An Ontario man with an extensive criminal history has been charged with the second-degree murder of a Surrey woman who was killed during what her family believes was a home invasion.
According to court records obtained by the CBC, Adam Troy Mann was subject to two probation orders for previous offences at the time of Tori Dunn’s killing and had also recently been released after being found guilty of violating one of those orders by possessing knives.
The 40-year-old was taken into custody on the night Tori Dunn was attacked on June 16.
Dunn’s father, Aron Dunn, told CBC News earlier that his daughter was attacked as she was falling asleep on the couch after she and her financé had returned home from a birthday dinner.
On Friday, he told assembled media he felt sick to his stomach.
“How does somebody allegedly stab a woman on May 26 only to be released on a $500 promise to pay so that weeks later he can stab again and take my daughter’s life?” he said.
“[Tori] was a kind, gentle, soft and caring young woman in the prime of her own life, minding her own business in her own home.”
Police have released few details about Dunn’s death other than to say they were called on June 16 to a residence near the 9800 block of 182A Street in Surrey’s Port Kells neighbourhood, where they found the 30-year-old critically injured.
She later died in hospital.
Questions about bail and probation
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.
Dunn’s murder is one of two violent crimes Mann is accused of committing within weeks of each other — both of which allegedly happened while he was on probation for other offences.
Originally from Ontario, Mann was charged with aggravated assault in the stabbing of a Surrey woman three weeks before Dunn was killed in an incident that RCMP said occurred after witnesses saw the suspect and the victim engaged in some kind of interaction.
Through a series of court documents, the CBC has been able to piece together a timeline of the events which preceded Dunn’s death and Mann’s arrest.
The first of those incidents occurred on Jan. 15 when Mann was arrested after a confrontation near the Main Street SkyTrain station in Vancouver.
Scott Hastings told CBC he was walking in the area when he heard a woman crying for help after Mann grabbed her bag. He was riding away on a bike when Hastings shoulder-checked him onto the road.
And then he got up and squared off at me, and he was just about to pull out a can of bear spray or pepper spray of some kind,” Hastings said. “And right at that moment, a police officer showed up right next to me.”
Mann was arrested and awaiting trial on charges arising from that incident when he was caught stealing merchandise from Lululemon in Richmond in February.
He was convicted of theft on that charge, sentenced to eight days in jail and ordered to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
Three weeks later, a Vancouver judge sentenced Mann to 60 days in jail for possessing a dangerous weapon and resisting a peace officer in the incident involving Hastings; he was credited for 30 days time served. Mann was also handed a two-year probation order.
He was ordered not to possess any weapons, knives or noxious spray. And he was once again ordered to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
‘Justice for Tori’
Despite those two orders, Mann allegedly committed two counts of robbery in Vancouver in late April. He was released on a promise to pay $500 bail in relation to those charges with a promise not to go anywhere near the victims and not to possess weapons.
On May 29 — three days after the stabbing in Surrey — Mann was charged in Vancouver with violating the probation he got for the attack involving Hastings by possessing knives.
According to court documents, he was released the same day on the same terms as his previous bail — a promise to pay $500 without deposit and without sureties. The bail document says Mann has no fixed address.
He was convicted of the breach of probation on that file on June 5 and sentenced to 10 days in jail.
On June 16, Dunn was attacked and killed.
Hastings, a singer with the band Brehden, said he was “shocked” and “horrified” to learn the man he tackled is now accused of murder. He said he was also surprised Mann wasn’t in jail after violating probation.
“I thought he was in jail. I didn’t realize how quickly he got back out,” Hastings said.
“I don’t know how the judge wouldn’t say, ‘Hey you broke probation, straight to jail.’ I was always under the impression that’s how it worked.”
Aron Dunn said he intends to fight to make it more difficult for potentially dangerous criminals to be released from custody.
“I’m going to do what my daughter would do for me, for anybody,” he said. “Tori would want justice… If this was her neighbour, she would be encouraging me to come out and fight with her.”