Judge finds Calgary man guilty of 1st-degree murder in death of woman at northeast park
Christopher Dunlop is guilty of first-degree murder and indignity to a human body.
In court on Monday, the 50-year-old was convicted in the death of 58-year-old Judy Maerz at Deerfoot Athletic Park in February 2023.
Police found Maerz's body badly burned, and the medical examiner told court she had been stabbed 79 times and her throat had been slit before she died.
'It was a very comprehensive decision on which [the judge] considered all the evidence that was heard in this very complex and tragic case,' said Crown prosecutor Greg Piper in an interview with CTV News.
'I hope the decision today can bring some measure of comfort and closure.'
Court heard that police found a drop of blood belonging to Dunlop at the scene, just metres away from Maerz's body.
Justice Colin Feasby, in his decision, said Maerz's death was deliberate and carefully planned out but likely also occurred during a sexual assault by Dunlop.
'The only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the presence of Mr. Dunlop's blood on snow near Ms. Maerz's body is that he was present at the scene of the crime around the time Ms. Maerz was killed,' said Feasby.
'CCTV images, cell phone evidence and data from the diagrams on our computer make the conclusion that Mr. Dunlop killed Mr. Maerz inescapable.'
Court saw CCTV footage of Maerz leaving her home the night of Feb. 15, 2023, and boarding a bus, where she got off in Forest Lawn.
Several hours later, between 2:12 a.m. and 3:27 a.m., is when she would have been in contact with Dunlop.
CCTV footage shows Dunlop driving his orange Dodge Ram pickup truck to the Peter Lougheed Centre the evening of the 15th to switch with his wife's vehicle, a Toyota RAV4.
The judge said Dunlop leaving his home with a weapon and gasoline was proof Maerz's murder was planned.
'Mr. Dunlop's possible calculation that there would not be a robust investigation of the death of a street sex worker in the present case was proved wrong,' said Feasby.
'CPS investigated the murder of Ms. Maerz with the same energy and determination that they would the murder of any other Calgarian. That is as it should be.'
In CCTV footage, a bright light is seen igniting from the scene at the park 30 minutes after the killing.
The judge found this to be Dunlop returning to the scene to dispose of any evidence he may have left behind.
'The only reason why Mr. Dunlop would have taken the risk of returning to the scene of the crime was to destroy evidence that he committed the murder,' the judge said.
Dunlop was previously convicted of manslaughter in the death of another sex worker—Laura Furlan—in 2009.
He served a 13-year sentence and was released from prison in 2022.
He strangled Furlan to death while having sex with her at Deerfoot Athletic Park before dumping her body in Fish Creek Provincial Park.
A first-degree murder conviction carries with it an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Sentencing is set for July 28 at 1 p.m.
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