In the weeks before he allegedly murdered Tori Dunn in Surrey, B.C., on June 16, Adam Troy Mann stood at the intersection of a violent past and a present marked by repeated interactions with the criminal justice system.
The 40-year-old was homeless and living in a tent in the bush in Chilliwack after being released on bail pending the outcome of two robbery charges.
More than four years had passed since Mann completed a lengthy federal prison sentence marked by repeated run-ins with guards, community residential workers and staff who, according to parole records, claimed he “barely missed the criteria for being diagnosed as a psychopath.”
And in the past few months, Mann had racked up a series of new charges for theft, resisting arrest and breaching probation orders meant to protect the public from a man deemed a “high risk for future violence” by corrections officials.
Parole docs reveal new details
Mann is scheduled to appear before a judge July 19 on a charge of second-degree murder in Dunn’s death. The charge against him has not been tested in court.
The case has raised questions about B.C.’s bail and probation system and the degree to which potentially dangerous offenders are released from custody despite repeated breaches of terms meant to protect the public.
CBC News has obtained Mann’s parole reports and audio of his provincial court appearances. The files provide new details about a man flagged by authorities as a high risk to reoffend, echoing concerns raised by politicians and Dunn’s devastated family.
CBC News has also shared the reports with Dunn’s cousin.
“It’s alarming to us that this has happened, it was so avoidable,” said Chasity Dunn, who has collected more than 3,500 names on a petition calling for an “internal review” of legal decisions made before the attack on her cousin.
“What was the attempt to mitigate the risk to society? Because it doesn’t look like there was one.”
‘We beg you to remember Tori Dunn’
The petition asks why amendments to Canada’s Criminal Code introduced last January to address concerns about repeat violent offenders getting bail weren’t “leveraged” against Mann.
“We beg you to remember Tori Dunn,” the online petition reads. “Remember her life that was so needlessly and cruelly cut short, and remember the failings that led to her untimely demise.”
According to a parole report from October 2015, Mann attended nine different schools growing up and was suspended for being aggressive and for intimidating other students.
The parole documents say Mann has a long history of offences as an adult in Ontario, including a 2003 incident in which he “stabbed a female” after she pushed him.
“The victim required surgery to mend a perforated liver,” the document says.
“The injuries were life threatening and have limited the victim’s subsequent physical abilities. She is unable to work and relies on a disability pension.”
70 institutional charges in prison
Mann served two stints in federal prison, the most recent of which was a sentence of 10 years and six months for a robbery in which he and an accomplice entered a home with handguns and demanded cash.
According to the parole board, Mann “accumulated” nearly 70 institutional charges during his time in prison, spending 24 periods in segregation and picking up an extra six months for an assault behind bars.
His statutory release — the point at which most inmates are automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence — was suspended numerous times because of “negative and aggressive behaviour.”
Mann’s final parole report was issued in July 2019. The parole board denied him leave from the community residential facility where he was placed to ease his way back into society, saying Mann was a “high risk for violent reoffending.”
Mann completed his federal sentence on March 12, 2020 — which meant his dealings with the parole board were over.
Nearly five years later, on June 5, 2024, Mann painted a grim picture of his circumstances as he appeared before a Vancouver provincial court judge, pleading guilty to breaching a probation order by possessing knives.
“I feel like because I’m homeless, I’m being targeted here,” Mann told the judge. “I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Premier Eby questions bail
According to a recording of the proceedings, Mann was arrested a week earlier by police who picked him up on a warrant issued after he missed a court date related to an alleged robbery at the end of April.
By that point Mann was on bail for the robbery charge and also living under the terms of a two-year probation order issued in late March after he was convicted of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and resisting a police officer in a separate incident.
Bail and probation are two different things.
Accused offenders can apply at a bail hearing for release prior to the conclusion of charges against them, whereas probation happens after conviction as a way for judges to keep a leash on released offenders. Both legal mechanisms are meant to protect the public.
A range of politicians, including B.C. Premier David Eby, have questioned why Mann would have been granted bail given new provisions under Bill C-48 that changed the Criminal Code’s bail regime to address repeat violent offenders.
The new rules shift the burden of proof onto an accused to justify their release from prison in a situation where someone accused of a serious offence involving violence and a weapon has been convicted in the past five years of an offence with the same criteria.
AG says prosecutors argued Mann stay behind bars
The judge’s reasons for granting Mann bail in the robbery case are covered by a publication ban, as are any arguments made by prosecution or defence.
But B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma has said prosecutors argued for Mann to be kept behind bars.
What can be reported is that he was first released on April 26 on a promise to pay $500, not go anywhere near the victims and not to possess weapons.
And then on May 29, despite having been picked up with three knives in his possession, Mann was allowed to continue living under the same bail conditions once he had dealt with the charge for breaching his probation.
That brought him to the June 5 sentencing for breaching probation: Mann addressed the court at length, pointing out that his probation order allowed him to possess knives for the preparation of food. He claimed he was living in a tent and had only come into the city to pick up a cheque.
“They weren’t used in any violent way or anything,” he told the judge. “I wasn’t trying to be a criminal or a delinquent or anything of that nature. I was just trying to pass through.”
‘I’m not trying to spend my life in prison’
The Crown wanted Mann sent to jail for 45 days, a position the judge said was “not unreasonable, but perhaps a bit harsh considering what occurred here and the expression of remorse.”
He opted instead for a 21-day sentence — which left only 10 days for Mann to serve after accounting for time already spent in jail following his arrest.
The judge called the incident “a flagrant breach of a very simple court order.”
Mann’s final words to the judge were a plea for compassion.
“I’m just hoping that you please just understand where I’m coming from,” he said.
“I’m 40 years old. I’m not trying to spend my life in prison. I spent enough time in jail.”