Accused Alberta bank robber a former news director, anchor
WINNIPEG — Court documents show a former Winnipeg TV news director accused of robbing two banks in Alberta was battling depression, facing crippling debt and was the subject of a protection order this year.
Stephen Vogelsang, 53, has been charged with two counts of robbery stemming from heists in Medicine Hat last week. Investigators said the same man entered the banks and demanded money, leaving each with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Medicine Hat police said they've been in contact with police in Regina, who are investigating similar offences in that city.
Vogelsang made his first appearance in Medicine Hat court Tuesday and has another court date on Thursday.
Vogelsang was a journalism instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg from 2002 until 2011. Before that, he worked as a sports anchor at CKY — now CTV Winnipeg — before becoming news director.
Court documents in Winnipeg show Vogelsang and his then-wife lost $85,000 on the sale of three properties in Vernon, where they lived between 2011 and 2014. They purchased a $540,000 home when they returned to Winnipeg.
After the couple divorced in December 2016, payments were missed on the house and they argued over whether to sell it at a loss. Vogelsang rejected the idea and said he could not afford any more debt.
“I have been staying in my truck regularly,” Vogelsang wrote in a Sept. 17 email to his ex-wife. “I can not afford groceries so whatever food I have left … will have to tide me over until I get to [friends’], then I’ll steal food from them until I get an EI payment on Tuesday.”
The court documents show Vogelsang had struggled to find steady work in recent years. In one email to his ex-wife last year, he talked of being on disability for chronic depression twice in a five-year period.
Vogelsang also had an ex-girlfriend who was granted a protection order in March. She said Vogelsang had become emotionally and verbally abusive and would not leave her alone after their relationship ended.