<p>You have a weird noises coming parts of your house.
You have been robbed before
You have a samurai sword that you’ve probably aren’t trained well in. </p>
<p>In any case, I would probably have taken the Samurai sword and walked towards the noise too to investigate. </p>
<p>In the heat of the moment, IF the robber lunged at him, then it would be a perfectly normal response to slash at him, defending yourself. That would probably be called self defense.</p>
<p>But, if he saw the burglar rustling through his stuff, just took the initiative and slashed him, then I’m guessing that would probably be murder. </p>
<p>In retrospect, taking a bat would have been more useful. Take a quick whiff at his ribs, hands, balls, or leg and he’s immobilized, not dead (unless a broken rib pierces his heart or a vital organ).</p>