‘It wasn’t me’: Man accused in Surrey killing testifies in own defence

‘It wasn’t me’: Man accused in Surrey killing testifies in own defence

Published 1:29 pm Monday, October 19, 2026

The man accused of stabbing and killing Surrey’s Tori Dunn in Port Kells on June 16, 2024 took the stand in New Westminster Supreme Court Monday.

Adam Troy Mann, who was charged with second-degree murder in June of 2024, “is going to take the stand and he is going to give you his defence,” defence counsel Casey St. Germain told the jury in an opening statement.

“Now it’s time to hear the other side of the story.”

B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Layton is presiding over the trial, which started Oct. 5.

St. Germain first asked Mann a little about himself. He turns 43 in December, and was born and raised in Windsor, Ont., court heard, with his mother and seven younger siblings.

Mann, dressed in a dark sweatshirt and collared white shirt, sporting a full beard, remained standing while he testified, looking toward counsel as well as the jury and Dunn’s family members and friends who were present in the gallery.

“My mother is black and my father is native,” Mann shared, saying his father left when he was a toddler, and his mother didn’t work, and was on welfare.

“I grew up poor … (in) poverty,” Mann said, saying his father struggled with alcohol addiction.

“He would become abusive (when he drank) and he would beat me and my other siblings,” Mann said, adding that it happened “every day.”

He was placed in foster care around the age of five or six, he said, and started drinking “every day” around the age of 13 or 14. He didn’t finish high school, but went as far as Grade 10, court heard, and worked in construction sometimes.

St. Germain asked him about his past criminal record, including a 2003 conviction in Ontario for possession of property obtained by crime, for which he served seven months, as well as a 2009 Ontario conviction for failure to comply with a court order. Mann also confirmed he served a two-month sentence for theft under $5,000, and was convicted of two failures to comply with a court order in Abbotsford, B.C. in 2021, as well as failure to comply with a court order in Vancouver in 2024.

“I want to take your attention now to June of 2024,” St. Germain said, asking Mann to describe his life at that time.

“I was poor … homeless,” Mann said, confirming he was using alcohol and cocaine at the time and that how he consumed cocaine changed over time from snorting it to smoking it.

He used welfare to fund his habits, he told court, and admitted he would occasionally steal from stores.

On June 16, he was on a bus in Surrey and “ended up getting into a fight with some rando guy on bus … I thought he took my bag,” Mann said. “At the end I got off the bus because somebody (said they) called cops on me. … I seen people with their phones.”

Because he got off the bus early, and not at Scott Road SkyTrain, he didn’t know where he was, Mann testified.

“(It was) some random neighbourhood. I began looking for a place to hide — I thought somebody had called the cops on me.”

He was looking for another bus stop as well as a place to hide, Mann said, testifying that he had drunk alcohol and used crack cocaine that day. Asked about the impact of drug use, Mann said his short-term memory is affected.

“My short-term memory would go … I’d place something somewhere then two seconds later, forget where I placed it,” said Mann. “(Cocaine) wipes your memory pretty much.”

As he wandered the random neighbourhood he said he was unfamiliar with, Mann said he was walking down the street when he “saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye” that turned out to be a kitchen knife and cellphone.

“I didn’t know if (the items) were stolen or not … the knife had blood on it, the tip was broken … so I threw it (away).”

When St. Germain asked why he threw the knife away, Mann said it looked like it had blood on it, the tip was broken, and it didn’t have a sheath.

“I could hear sirens … (the knife) had no value … it was just a kitchen knife, not a hunting knife.”

With the cellphone that was found, Mann said “it was my intention was to keep it … the more cops (that) showed up, the more I got spooked. I didn’t know if phone was stolen or not, so I tossed it,” Mann said, confirming he was wearing a hoodie, black pants and back shoes.

When asked why he got rid of the hoodie he was wearing, Mann said he thought the police were looking for him because of the fight on the bus.

“I remember being in some bushes behind houses,” Mann said.

He held the knife for “just seconds,” he told court, but held onto the phone for longer, likely minutes, as he “figured it was probably valuable,” and that he might be able to get some money for it.

He didn’t remember where he was when he was detained by police that night, Mann said.

“I just remember a cop jumping out of his vehicle and him detaining me. I’m lost … I’m not from B.C. … I was trying to find my way to SkyTrain,” he said.

Asked about the toque he had been wearing that night, Mann responded, “I think I tossed it.”

When asked why, he said it was “to change my description from the fight on the bus.”

Dunn’s family, friends and boyfriend at the time of her death whom she shared the Port Kells hone with, Trafford Wace, listened intently during Mann’s testimony.

Defence counsel concluded, and Crown counsel Tim Livingston started cross-examination after the morning break.

Livingston took Mann to the night of June 16, 2024, and showed him and the court several different video surveillance videos — including bus footage — that showed someone walking through Dunn’s neighbourhood at different points throughout that evening.

Mann agreed it was him on the bus wearing a grey hoodie. He said he wasn’t sure where he got on or off the bus, but footage showed it was in the area of 96 Avenue and 192 Street in Surrey.

Mann said he got off the bus because of an altercation about his bag but couldn’t remember what happened to his bag.

“It disappeared either before I got on (the bus) or after I got on, I don’t remember,” Mann testified.

The bus stop he got off at was 2.4 kilometres from Dunn’s and Wace’s residence, Livingston said, in an industrial/commercial area, but Mann maintained he didn’t know the area or couldn’t remember.

Livingston referred Mann to Google maps and more video surveillance to help him remember.

“I was … looking for another bus stop or place to hide … trees or an alley or something that takes me out of view of the public … I don’t know where. I’m not sure where I ended up at,” said Mann.

Livingston showed a video of a person walking north on 182A street and asked Mann if that was him. He answered “yes,” and also responded the person in a second video that night was also him, walking up the same street and then crossing the street.

Livingston showed Mann a Google map and said, “I’d suggest you passed a number of bus stops on 96th avenue,” but Mann didn’t agree.

“I don’t know … I didn’t see anything,” he said, noting he was trying to find a hiding place “close to a bus stop somewhere,” but didn’t see any place to hide or take cover.

Although he remembered finding a knife and phone, Mann said he couldn’t remember what road he was on or where he was when he found them, even after being shown maps and video. He agreed he had “tossed” the knife but held onto the phone longer.

Although Mann earlier testified he heard sirens and started running that night, Livingston showed the court video from shortly before 10 p.m. that night

“Sir that’s you, back on video? And you’re crossing in front of 189 Avenue?” Livingston asked.

“Yes,” Mann replied.

“You’d agree you’re not running,” Livingston said.

“I’m walking faster,” Mann answered, then amended that to say he was “speed walking.”

Mann agreed video surveillance showed him taking off his hoodie and round a corner while he was “speed walking,” and that further video showed him holding the hoodie in his hand. When asked why he took the hoodie off, Mann said he thought police were looking for him because of the fight on the bus.

“An hour-and-a-half later, you were suddenly concerned about an altercation that happened an hour-and-a-half earlier, two-and-a-half kilometres away?” Livingston asked.

“Yes,” Mann answered.

He agreed it was his hoodie that was later found in some bushes.

“I’m going to suggest to you, sir, that you changed your hoodie because you stabbed someone,” Livingston said, to which Mann answered, “No.”

“That’s why you changed your appearance.”

“No,” Mann said,

Referring to photos and maps as well as video, Livingston showed where the knife was found — north of Dunn’s home — but Mann said he couldn’t remember.

“I don’t know. I just threw it.”

Mann agreed he got rid of the cellphone shortly before being detained by a Surrey Police Service constable.

When shown video of a green building where the knife was found, Mann agreed he could see a road near the building but couldn’t remember if he threw the knife from the paved road to the building.

“So you tossed the knife from there to the green building,” Livingston asked, but Mann answered, “I don’t know.”

“So you’re saying you tossed it from paved space?” Livingston queried.

“I don’t know,” Mann said.

“But you said to jury you only held onto it for a few seconds,” Livingston reminded him.

“I don’t know,” Mann said again.

“Having a hard time remembering that, sir?” Livingston asked.

“Yes,” Mann replied.

“I’m going to suggest to you, sir, that you never tossed the knife. You placed it there against the building,” Livingston said, to which, Mann responded, “No.”

DNA found on blood on the knife blade was a likely match to Dunn, Livingston said, while DNA on the handle was a likely match to Mann himself, as well as another, unspecified person. Mann agreed.

“I’m suggesting to you that your DNA was on the knife because you stabbed Tori Dunn with it,” Livingston said.

“I didn’t stab Tori Dunn, and I didn’t step foot in anyone’s home that day either,” Mann responded.

Livingston noted that Mann’s DNA was on the hoodie as well as what was likely Dunn’s DNA on the sleeve of the hoodie.

“Ms. Dunn’s DNA is on (the hoodie) because you were wearing it when you stabbed her,” Livingston said.

“I didn’t stab her,” Mann replied.

Mann also denied taking Dunn’s cellphone or entering the Port Kells home.

“I didn’t step foot in anyone’s house. I didn’t take anything,” said Mann.

Mann testified his crack cocaine use made him forgetful, and that’s likely why he couldn’t remember what happened to his bag, or where he got rid of the knife or phone.

“I don’t know. I was wandering around the neighbourhood … I’d never been there before, I don’t know where I was when I got off the bus, I don’t know,” Mann said, also saying he didn’t remember how long he was walking, which direction he was walking, where he found the knife and cellphone, or where he left his toque.

“But you recall what you heard on police radio,” Livingston said.

“The description (said) a white guy grey pants … I’m not white, I wasn’t wearing grey pants … I didn’t have a clue why I was being arrested,” Mann said. “I didn’t step foot in anyone’s house or stab anyone.”

“I’m going to suggest, sir, you got rid of the phone,” Livingston said.

“No. I didn’t stab anyone,” Mann answered.

“You went inside Dunn’s and Wace’s residence,” Livingston continued.

“No. I didn’t go into anyone’s home,” Mann interjected.

“You found your way to kitchen, grabbed a knife, had an altercation with Tori Dunn,” Livingston continued, with Mann saying, “No. No. No. No. It wasn’t me. No.”

“Ms. Dunn tried to defend herself … you didn’t know Trafford was there,” Livingston continued.

“No. I don’t know … I never seen him before in my life,” Mann answered, adding, “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.”

He agreed he ditched the toque and hoodie near a townhouse complex, but denied stabbing Dunn again.

“You stabbed her four times,” Livingston said.

“I didn’t do anything,” Mann replied.

After Mann’s testimony, defence rested its case.

Closing arguments are expected on Wednesday (Oct. 21).