Millard ordered incinerator days before disappearance

One of two men accused of killing Laura Babcock and burning her body ordered a large animal incinerator — called The Eliminator — days before the young woman disappeared five years ago, a Toronto court heard on Thursday.

Retired forensic officer Jim Falconer guided jurors through a lengthy presentation about the haul of data found on three computers seized at the home of Dellen Millard.

“What temperature is cremation done at?” read a screen capture of an online search taken from Millard’s phone at 10:38 p.m. on July 23, 2012.

“Best answer: 1700 degrees and it takes about 1 hour for the first 100 pounds and ½ hour for each 100 after that.”

Babcock’s father, Clayton, who sat in the courtroom, held his hand to his mouth as he listened to the testimony.

The Crown contends Millard and his friend, Mark Smich, killed Babcock and then incinerated her body.

Falconer, a former detective sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police, showed court a series of photographs and videos taken from Millard’s phone at a hangar he owned at the Region of Waterloo International Airport on the same night.

One photo, taken at 11:14 p.m., shows Smich smiling and holding a black pole while standing in front of the incinerator.

Another photo, taken at 11:45 p.m., shows flames inside the incinerator.

A video recorded at the same time shows embers floating in the air, a street light in the distance and a rumbling sound in the background.

Two hours later, a note was created on Smich’s iPad. It read:

“The bitch started off all skin and bone,

Now the bitch lay on some ash stone,

Last time I saw her was outside the home,

And if u go swimming u can find her phone”

The Crown alleges Millard, 32, of Toronto, and Smich, 30, of Oakville, killed Babcock because she was the odd woman out in a love triangle with Millard and his girlfriend.

Prosecutors say Millard and Smich burned the 23-year-old woman’s remains in an incinerator that was later found on Millard’s farm near Kitchener.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.

Falconer told court that back on June 18, 2012, Millard asked a man named “Shaner” to order an animal incinerator that could burn a 250pound animal.

“Cost on small 250 lb incinerator is 11390. Next model is 500 lb and sells for 13440. Tax and shipping extra,” Shaner wrote to Millard.

“Put an order in for the larger one. Use the red Visa,” Millard wrote.

The total cost of the incinerator, which Millard and Shaner referred to as “the BBQ,” came to more than $15,000 after taxes, according to texts from Shaner.

On July 3, court has heard, Babcock’s phone pinged off the same cell tower as Millard’s phone at the same time — near Millard’s house in Toronto’s west end. Her final outgoing phone call came at 7:03 p.m.

At 7:30 p.m., Millard texted Smich: “I’m on a mission, back in 1 hr.”

Court has heard that Babcock’s phone stopped connecting with cell towers at 11 a.m. on July 4.