Aaron Saunders Killed James Brogden
December 2, 2008 by Morbid
Aaron Saunders and James Brogden
Highway Patrol were chasing a front-end loader SaturdaySaturday reviews
morning, a front-end loader that had been stolen from Cherokee County Speedway. The person who stole the vehicle was Aaron Christopher Saunders, 28. Police tried stopping him by shooting out the tires, but Aaron was having none of it. Police say he intentionally tried to run over officers, even running over one of the patrol cars. Aaron drove the front-loader to 973 Pleasant School Road, tearing down trees and signs on the way there. Aaron began destroying a car at that residence when a man house-sitting for his son-in-law, James Ellie Brogden, 67, came out to investigate, Aaron killed him with the front-loader.
Deputies then shot Aaron, where he later died after being airlifted to the hospital. At first, his rampage remained a mystery, but now more details have come out as to why Aaron did what he did. He was drunk. And angry.
Seems as if he had a little tiff with his girlfriend, April Holcomb, because *gasp* he was drunk. He then went to a bar and sent her a text message stating that he was gonna be on the front page. But she didn’t take that seriously because, well shit, he did that all the time when he got drunk. In fact, she said, “He was drunk. He’s one of those people that doesn’t need to be drinking because he’ll black and out not know what’s going on.”
Two different reports state two different ways in which Brogden was killed. One states that Aaron beelined towards him when he came out to investigate and ran over him. Another states that Aaron dropped a car on top of him. But April doesn’t think it was on purpose. Oh, no…not Aaron. “He’s not a monster like they made him out to be,” she said. “I don’t think he intentionally did it. I think he didn’t see the guy because if you’re in a big old loader you cannot see because it’s dark outside and you got the car picked up”
But it really doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not, as either way this drunk asshole took out a man who has done nothing but try to improve the community around him. Brogden was a major in the Salvation Army where he had served for 40 years. He also worked at a rehabilitation center in Charlotte, NC.
“Cecil Brogden was one of the finest men I’ve probably ever met…He is a man of integrity — a great Christian man, a man of faith, a man of the Word. One of the finest preachers the Salvation Army has ever had.” Major Dalton Cunningham stated.
And what does he get for his efforts? Well, for some of you, he is playing ping-pong with God about right now. But to me? He met his end at the bottom of the treads of a goddamn front-end loader, leaving behind a wife and three children. Just doesn’t seem right, does it? All that “mysterious ways” crap I guess.
No real reason for me posting this, as there will be no trial or anything like that. It just always burns me when good people get taken out in completely stupid ways by equally stupid people. In Brogden’s wildest dreams, I cannot imagine that he ever thought his death would be in the form of a 10-ton front-end loader driven by a drunk, at 3 in the morning, in front of his son-in-law’s house. Tragic. So for all you praying people, tell God I said thanks for taking another good one, and for blessing some police officers with good aim.
10:42 am on December 2nd, 2008
I hope asswipe’s girlfriend isn’t knocked up. We don’t need anything that comes from the breeding of 2 stupid people.
10:44 am on December 2nd, 2008
I lost IQ points just reading that statement.
11:34 am on December 2nd, 2008
For some reason, I was really touched by the victim’s sweet face as soon as I caught sight of this thread. Even before I read the writeup, I could tell that he was a good and kind man. RIP, Mr. Brogden, and thank you.
11:54 am on December 2nd, 2008
This is so tragic. I have no idea why good people get shafted while other bastards continue to breath our air. I’m a praying person but I’m not going to pretend to understand and just say, “mysterious ways…”, I call bullshit. I have a long list of questions that I plan on asking God and I want answers that make sense. Call me crazy, call me what you will, doesn’t matter to me…this is between me and God.
I pray this asswipe will see his due before hell and then some. He’s a useless waste of space and I would like to see him dead.
And for James Brogden, I’m just so sorry. Seems to me you were looking forward to living out the rest of your life in peace…sorry you didn’t get that.
My sincerest sympathies to family Brogden and friends.
12:08 pm on December 2nd, 2008
That’s why I say let the crazys be crazys and don’t interfere. It’s not worth it. This guy was probably just in shock though and ran out, how sad he had to pay with his life. What a wonderful life he led though.
1:59 pm on December 2nd, 2008
Good God, I hope they didn’t procreate! And I too lost IQ points. Why is it these people can’t string a coherent sentence together?
3:39 pm on December 2nd, 2008
I was researching the story and found there local newspaper site. Ass Hats family was on there posting , as useual with the caplock on. It really burned my ass how there were making him out ot be a wonderful guy who just lost his temper a bit. So i signed up so I could post and laid into them. I mentioned his DUI and other previous shenanigans and got this reply:
The Shame game doesnt work on me and only makes me madder, as well as murder / rapist family saying “If you dont have anything nice to say….”. So I give it to then again and get this.
This went on for a while and I whittled them down to him beeing a good guy, so I reminded them of the things he was good at, DUI, resisting arrest, destroying public property, murder….
Eventually they shut the fuck up because he looked like an ass by then and it was to late. I kind of hope they start again, I have some more anger to get out.
I saw the video of the skip loader, it was like swiss cheese after the shoot out. They shot the hell out of it. And left a big bloody stain on the ground. You got your front page Aaron, hope it was worth it you sorry ass piece of drunk shit.
R.I.P James Brogden, thanks for all you did. And thanks for being a careing giveing man, you will be missed by many.
3:47 pm on December 2nd, 2008
A) Well, he got on the front page this time.
B) Even if she’d taken him seriously, what could she possibly have done?
C) Why do people who black out when they drink keep doing it? Seems to me, the girlfriend was right to be upset that he had gotten himself drunk again.
Why, oh why, does she then go on to pretend that she cannot believe he killed Mr Brogden intentionally?
3:52 pm on December 2nd, 2008
Would you link us? Kindly, Sir?
4:25 pm on December 2nd, 2008
It’s one thing to support a family member when they do something horrible – such as murder. It’s on a whole ‘nuther level to defend them. If it were my family, I have the decency to feel shame, anger, hurt and disappointment… I would NOT be out on the net looking for sympathy! Good freakin’ grief!
It’s really sad that this happened. As far as I know, I’ve never drank to the point of blackin out – hell, I can’t really even get drunk! However, I have been around people who do. I don’t doubt that people can do things and not remember them – but – I have a really hard time believing that people can do the awful things they do while drunk and think they deserve a “pass” – just because they are drunk. Even when I’m “drunk” I have a conscience. I have some morals and know right from wrong…. when I hear stuff like this, I think these people would do this crazy, stupid shit even while sober. In other words – NO sympathy from me. Fuck off Aaron. Hope you’re on the fast train to hell right now.
RIP Mr. Brogden. I pray for healing for your family.
4:25 pm on December 2nd, 2008
Ohh damn, they deleted my comments, Guess I will have to make a new login. http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/sheriffs_office_investigates_death_of_elderly_man/11749/
4:31 pm on December 2nd, 2008
They sure did. Now that person responding to you looks like a total nutjob. I’m thinking the person you were arguing with reported your comment as inappropriate. We should all log on and call this person a psycho. Let’s overload the shit out of the comments section and have them shut it down and delete everything. That would be so much fun!!
4:45 pm on December 2nd, 2008
VERY well said.
Problem is, so many people just want to be a part of something. Doesn’t matter what side they’re on, they’ll welcome drama as an opportunity to get themselves out there. The Great Unwashed.
4:57 pm on December 2nd, 2008
It would only be the truth, too. I think his rantings in defence of Mr Saunders are in very poor taste. How mustn’t Mr Brogden’s family and relatives feel when they read such vehement refusal to accept that the person who murdered their loved one was a bad person?
Talk about inappropriate……
5:30 pm on December 2nd, 2008
The irony in this one , is pretty bad, because James Brogden spent his whole life helping people just like Aaron. And James was still actively helping out in his community and still could have helped many more people get back on track in life.
Maybe Aaron was just a lost cause and this was James final act for his community to sacrafice his life so that others wouldnt be killed. Who knows, either way it was a terrible way to go and a sad ending to his life being killed by the kind of people he tried to help.
12:13 am on December 3rd, 2008
So.. it sounds like being in a front end loader makes it night time and I can’t even figure out why being in one automatically means you have picked up a car.
Sterilization should be mandatory for stupid people.
1:56 pm on December 3rd, 2008
If my boyfriend ever did something like that I would tell EVERYONE he was a big asshole. I’d tell the news he was an asshole, I’d tell his family he was an asshole, I’d tell MY family he was an asshole, and I’d do whatever was in my powers to help the family of the victim. I do not extend my loyalty(even to my cutie pie) in events of extreme ass-hatted-ness.
My family is that way, protecting even the most gross abusers in the name of love, but I figure love means holding one’s loved ones to a standard of decency.
I don’t like preachers, but the victim paid his dues and deserved NOT to die that soon or in that way.
I don’t know why this story hit me this way….but I have a problem with people who throw tantrums and hurt people because they feel entitled to something. Like the columbine kids. What little shits. Yeah, no shit kids, high school sucks ass and everyone picks on you and you get a hard-on every half hour and you can’t do nuthin about it because there’s no dividers at the urinals and the girl that your “in love†with won’t even look at you much less touch your junk and you’re just one big motherfucking ball of repression.Well, whaa fucking whaa! Little bitches couldn’t handle what everyone else had to handle for four years. Same piece of shit kids would be shooting up post offices if they had made it to their 30’s.
8:43 pm on December 3rd, 2008
The Salvation Army is an awesome organization – did an internship at their local headquarters a few years back – thought the army rank & religious stuff would creep me out but didn’t. These dedicated folks actually walk the walk w/o all the talking the talk. I’m sure the victim here relied on Faith many times on his way to becoming a Major. Hopefully his family can come to grips with this senseless, weirded out way of dying.
7:54 am on December 4th, 2008
April (the April in the story, not DD April
is a dumbass. She knew very well that this fartwad was not only someone who “should not drink” because he “blacks out,” she knew he was drunk driving around in a “big old loader” in which he would not be able to see shit you “because it’s dark outside and you got the car picked up.” Shut up.
10:05 am on December 4th, 2008
Ye who have never sinned may cast the first stone!
10:19 am on December 4th, 2008
I NEVER murdered an old man you retard…….take your bullshit somewhere somebody gives a fuck
10:28 am on December 4th, 2008
May God bless everybody on this site! It states in the Bible that no one has the right to judge anybody. You can call me anything you want but you are not my God and what you say has no effect on me!! Sorry!!! I hope you realize what you are doing and how you are hurting people. I did know Aaron and he was wrong and he did kill an innocent good man and I wish there were some way we could back and change things. I believe God has a plan and that was part of his plan and we will never understand why an innocent man lost his life because Aaron was mad about something. I agree, there is no excusing Aaron, but I knew a different person. I just want everyone to understand my standpoint on this tragedy.
10:38 am on December 4th, 2008
I’m not a “Ye” so can I throw stones?
Nevermind, I’m going to toss them anyway. Us sinners are like that.
10:42 am on December 4th, 2008
It also states in the Bible that you cut off a woman’s hand if she grabs the private parts of a man beating her husband (Deuteronomy 25:11-12), among a gazillion other dumbass instructions.
So I, like a lot of people here, think God is bat-shit crazy and listen to him the same way I listen to my Uncle Fred who likes to tell us how to avoid being abducted by aliens by inserted wads of tinfoil up our asses (it doesn’t work, btw)…I simply nod at him with a smile on my face and feed him another spoonful of sugar-free applesauce.
10:43 am on December 4th, 2008
You should really read the Word of God!! Maybe you should try church sometimes, it may give you something else to do besides go around judging people! If I offend anybody, I am truly sorry but I believe in falling back on God.
10:47 am on December 4th, 2008
God will take care of you! I don’t understand how people can pass judgement so quickly. I admit that I did the same before it happened so close to me, now I understand. Aaron was always a good person around me. Of course he has messed up before this, but that’s human nature.
10:50 am on December 4th, 2008
Then maybe you should leave if you knew you’d cause a ruckus. I have thrown many stones here and could care less if I am a sinner. Sometimes I don’t believe God is right. God is a mean fucker who does shit so he can teach us a lesson. A lesson in who knows what when a man has to die because a drunk was angry. He committed a mortal sin. A mortal sin is unforgivable in the eyes of God unless he truly asks for forgiveness. I really doubt he is a man of God. So go on somewhere else with your bullshit.
10:53 am on December 4th, 2008
Why don’t you make me go somewhere else? I would really like to take my anger out on you!! The devil must be whispering in your ear! People like you really make me stronger in my belief in God!
10:57 am on December 4th, 2008
Karla why are you even here??? We come to this site and comment on how we feel. You won’t be able to change that. We judge and you are judging us so no different. So please stop with your commenting, it’s really annoying and I really don’t need you (someone I don’t even know) to give me a lecture.
10:59 am on December 4th, 2008
HeeHee. Why don’t you do it? Go ahead. Take your anger out on me. He committed a mortal sin and nothing will change that. Maybe that’s why your upset. Doesn’t seem like he’s a man of God if he was taking in so much liquor to where he became inebriated to a point where he had to be killed because he attacked a man with a front loader. So yeah, maybe the devil is whispering in my ear, but it sounds like he’s whispering in yours for standing up for a drunk who killed a good man.
11:00 am on December 4th, 2008
FYI, I am here to give you my opinion on Aaron. Why are you here? I know why…. you are here to put the focus on somebody elses wrong doings so nobody will focus on yours! If you don’t like what i’m saying, stop reading it! How simple is that? Really?
11:01 am on December 4th, 2008
If you don’t like what we’re saying, why don’t you stop reading? How simple is that? Really?
11:02 am on December 4th, 2008
Well at least my wrong doings don’t include murder. Aaron is an asshole so how’s that for my opinion?
11:03 am on December 4th, 2008
I am not defending Aaron. You should learn how to read what somebody writes and how to understand it better! Everyone on here is wrong. I said Aaron was a good person in my eyes, I never imagined he would commit such terrible sin!
11:05 am on December 4th, 2008
Because I know you don’t know the facts about everything. The news articles are not always accurate! God forbid, but if anything like this ever happens close to you, you will understand. But I really hope you never have to go through something like this.
11:08 am on December 4th, 2008
Do you not remember saying this?
Human nature does not cause people to get drunk and kill someone. I don’t get drunk, and I don’t go around killing people. So technically, you are defending him by saying it is human nature.
Which includes you.
11:11 am on December 4th, 2008
That’s fine if that’s what you think and how you feel. I have never commited murder either, but you don’t see me on here calling someone I don’t know an @#$hole! I believe i have been respectful to everyone on here, just commenting that we shouldn’t pass judgement so quickly. That’s what is wrong with the world today, no one has respect for no one. Everyone needs to sit back and see what’s going on around them in the world. We are all brothers and sisters and we treat each other this way when we know the other may be hurting over the loss of a terrific person (Mr. Brogden) and the loss of a very close friend that never judged anybody himself!
11:12 am on December 4th, 2008
My family isn’t filled with drunks so it probably wouldn’t happen to my family. And when family members do drink, they tend to stay home and do it and not go out and get onto a front loader. And what else is there to report really. He climbed on a front loader, either ran James over or dumped a car on him, tried attacking the police officers who then had to use deadly force to subdue him…..hmmm…doesn’t sound like something is missing.
11:15 am on December 4th, 2008
And get the facts straight???? What else do we need to know?? Mr. Brogden didn’t do anything wrong, but he died. How do you think his family feels? This is Ridiculous.
By the way your not calling anyone names because you are defending the asshole.
11:26 am on December 4th, 2008
I don’t know how his family feels, I can’t imagine. I have prayed every night to let Mr. Brogdens family be in peace. He didn’t do anything wrong, all Mr. Brogden ever did was try and help people like Aaron. I wish Aaron would have met Mr. Brogden before this happened, maybe he could have helped him. Let me tell you a little about Aaron, we always had saturday night cookouts and bonfires with our families. (no getting drunk) He taught the kids how to make smores. April has been my best friend for 4 years and Aaron became a good friend to my husband. We always did family oriented things with our families. He loved April’s kids (that were not his own). They loved him too. The oldest is 10 (i believe) and he cries when you mention Aaron. Just find it in your hearts to think of the people hurting because of this, especially Mr. Brogdens family. I did not know Mr. Brogden, but he sounded like a wonderful man. He helped a lot of people from what I understand. So please keep both families in your heart.
11:33 am on December 4th, 2008
Aaron is in hell, Karla, now why would he be there? I don’t see God reaching down to lift him up to heaven, so obviously God knows he’s not a good person.. This was not an accident. He choose to get drunk, he choose to steal a front loader, he choose to murder !!! What don’t yoou see about that? Good people do not kill other people.. You choose to put your head in a hole, stay there you stupid fuck..
11:34 am on December 4th, 2008
Look, I know you are hurting. I couldn’t imagine, this is a terrible tragedy. All I am trying to get at is we do have our opinions because of what we read. If you wanted to tell this story first, it might of been different, but the first thing you told us was ye something and not to judge. We don’t need lectures we are all grown. I will keep your family and Mr. Brogdens in my prayers.
11:40 am on December 4th, 2008
11:41 am on December 4th, 2008
You don’t know where Aaron went. Maybe he asked for forgiveness before he passed. My head is not in a hole. I know it was a terrible thing for Aaron to do. everybody on here is making me out to be a liar. I am just telling you about the Aaron I knew before, not the one that commited this horrible act of violence. It is not my fault he did it. I will eventually forgive Aaron for what he did. I have a good heart and want the best for everybody in this world. I am not going to lie, I continually ask, “Aaron, why did you hurt an innocent man?” I am angry that he did it and now his friends and family will be marked with this, but I know he can be forgiven one day.
11:43 am on December 4th, 2008
I really appreciate you understanding how I feel. I had tears streaming down my face when I read your comment. Thank you so much!!
11:47 am on December 4th, 2008
Really, a man that is attacking police officers in a drunken rage will ask for forgiveness before he dies. PFFTTT…dream all you may, he did not ask for it cause he didn’t see his death coming. He might have said, “Oh, God, I’ve been shot.” but i really doubt he said, “God, please forgive me for all the sins I have committed in my lifetime.” And no one called you a liar. We’re calling you delusional in thinking that God would accept a man who just committed a mortal sin. And maybe you won’t be marked for this if you don’t keep on standing up for him. He killed a man. That will forever define him.
11:53 am on December 4th, 2008
He lived for about 2 hours after he was shot. I would like to hope he asked for forgiveness. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Nobody knows but God. We can still hope that he did. Who wants to think a loved one went to hell? Not me, I want to think the best of everything and everbody.
12:01 pm on December 4th, 2008
I have not always been perfect. I used to drink heavily, but one day about a year ago, i decided i wanted better for myself. Now, i go to church (just started recently) with my family. the way i look at everybody and these kinds of situations is totally different. I believe God will help everyone involved in this!
12:05 pm on December 4th, 2008
Black outs are a sign of alcoholism, so there’s a real drive to drink again. The drunkie figures, “I got away with it. I don’t remember what happened, but no one seems to have been hurt, so ‘no hurt, no foul.’” Eventually someone does get hurt, of course, but a drunkie doesn’t have the capacity to figure out that that will happen.
Too bad a good man died because an asshole went alkie-nuts.
12:12 pm on December 4th, 2008
Gosh, I’m going to have to stick that in my other pocket for another rainy day.
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