn’t see where he was swinging since his shirt was still over his head and he was pinned against a picnic table that was out on the Banff Avenue pedestrian zone.
“I was in fear for my life. … I had no other option at that time. I tried everything, told him I’m done and he just continued beating me, saying he was going to fucking kill me,” Sproule told the jury.
Family vacation, night of barhopping
The court heard Sproule was in Banff on a family vacation – his first time in the mountain community – along with his brother, mother, father, aunt, uncle, two dogs and grandma and uncle from Mexico. After going to Lake Louise for less than an hour, Sproule met with his family who went for a walk and had dinner.
Following the dinner, Sproule and his brother went barhopping to celebrate work promotions both had recently received. He said each bar they went to, they would ask the server to surprise them with a drink choice.
Sproule and his brother were at Dancing Sasquatch and went outside to vape, but when they tried to go back in, they were denied entry because there had been a complaint made against them.
They briefly went to High Rollers slightly before midnight and Sproule said they were returning to their hotel when he asked Brogden for a cigarette outside Dancing Sasquatch that ultimately ended in a fight and Brogden’s death.
Sproule said he didn’t know how long the entire fight took place.
The fight also involved Sproule’s brother, Josh, and Brogden’s friend, Howard Pearse.
Pearse said in his testimony earlier in the trial that Sproule demanded a cigarette from Brogden and threatened his friend, which ultimately led to a fight and Brogden’s death.
However, during cross-examination by defence lawyer Cory Wilson, Pearse admitted video evidence shown to the jury contradicted much of his testimony, according to the Calgary Herald.
Sproule told the jury he was trying to get away from the fight, but was unable to. Sproule told Wilson multiple times he had no intent to kill Brogden and was acting in self-defence.
Photos shown to the jury displayed several bruises on Sproule’s face, dried blood from both nostrils, bloody lips and cuts and scrapes on his upper body.
Earlier in the trial, the jury heard Sproule was above the legal driving limit of alcohol in his system of about two-and-a-half times about three hours after the fight between him and Brogden happened.
Fleeing the area, 911 call
Sproule said when he was separated from Brogden, he started running away with his brother Josh.
Sproule said he thought Brogden and his friends were chasing him and his brother Josh, with video evidence showing men following them.
They fled down Banff Avenue and into an alley where he and his brother hid underneath an RV in an alley between Banff Avenue and Bear Street because “there was multiple people chasing us, screaming that if they caught us, we would be dead,” Sproule said.
Sproule said he used his phone to call 911 and in audio played for the jury, his brother Josh can be heard saying “please, John, I don’t want to die.”
Other voices – which weren’t Sproule or his brother – could be heard saying “where are those guys?”
However, during cross-examination, Sproule said he didn’t know who was, if anyone, was chasing him in a line of questioning from Crown prosecutor Kaitlyn Perrin.
In video evidence, Perrin showed Sproule stopped running in the intersection of Banff Avenue and Caribou Street and walked past several people despite saying he was afraid for his life. Sproule said he slowed down due to being exhausted.
“You don’t ask any of them for help, do you? … You don’t approach any of them when you see them in the intersection, do you?,” Perrin said, highlighting previous evidence had him say he was afraid for his life and looking for help.
“No,” Sproule answered to both questions.
Perrin noted Sproule and his brother split ways after getting out from underneath the RV and Sproule didn’t remember why the two went different paths.
Arrest on Marten Street
Sproule was taken into custody by RCMP after a short chase led to his arrest at about 1 a.m. on Marten Street when he attempted to get into multiple apartments at the three-storey 347 Marten St. believing it to be his hotel at Fox and Suites.
Sproule said they eventually ended up on the roof of the building, believing Brogden and his friends were close and going to attack him.
On Feb. 14, Tyler Williams testified he was sleeping at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2022, when he heard someone screaming near his Marten Street apartment and the door handle started shaking and someone was trying to get in.
He said he held onto the door handle, which was locked, and Sproule was continuously banging on the door for about a minute when he started “bodychecking the door.” Williams said he then went to the window, which was to the left of the front door and slightly open, to stop Sproule from trying to get in and then back to protecting the front door.
At that point, he said Sproule went onto the roof and an RCMP officer came to his door. Sproule testified he jumped from the third floor roof.
When Williams looked outside his door, he said he saw bloody handprints.
Channing Patterson, a long-time Banff resident, said in testimony on Feb. 14 that he was sitting on the sidewalk with a friend he had walked home who lived at 347 Marten St. While the two were talking, he said he heard a loud thud like “someone dropped 100-pound sack of potatoes” and landed on gravel.
He turned around and saw Sproule, who had no shirt on and was covered “head to toe” in blood. Patterson said Sproule handed him keys and a $5 bill, with both “dripping in blood.”
His friend flagged down an RCMP officer, who arrested Sproule, Patterson said.
Two murders in Banff in 2022
Brogden’s death was the second in Banff in 2022 to result in second-degree murder charges. John Arrizza killed Banff resident Ethan Enns-Goneau in July, 2022 in Dancing Sasquatch. Arrizza’s trial was last fall and resulted in him being found guilty of second-degree murder.
The only other previous murder in Banff was 23-year-old cab driver Lucie Turmel in 1990 when 18-year-old Ryan Jason Love stabbed her multiple times for her earnings that night, which were about $130.
Sproule was charged with second-degree murder Sept. 4, 2022, and has been out on bail since December 2022, but under house arrest in Lake Country, B.C.
Ryden Brogden, a 27-year-old Foothills County man, was stabbed multiple times on Sept. 3, 2022, outside Dancing Sasquatch on Banff Avenue. Brogden was taken to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital, but died of his injuries.
Sproule said he was first taken to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital by police and then Canmore General Hospital for a CT scan and he felt like he had a broken jaw.
Sproule’s brother was taken into custody, but released and not charged.
During Sproule’s Feb. 21 testimony, several photos and videos were shown that focused on the leadup to the confrontation between Sproule and Brogden, the physical altercation that led to Brogden being fatally stabbed multiple times and the aftermath of Sproule and his brother fleeing.
Throughout the trial, there have been 14 Crown witnesses, including an expert in toxicology and an expert in forensic pathology to determine the cause and manner of death.
On Feb. 20, Justice Johanna Price said she found the expert evidence “undeniably relevant.”
An expert in psychology will be called by the defence early next week on the impact alcohol has on the fight or flight response.
The trial continues Feb. 24 and is anticipated to run to Feb. 28.
