CALGARY — Police say a man has been charged with killing a woman whose burned body was found in a Calgary park — nearly 14 years after he killedanother woman and left her body in a park.
Officers were called to Deerfoot Athletic Park on the morning of Feb. 16 for reports that a passerby had come across a body. Police described Judy Maerz as a 58-year-old mother.
"We've spoken to her family today and advised them of these charges," Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson of the Calgary police homicide unit told reporters Thursday. "She was a victim of a tragic death."
Her two children, he added, are "devastated."
"They've lost their mother."
Police said an autopsy determined Maerz's death was a homicide. Detectives worked around the clock on the investigation and were able to identify a potential suspect, said Gregson.
Christopher Ward Dunlop, 48, is charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a human body. He remains in custody and is to appear in court next week.
Gregson said investigators don't believe Dunlop and Maerz knew each other before they met on the evening of Feb. 15.
"This was a very public and extremely disturbing murder," he said. "The victim, in this case, was targeted by someone unknown to her, and we recognize these types of cases have an enormous impact on the sense of safety for Calgarians."
Gregson said Dunlop has a prior conviction in a similar killing.
Court records show Dunlop pleaded guilty in 2015 to manslaughter in the death of 38-year-old Laura Furlan. She was found dead by a dog walker in Calgary's Fish Creek park in 2009.
Dunlop was sentenced to 11 years in prison and another two years for causing an indignity to a human body and was given 6 1/2 years credit for time he spent in custody waiting for trial.
It wasn't immediately clear when Dunlop was released from prison.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2023.
The Canadian Press
