Ontario man denies killing Tori Dunn in Surrey home invasion

A 42-year-old man from Windsor, Ont., has denied killing 30-year-old Tori Dunn during a home invasion in Surrey, B.C., on June 16, 2024. “It wasn’t me,” Adam Mann said Monday while testifying in his own defence at his second-degree murder trial in New Westminster Supreme Court. He has pleaded not guilty and is the only defence witness in the jury trial.

Mann testified that in June 2024 he was poor, homeless and living on the street, stealing and using welfare cheques to pay for drugs and alcohol, which he said he used every day. On June 16, he told the court he was taking a bus to meet a friend at Scott Road Station in Surrey when he got into a fight with a stranger on board. He thought the man had taken his bag and said he threw a couple of punches before getting off because he feared someone would call police. Under cross-examination by Crown counsel, Mann acknowledged he may not have had the bag on the bus at all because he had lost it along the way.

Mann said he smoked crack cocaine immediately after leaving the bus, then wandered through a neighbourhood where he had never been, “looking for a place to hide and another bus stop.” He testified that he saw a knife and cellphone by the roadside out of the corner of his eye and briefly picked them up before hearing sirens. He said the knife looked as though it had blood on it, so he tossed it. He also said he threw away the grey hoodie and toque he was wearing, as well as the phone, because he thought it might be stolen. He was arrested before the items were recovered. Court has heard Dunn’s cellphone was missing from her home and was later found in a greenspace near where Mann was arrested.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Tim Livingston noted that the industrial area near 96 Avenue and 192 Street where Mann got off the bus is about 2.5 kilometres from Dunn’s home; Mann agreed. He also did not dispute that he was the man seen in several videos in Dunn’s neighbourhood, including footage placing him near her home at 9:37 p.m. Asked why surveillance video showed him taking off his hoodie an hour and a half after leaving the bus, Mann said, “I just remember wanting to change my description when I heard the sirens.” Livingston suggested he wanted to change his appearance because he knew he had stabbed someone. Mann said no, and claimed he was still concerned police were coming for him over the bus altercation.

Mann said he did not know which road the knife and phone were on and was unsure where he had thrown the knife. Livingston referred to the knife recovered on a neighbour’s property and asked whether Mann had thrown it against that building. “I don’t know where I threw it; I just tossed it,” Mann replied. Livingston suggested Mann’s DNA was on the handle because he had held the knife while stabbing Dunn. “I didn’t stab Tori Dunn,” Mann said. “I didn’t step foot in anyone’s home … or stab anyone.”

A DNA expert testified that blood found on a large kitchen knife located on a neighbouring property matched Dunn’s known DNA sample, while Mann’s DNA matched one of three profiles found on the knife’s handle. The prosecution’s theory is that an intruder stabbed Dunn in her home after she and her boyfriend returned from his family’s birthday dinner. Trafford Wace testified that he was in the bathroom when he heard Dunn scream loudly from the living room. The Crown says Dunn was stabbed four times, including in the abdomen, and died in hospital. Wace said he did not know the attacker, who was wearing a grey sweatshirt, a dark-coloured toque and sweatpants. Dunn’s boyfriend also testified that he noticed his kitchen knife was missing after the suspect fled.

Prosecutors said Mann was found within half an hour of the incident and less than one kilometre from Dunn’s home. Closing arguments are expected to be heard Wednesday, Oct. 21.