Latest news with #JudyMaerz
CBC
19 hours ago
- CBC
Murder trial hears victim 'so happy' moving into first home in 12 years a week before death
Six days before she was viciously killed, Judy Maerz bought second-hand furniture from the Women in Need Society in preparation for the end of a 12-year stretch of sofa-surfing. "She was really happy," said Tom Reilly, who described 58-year-old Maerz as his "best friend." Reilly testified Monday on Day 4 of Christopher Dunlop's first-degree murder trial. Dunlop is accused of picking Maerz up in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2023, and stabbing her 79 times before setting her body on fire in the Deerfoot Athletic Park. Maerz 'liked to dance' Police found what was later determined to be Dunlop's blood near Maerz's body. At the time of Maerz's death, Dunlop had recently finished serving a 13-year sentence in the homicide of Laura Furlan, a woman he'd picked up for sex in 2009. In his manslaughter plea, Dunlop admitted to choking Furlan and then dumping her body in Fish Creek Park. He later told undercover police that he'd set out to kill someone "who wouldn't be missed" and who he could "f–k up." In his testimony on Monday, Reilly described his friend as "jovial, fun" and someone who "liked to dance." She also struggled with addiction, said Reilly. Sometimes working as a prostitute to make ends meet and fund her drug habit. Sparse apartment Through Home Space, an organization that connects vulnerable Calgarians with low-income housing, Maerz had signed a lease on an apartment in the southwest community of Bankview. Reilly testified that it was the first time since he'd met her 12 years earlier that Maerz had her own place. Otherwise she'd been bouncing around, often couch-surfing or living with a friend. Photos taken of Maerz's apartment two days after her death show a sparse space. Bedsheets covered the windows, there was no art on the walls and the little furniture she did have was mismatched, having been picked up from the Women in Need Society (WINS) six days before her death. Reilly had helped Maerz pick up those items. They later hung out and watched a movie. Eggs and tea The last time he saw Maerz, it was a day or two before her death. Reilly said Maerz made him tea and eggs before he headed out for the day. "She was really happy; she had her place, she had the chance to cook for me, she was really happy," he told Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby. Another close friend of Maerz's testified Monday. Brian Sproul said he and Maerz met outside a bar one night in November 2022. At the time, Maerz "seemed to be struggling," said Sproul. "I knew where she was coming from," said Sproul, who testified he was "feeling her anguish, her pain." 'She had nothing' Sproul had been sleeping in his living room so he told Maerz she could move into the bedroom. The two became friends. About a week before her death, Maerz moved into that southwest apartment. Sproul helped her load her cupboards with food. "She had nothing," he said. She loved her new place but it was far from Sproul and the Forest Lawn sex stroll where she sometimes worked. On the night of Wednesday, Feb. 15, Maerz called Sproul, asking if she could come over to hang out. "I thought maybe she was lonely," said Sproul. 'The last time I saw her' Maerz took the bus over. The pair hung out, did some drugs, and around 12:30 a.m., now Feb. 16, Maerz decided to head home. Worried she'd miss the last bus, Sproul offered for her to stay in her old room. "She said, 'Maybe I will,'" said Sproul. "A couple minutes later, she said, 'Nah, I'm going to go.'" "I gave her a quick hug, 'OK, bye' … That was the last time I saw her." Maerz left that night wearing a white down-filled winter coat Sproul had given her for Christmas seven weeks earlier.
CBC
5 days ago
- General
- CBC
'That raised a lot of alarms': Convicted killer's DNA found at crime scene, murder trial hears
Social Sharing Drops of blood found near the body of a murdered woman came back matching the DNA of a convicted killer, a Calgary judge heard Thursday as Christopher Dunlop's trial entered its second day. Dunlop faces charges of first-degree murder and indignity to a human body in connection with the death of Judy Maerz. Maerz's body was found in Deerfoot Athletic Park on Feb. 16, 2023. She'd been stabbed 79 times and her body was set on fire after her death. One year earlier, Dunlop had finished serving a 13-year manslaughter sentence for the death of Laura Furlan. Both women were working in Calgary's sex trade at the time of their deaths. On Thursday, Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby heard how Dunlop came back onto police radar as investigators' prime suspect in the Maerz killing. Const. James Weeks with the Calgary Police Service's forensic crime scene unit testified that the day after Maerz was killed, he submitted a blood sample collected from the crime scene into an in-house rapid DNA testing machine. The machine is able to identify whether a sample came from a male or a female within two hours. 'That raised a lot of alarms' Weeks testified that investigators expected the blood was from the victim and were surprised when the machine returned a profile of a male subject. "That raised a lot of alarms for the homicide unit," said Weeks. Learning more about whose blood they'd discovered became the "immediate focus of attention" for police. Weeks said he then hand-delivered a swab to the RCMP's lab in Edmonton and had to wait seven days for the results. "I received notification that the report identified not only had the subject been male but that particular male was in the Canadian national database," said Weeks. "That person happened to be Christopher Dunlop." 'Clear animus toward sex workers' Dunlop's DNA had previously been taken by court order as part of the sentence he faced for his manslaughter conviction. Two weeks after Maerz's body was discovered, court heard, police seized a purse from Dunlop's garage with the victim's DNA on it. Prosecutors Hyatt Mograbee and Greg Piper told the court Dunlop has a "clear animus toward sex workers." After killing Furlan in 2009, Dunlop told undercover officers that he'd set out "looking for someone who wouldn't be missed," someone he could "f--k up."
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
'So shocking': Murder trial begins for man accused of killing 2nd sex worker in 14 years
Social Sharing It's been a decade since Kathryn Furlan sat alone in the gallery of a Calgary courtroom but she returned Wednesday to bear witness, as the man who killed her daughter goes on trial a second time, once again accused of murdering a vulnerable woman he'd just met. "I feel I have to be here," said Furlan outside the courtroom. Christopher Ward Dunlop, 50, is on trial for first-degree murder and indignity to a body, accused of sexually assaulting and killing Judy Maerz, 58, whose body was found in Deerfoot Athletic Park on the morning of Feb. 16, 2023. Fourteen years earlier, Dunlop killed Laura Furlan and then dumped her body in Fish Creek Park. He finished serving his 13-year sentence for that homicide in 2022. Both women were vulnerable, impoverished and worked in Calgary's sex trade at the time of their deaths. On Wednesday, prosecutors Hyatt Mograbee and Greg Piper called Sgt. Dave Mills as their first witness. 'It was so shocking' Mills was the first on scene after a woman discovered Maerz's body in the park. It was just inside the park near the entrance, out in the open. She had been stabbed, "cut up," her throat was slit and her body had been severely burned, Mills described. "It was so shocking," said Mills. "I had to walk up close. I knew it was real but a big part of me didn't want to believe it was real." "It was just in such a horrific state." Maerz suffered 79 stab wounds. 'A crime of domination' In his opening statement to Justice Colin Feasby, Piper told the court that the Crown will present evidence that allows for two pathways to a first-degree murder conviction: that the killing was planned and deliberate and that it was committed in the course of a sexual assault. Piper called the killing of Maerz "a crime of domination." Before the trial got underway, prosecutors made a successful application where they will be allowed to compare similarities between the Furlan and Maerz killings. As part of that application, the prosecution argued Dunlop has a "clear animus toward sex workers" and in 2023, "set out again to find somebody who wouldn't be missed." 'Someone who wouldn't be missed' After he strangled Furlan in 2009, Dunlop told undercover officers that he'd set out the night of the killing "looking for someone who wouldn't be missed," someone he could "f–k up." On Feb. 16, 2023, prosecutors say Dunlop headed to a known prostitution stroll in Forest Lawn. It's alleged he picked up Maerz, who was out on the streets alone. He took her to Deerfoot Athletic Park, according to the Crown. Prosecutors say Dunlop killed Maerz while sexually assaulting her. "He left and then returned to the scene shortly afterwards, burned her body with accelerant and went home," said Piper during his similar-fact arguments earlier this year. Laura Furlan On Aug. 29, 2009, Dunlop was bankrupt, angry and headed to a known prostitution stroll in southwest Calgary. He met Furlan and agreed to pay her $100 for sex. Furlan was 38 years old and working to overcome her addictions. She had recently lost her job as an administrative assistant. She was worried about paying her bills, according to her mother. After having sex with Furlan, Dunlop strangled her and then dumped her naked body in Fish Creek Park. Police later determined that Dunlop had searched online for "disposing a body using fire." Three years after he killed her, Dunlop was arrested. In October 2015, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and indignity to a body. He was handed a 13-year sentence but, with credit for the time he'd spent in custody ahead of his trial, Dunlop had about six-and-a-half years left to serve. 'I'm representing my daughter' In 2020, Dunlop was released from prison but was under conditions until June 2022. A parole board report noted Dunlop "took full responsibility" and was committed to maintaining behavioural changes "to help with lowering your risk." Kathryn Furlan says she attended Dunlop's parole hearing and delivered a victim impact statement. She expressed disappointment but said she wasn't surprised to be back at court. "I'm here because I'm representing my daughter, Laura Furlan, who was killed at the hands of Christopher Dunlop; this is a continuation of that as far as I'm concerned," she said. "I'm here to advocate for the victim in this trial, and her family. Hopefully at the end of it all, justice will get served."
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
‘So shocking': Calgary murder trial hears from police officer who found victim's body
Christopher Ward Dunlop, seen in this undated photo from Facebook, is accused of first-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body in the death of Judy Maerz in February 2023. (Supplied) **GRAPHIC WARNING: Some of the details of this story may be disturbing to some readers** The first-degree murder trial began Wednesday for the man accused of killing Judy Maerz just three years after he was released from prison for his role in the death of another woman. Christopher Ward Dunlop, 50, is accused of stabbing Maerz, 58, to death in what the Crown argues was a 'crime of domination.' She was found naked and burned in Deerfoot Athletic Park on Feb. 16, 2023. Sgt. Dave Mills of the Calgary Police Service began testimony. He was the first responder on scene after a woman discovered the body while walking her dogs that morning. 'It was terrible,' Mills said. He described the victim's badly burned body laid out in plain sight near the parking lot of the park. He said the victim was severely burned, had numerous stab wounds and had her pants were pulled down to her ankles. Mills said Maerz's throat had been slit. He said he questioned if what he was looking at was a mannequin because it was such a horrific state. 'It was so shocking I had to walk up close because I knew it was real but a big part of me didn't want to believe it was real.' According to the Crown's theory, Maerz was stabbed 72 times during sexual intercourse. Dunlop has pleaded not guilty to both first-degree murder and causing indignity to a body. Murder trial of Christopher Dunlop begins Judy Maerz's body was found in the Deerfoot Athletic Park on Feb. 16, 2023, the same place where Laura Furlan was killed 15 years earlier. (File) 'I'm here to advocate for the victim' Dunlop was previously convicted of manslaughter in the death of Laura Furlan 15 years prior to Maerz's death. In that case, he admitted to strangling the 38-year-old woman after having sex with her in the Deerfoot Athletic Park on Sept. 7, 2009, before dumping her body in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Furlan's mother Kathryn was in court Wednesday for the beginning of the trial. 'I'm here because I'm representing my daughter Laura Furlan who was killed at the hands of Christopher Dunlop,' she told CTV News. 'This is a continuation of that as far as I'm concerned so I'm here to advocate for the victim in this trial and her family. Hopefully at the end of it all, justice will get served.' Maerz and Furlan killings tied together: judge Both women worked in the sex trade and Crown prosecutors argue Dunlop 'had an animus toward street sex workers and set out that fateful night to find a street sex worker to kill.' Prosecutors needed to fight to have the evidence from the Furlan's killing considered during this new trial. In that ruling, Justice Colin C.J. Feasby said two killings were so similiar they were 'unlikely to be the result of coincidence.' Dunlop was given 13 years for killing her but received six-and-a-half years for credit of the time he'd already served. 'I think the justice system has to reevaluate this type of sentencing and have to serve more time,' Kathryn said. Feasby is presiding over the trial, which is scheduled until June 27. (With files from Michael Franklin)
