A request will be made to have a man who admitted to a violent 2015 Christmas Day fatal stabbing declared a dangerous offender.
Alberta Justice confirmed recently that Crown prosecutors will seek to have Chad Alexander Kulba, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September 2017, declared a dangerous offender.
It is rare, but Crown prosecutors can apply to a sentencing judge to have a criminal deemed either a dangerous or a long-term offender when there is evidence of high risk of further serious violence.
To determine someone is a dangerous offender, a judge must be convinced by psychiatric testimony or other evidence that the convicted person is likely to engage in further violent conduct.
A judge can order an indeterminate prison sentence, a set prison sentence or a sentence with a long-term supervision order.
Kulba, then 35, was sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2017. Counting time already served, he has just under three years left to serve.
At sentencing, the court heard that Thomas Braconnier, 46, had shown up uninvited to Kulba’s downtown apartment in the early hours of Christmas Day. Braconnier had a knife in his belt, and when he raised his arm, Kulba stabbed him.
Injured, Braconnier tried to flee, but Kulba, who was heavily intoxicated on a mix of alcohol, crystal meth and prescription drugs, chased him down the stairs.
Kulba stabbed Braconnier about 30 times, at one point using a broken-off golf club shaft as a weapon.