Murder charge laid in Tori Dunn's killing, homicide investigators announce

A man has been charged with murder in the killing of Surrey, B.C., business owner Tori Dunn.

Police found the 30-year-old suffering from life-threatening injuries at her home in the city's Port Kells neighbourhood on June 16, following what family members have described as a home invasion.

She was taken to hospital but did not survive.

On Friday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Adam Troy Mann, a 40-year-old man from Ontario, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death.

He was arrested near the scene on June 16 and has been held in custody since.

"The investigation does not end here. IHIT will continue to work with the Surrey RCMP to collect evidence and find answers," Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of IHIT said in a news release. "This tragic event has shaken the entire community. Those in need of support are recommended to contact the Surrey RCMP's victim services."

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Dunn's father, Aron, said Mann's charge brings some relief, but that the family is still outraged.

"I'm still angry. My family is still angry. Tori's friends are angry. Our community is still very angry," he said. "It's difficult to have a sense that justice will be done, when the justice system already failed our family, failed Tori and if things don't change, could continue to fail other families."

Court records show an Adam Troy Mann is facing charges of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and obstructing a peace officer dating back to January – and an additional charge of breaching his probation from May 28, weeks before Dunn's killing.

It's unclear why he was released from custody – but B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said Crown prosecutors had asked the courts to keep Mann behind bars while he awaited trial.

"Despite this, he was released back into the community, where he's alleged to have committed this horrific crime," Sharma said in a statement Friday.

"We got the federal government to strengthen federal bail rules and in this case Crown sought detention - we will be looking (at) what happened here and advocating to Ottawa to ensure the federal Criminal Code is responsive to public safety needs so that people can have confidence that the justice system is working to keep people safe in B.C.”

The statement echoed comments from Premier David Eby earlier this week.

"Something went wrong here. Something went wrong," Eby said Monday. "An individual who was charged with a serious crime was brought in front of the court, the Crown said, 'Please don't release this person, they're likely to offend, it will compromise the public's confidence in the justice system,' and the judge applying the law decided to release that person where he allegedly went out and murdered another person. Something obviously went wrong here."

Eby said he wants the federal government to look into the application of its bail reform system, which was adjusted earlier this year.

Bill C-48, which came into effect on Jan. 4, expanded the use of reverse-onus provisions, which force the accused in some cases to demonstrate why they should be released on bail, rather than requiring prosecutors to prove why they should remain in custody. The bill also broadens the reverse onus targeting repeat offenders of intimate partner violence, and requires the courts to consider an accused person's history of convictions for violence when making a bail decision.

"Whether it's the judge's application of the law or whether it's the law itself, this case cries out for ensuring that the federal government is looking at this. This is their responsibility. This is their law. Our provincial prosecutors said please don't release him, and the court said he's released under the federal law," Eby said. "We need to make sure we're learning from cases like this so this woman's life does not go in vain."

At Friday's news conference with Dunn's father, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said the current justice system "is not doing the job that needs to be done."

"We need changes both at the federal level and certainly at the provincial level," he said. "We need bail reform. We need minimum sentencing within our justice system. We need to have the tools to make sure that people who commit crimes are not allowed to just be rotating back out into our system."

Dunn's father said he won't stop fighting for change to how bail laws are applied.

"Although I can't do anything for Tori today, (I'm) hoping that the change brought about by this could save other families from going through what my family's going through," he said. "Please don't forget Tori. Help us to get the answers we're looking for. Help us to hold our justice system to account. Help us to make the changes we need, so that this doesn't happen again. Tori deserves nothing less."

Mann is scheduled to appear in court on July 2, according to court records.