The family of Tori Dunn feels that the justice system in B.C. is too soft on crime.
Dunn, a 30-year-old resident of Surrey, was found with life-threatening injuries in her home on June 16. She later died in hospital.
Adam Mann was charged with second-degree murder on June 28 in connection to Tori's death. Mann is currently in court on three unrelated charges. None of these charges have been proven in court.
Mann has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions in B.C., Alberta, New Brunswick and Ontario.
Tori's father, Aron, recently received some of Mann's previous court documents not covered under the publication ban with the help of Elenore Sturko, Conservative Party of B.C. candidate for Surrey-Cloverdale.
Sturko has been following the case closely since the beginning and helping the Dunn family.
Aron told the Surrey Now-Leader, "The Crown really didn't push hard enough to have him locked up for any length of time and as soon as you came to B.C., it was like he had free rein."
Mann's first criminal conviction in B.C. was in 2021.
Mann pleaded guilty in April 2021 to a lesser charge of assault and was given a suspended sentence in connection to an incident in Chilliwack that had happened in April 2020.
The judge in that case confirmed with defence counsel that, between being released from federal custody after finishing his second federal term on July 2019 and the date of the offence on April 2020, Mann had lived peacefully in the community, and had also stayed out of trouble between June 2020 and the sentencing in April 2021.
During his sentencing, the judge said to Mann, “You cannot control how people treat you. You can just control how you react to them.”
In a later, unrelated case, during a bail hearing in February 2024 in a B.C. courthouse, the Crown asked the judge to detain Mann while he awaited trial.
The judge ruled that he did not need to be detained but could be released on bail under several strict conditions.
"Mr. Mann has demonstrated that his detention is not necessary because the identified danger that he poses to public safety can be reduced to an acceptable level through bail conditions," the court transcript reads.
The reverse onus clause was applied in that court appearance, meaning the defence had to prove that Mann should be released on bail, rather than the Crown being required to prove that he should be kept in custody. Ultimately, the decision on bail rests in the hands of the judge.
The expansion of that reverse-onus clause was part of changes to federal bail reform legislation that took effect on Jan. 4, 2024.
Sturko referenced a post she made on X on Oct. 4 in which the Attorney General of Canada, Arif Virani, said the federal government made amendments to the country's bail laws in 2023. Virani goes on to say in the video that after these changes, the "ball turns over to the provinces."
Bill C-48 aims to address serious, repeat violent offenders with firearms, knives, bear spray and other weapons, as well as addressing risks posed by intimate partner violence. The bill expands the use of reverse-onus provisions for certain offenders.
Sturko added: "That failure now is on the shoulders of the province, and I think that's an important thing to note. The feds have done as you've asked, but how are you administrating justice here?"
Aron said there have been many missed opportunities in B.C.'s justice system for Mann.
"I felt like the Crown had an opportunity to take him down on several occasions and instead just sided with the defendant's lawyer," Aron said.
According to Sturko, another critical issue in B.C.'s justice system is the number of Crown prosecutors, especially those working on the most severe cases.
Sturko said the Crown prosecutors are doing their best. "The cases are complex and so this is really hard work for the prosecutors, and they're trying. It is not because they are incompetent. It is not because they are not doing their very best, but they've had this explosion of complex and serious cases because of the challenges we have, haven't been adequately resourced."
Mann, 40, appeared by telephone in Surrey provincial court Thursday (Oct. 10) in connection to Dunn's murder.
Mann is scheduled for a hearing in court again on Oct. 24. Two of the files, including the Dunn one, will be at Surrey provincial court, and the third at Vancouver Provincial Court. A publication ban currently covers the details of these files.
A group of Tori's friends attended the hearing on Oct. 10 and plan to attend all future ones.
