Closing arguments have wrapped up in the trial of Adam Mann, who is accused of killing Tori Dunn in a Surrey home invasion two years ago.
The closing submissions from Crown and defence have been heard in court and the jury will now begin deliberating a verdict on Wednesday.
Crown prosecutors say the evidence presented in court ties Mann to Dunn’s death and proves he is guilty of second-degree murder.
Dunn, 30, was stabbed four times, including an 18 centimetre-deep wound to her abdomen, which killed her, and two defensive wounds to her hands.
The Crown said a bloody knife found on a neighbour’s property had Dunn’s DNA on the blade and Mann’s DNA on the handle.
Surveillance video also showed Mann “right by” Dunn’s home at 9:37 p.m. on June 16, 2024.
“It wasn’t me,” Mann, 42, said Monday while testifying in his own defence.
Mann testified he was poor, homeless and living on the streets in June 2024. He recalled stealing and using welfare cheques to pay for drugs and alcohol, which he used every day.
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On June 16, Mann told the court he was riding the bus to meet a friend at Scott Road Station in Surrey, when he ended up “getting into a fight with some random guy” on board.
Mann thought the guy took his bag and said he threw a couple of punches at him before getting off the bus, because he was afraid somebody was going to call the cops on him.
After using crack cocaine immediately after exiting the bus, Mann said he walked around in a neighbourhood where he’d never been before “looking for a place to hide and another bus stop.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Mann testified he saw a knife and cell phone by the side of the road and picked them up briefly, before he heard sirens.
“The knife looked like it had blood on it, so I tossed it,” Mann said on the stand Monday.
He told the court he also tossed the grey hoodie and toque he’d been wearing, along with the phone – thinking it might be stolen – before he was arrested.
Court has heard Dunn’s cell phone was missing from her home and later found in a greenspace near where Mann was arrested.
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The Crown urged the jury to reject Mann’s testimony, calling it “vague, improbable and… inconsistent.”
“His evidence wasn’t believable,” prosecutor Tim Livingston said.
“Key aspects defied logic and common sense.”
Defence counsel argued that there are significant gaps in the Crown’s case.
Mann is Black and Indigenous and does not fit the description provided by Dunn’s boyfriend, who initially said that the intruder was a white man, similar to YouTuber Shane Dawson or the NHL’s Connor McDavid.
Defence counsel Paul McMurray said there is no forensic evidence of Mann’s presence in Dunn’s house.
“There’s too many holes in it,” he told the jury.
McMurray said there is reasonable doubt and that Mann should be found not guilty.
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