Calgary killer accused of murdering again was rated 'moderate to low risk' of reoffending

Charges have been laid in connection with a recent Calgary murder where the accused was previously convicted of manslaughter almost eight years ago.

Christopher Ward Dunlop was arrested on Feb. 15, police say, one day before investigators located the body of 58-year-old Judy Maerz in the Deerfoot Athletic Park.

Police say Dunlop and Maerz had recently met and Dunlop now faces a second-degree murder charge in her death.

Police confirm Dunlop was previously convicted and jailed for killing another woman in 2009.

Laura Furlan's body was found near Fish Creek Provincial Park on Sept. 7, 2009. Police said at the time she'd been reported missing by family members a couple weeks earlier.

Following a lengthy investigation, Dunlop was arrested in 2012 and charged with manslaughter and committing an indignity to a human body.

Those charges were upgraded to first-degree murder but, ultimately, Dunlop was sentenced to 13 years in jail after pleading guilty to killing Furlan.

PLEA DEAL INFLUENCED CASE

Doug King, a justice professor at Mount Royal University, says the Crown had offered Dunlop a plea deal in the original proceedings.

"During the trial, a plea deal was accepted by both the Crown and defence counsel to move it out of first-degree murder to a manslaughter conviction," he told CTV News on Friday.

King says Dunlop still received a "fairly significant" term in prison for killing Furlan, but, since he was in police custody for three years prior to his trial, that sentence was reduced.

"He was in (the Calgary Remand Centre) for that," he said. "The judge did what judges have to do, which is give him credit for time served."

He says Dunlop's 11-year sentence for manslaughter was cut down by about six years for that.

'FRUSTRATION, ANGER AND HORROR'

While some may believe that Dunlop was released too early, King says those concerns are understandable.

"The frustration, the anger and the horror of what has happened is valid in the sense of it's hard for people to understand someone who's been involved in taking someone's life earlier gets out and does it again," he said.

But that doesn't mean the judge in Dunlop's original trial did anything wrong, King says.

"I was reading over the original decision in 2015 and it's a really well-reasoned decision, using precedent, similar-fact cases, arriving at a decision of 11 years for a manslaughter conviction."

King says at that time, there was nothing to indicate that the sentence was unusual and it was even in "the higher range" of manslaughter convictions.

Laura Furlan's body was discovered by a man walking his dog in Fish Creek Park on September 7, 2009.

CASE HIGHLIGHTS RECIDIVISM

Canada's reoffending rate of individuals coming out of the federal system is about 10 per cent, King says, but the possibility of that person to commit a violent crime is much lower.

"The recidivism/reoffending rate of someone getting out, committing a violence offence is two-in-1,000," King said.

"But that's no relief to the families who've lost a loved one and a community that's reeling from what sounds like an absolutely horrible crime."

Documents from the Parole Board of Canada show Dunlop was pre-approved for statutory release in December 2019, and completed his sentence on June 3, 2022.

A risk assessment at the time suggested Dunlop had a low to moderate risk to reoffend.

“It is reported you took full responsibility for your offences,” said a pre-release report. “It appears that you have the motivation for continuing to maintain necessary behavioural changes to help with lowering your risk.

“The clinician reported you admitted that a significant risk factor for yourself would be feelings of rejection or being used.”

His release conditions included not consuming alcohol and not being in contact with the victim's family.

However, no matter what Dunlop's previous crimes were, King says the justice system must be allowed to do its job.

"We'll still have to hold to the tenet of innocent until proven guilty – we have to do that. That's the way our system works, we must do that."

Dunlop is expected to appear in court on March 6.

(With files from Austin Lee, Mark Villani and the Canadian Press)