CALGARY – A Calgary man with a violent past, who was convicted of brutally murdering a woman just months after being released from prison for killing another, is scheduled to be sentenced today.
Christopher Dunlop was found guilty by a jury earlier this month of first-degree murder in the 2023 death of Judy Maerz.The conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
The details of the crime are particularly grim. Dunlop stabbed Ms. Maerz 79 times at Deerfoot Athletic Park before dousing her body in gasoline and setting it on fire. At the time of her murder, Maerz, 58, was navigating the challenges of poverty and addiction but had achieved a significant milestone: securing her own apartment, her first stable home in over a decade.
The case has cast a harsh spotlight on the Canadian justice system, as Dunlop had only recently completed a 13-year sentence for manslaughter. In that 2009 case, he pleaded guilty to choking Laura Furlan to death during a sexual encounter before abandoning her body in a city park.
Despite the violent nature of his previous crime, a 2023 Parole Board of Canada decision assessed Dunlop as a “low to moderate risk to reoffend” upon his release. Documents from his time in prison show that he completed a sex offender program in 2017, where he was noted as an active participant with a “good understanding” of the concepts. The parole board identified alcohol, pornography, and feelings of rejection as risk factors but believed Dunlop was motivated to manage his risk.
That assessment stands in stark contrast to the violence he unleashed upon Judy Maerz shortly after re-entering society. Today’s sentencing will formalize the mandatory life term, bringing a legal conclusion to a case that raises profound and disturbing questions about rehabilitation and public safety.
