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CBC
2 days 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.
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
In Calgary courts: Homicide victim was 'really happy' after finally finding her own home, best friend says
Article content After years of couch surfing or living at her adult son's, Calgarian Judy Maerz was 'really happy' to finally get her own place, only days before she was brutally killed, court heard Monday. Article content Thomas Reilly, the dead woman's best friend, said he helped Maerz move into her 23rd Avenue S.W. subsidized housing apartment suite at the beginning of February 2023. Article content Article content Reilly told Crown prosecutor Hyatt Mograbee that was the first time Maerz, 58, had a place of her own in the 12 years he had known her. Article content Article content 'She was really happy,' Reilly told the Calgary Court of King's Bench trial of Maerz's alleged murderer, Christopher Ward Dunlop. Article content Article content Dunlop, 50, is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 16, 2023, death of Maerz, who was stabbed dozens of times and had her throat slit. Article content Dunlop is also charged with causing an indignity to a body after the victim's body was set ablaze in the Deerfoot Athletic Park off 8th Avenue N.E., in the early morning hours of that day. Article content Reilly said he last saw Maerz either on Feb. 13 or 14, when he left her residence after spending the night while visiting from his home in Wetaskiwin. Article content 'She was buzzed … high, intoxicated. She usually was,' he said, adding Maerz would sell sex for money to buy marijuana or crack cocaine. Article content 'She was really happy she had her place. She had a chance to cook for me, make tea,' Reilly said. Article content He said he helped Maerz move into the unit with items she kept stored at her son's and daughter's homes, as well as some things she had purchased through Women In Need Society. Article content Article content A Calgary police officer who photographed the apartment after Maerz's death described it as sparse. Article content Reilly identified Maerz in security footage showing her leaving her new digs around 9 p.m. the evening of Feb. 15. Article content It's the Crown's theory Maerz travelled to the hooker stroll in Forest Lawn where Dunlop picked her up before driving to the secluded athletic park adjacent to the busy Deerfoot Trail. Article content A second friend of the deceased, Brian Sproul, said he last saw Maerz the morning she died when she visited his 28th Street S.E. residence. Article content When Maerz left to catch a bus around 12:30 he told her if she missed the last one she could return and stay the night. Article content 'I thought she made it home alright,' Sproul said.
