Closing submissions concluded in the trial of Adam Mann, who is accused of killing Tori Dunn in a Surrey home invasion, and the jury will begin deliberations on Wednesday.
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The Crown and defence made their final submissions in the trial of Adam Mann, who is accused of killing Tori Dunn in a Surrey home invasion, and the jury will now begin deliberating on Wednesday.
Crown prosecutors told the jury that the evidence presented in court ties Mann to Dunn’s death and proves he is guilty of second-degree murder.
The court heard that Dunn, 30, was stabbed four times, including an 18-centimetre-deep wound to her abdomen that killed her, as well as two defensive wounds to her hands.
Prosecutors said a bloody knife found on a neighbour’s property had Dunn’s DNA on the blade and Mann’s DNA on the handle.
The Crown also pointed to surveillance video showing Mann “right by” Dunn’s home at 9:37 p.m. on June 16, 2024.
During his testimony, Mann, 42, said, “It wasn’t me,” and described being poor and homeless in June 2024.
Mann testified that he was riding the bus to meet a friend at Scott Road Station in Surrey when he said he got into “a fight with some random guy” on board, after which he got off the bus.
He told the court that after using crack cocaine immediately after exiting the bus, he walked around a neighbourhood “looking for a place to hide and another bus stop,” and that he briefly picked up a knife and a cell phone by the side of the road before hearing sirens.
Mann said the knife appeared to have blood on it and that he “tossed it,” along with the grey hoodie and toque he was wearing, as well as the phone, thinking it might be stolen, before he was arrested.
The jury also heard that Dunn’s cell phone was missing from her home and later found in a greenspace near where Mann was arrested.
In closing, Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston urged jurors to reject Mann’s testimony, calling it “vague, improbable and… inconsistent,” and saying, “His evidence wasn’t believable,” adding that “Key aspects defied logic and common sense.”
Defence counsel Paul McMurray argued there are “significant gaps” in the Crown’s case, including that there is no forensic evidence placing Mann inside Dunn’s home.
McMurray told the jury, “There’s too many holes in it,” and argued there is reasonable doubt, urging a not-guilty verdict.
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