GUILTY VERDICT
BOSMA JURY FINDS DELLEN MILLARD AND MARK SMICH GUILTY OF FIRST- DEGREE MURDER, SENTENCED TO LIFE,
It was a day of strong voices, starting with each juror at the trial for the killing of Tim Bosma, standing one by one in a packed courtroom and declaring both Dellen Millard and Mark Smich guilty of first-degree murder.
Then came Judge Andrew Goodman, who broke with practice and addressed court before imposing sentences, saying Bosma’s killing was “reprehensible and unimaginable” and calling Millard and Smich’s actions “despicable and callous.”
Next, a spontaneous roar of elated cheers erupted from a crowd of onlookers who were not able to get inside the courtroom as the Bosma family walked out; another when the three prosecutors emerged in their black robes and a third for the detectives who led the chase to arrest the pair.
And finally, by dinnertime, after leading a large entourage — her “village” of supporters, as she called them — across Main Street to address the media and a swelling crowd of clapping passersby, came the remarkably poised words of a vibrant Sharlene Bosma, Tim Bosma’s widow.
“For over three years we have waited for justice for Tim,” she said through a mixture of smiles and tears.
“For three years we have been in and out of this courthouse to look at and breathe in the same space with the utter depths of depravity in our society. We have had to endure being near the two men that walked down my driveway, that took away the bright life that is Tim.”
Afterward, as the Bosmas packed up their things and trickled to their cars for a family retreat, strangers kept stopping to shake their hands, offer their respect or give them hugs.
Millard, 30, of Toronto, and Smich, 28, of Oakville, were found guilty of firstdegree murder in the death of Bosma, the 32- year- old Hamilton father who was killed in 2013 on a test drive of a pickup truck he was selling online.
They were sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole until 2038.
When the first verdict was read by the jury foreman, there were gasps and sobs, laughter and tears, an impromptu release of joy amid sadness from the murdered man’s family.
For his part, standing in the prisoner’s box to hear his verdict, Millard clamped his eyes shut f or a f ew seconds before returning to an emotionless expression. Afterward, Smich sat with his head bowed.
Both men were given the chance to address the court before the mandatory life sentence, but it was here the voices were muted.
“I decline to comment at this time, Your Honour,” said Millard slowly.
“Not at this time, thank you,” said Smich, trailing off at the end.
In accordance with the family’s wishes, there were no victim impact statements to be read to the court, said Assistant Crown Attorney Tony Leitch. Such statements would be reserved until they are needed at any future parole request.
The jury began deliberations late Monday after listening to Goodman’s instructions over two days.
Bosma’s disappearance on May 6, 2013, after leaving with on a test drive of his pickup truck triggered a reaction not only in Hamilton but around the world.
A huge public search, followed by the news of Bosma’s death, created an emotional attachment to the case for many people. The man’s disappearance received a level of attention typically reserved for snatched children.
On that test drive, Bosma was shot and killed and, later that night, his body burned to ash and bone fragments in an incinerator meant for disposal of farm animals, called The Eliminator.
The litany of evidence pointing to Millard, and to a lesser degree Smich, was powerful. Jurors heard testimony over 16 weeks that swept from the emotional and dramatic to the technical and dull.
They read dozens of text messages between the two plotting to steal a Dodge Ram 3500 truck and heard about their plans from their friends, including Andrew Michalski, who said after Millard had arranged test drives with two truck- sellers, he asked which one he should steal from, “the asshole or the nice guy?”
Bosma’s truck was seen in Millard’s airport hangar, then found in the driveway of Millard’s mother’s home; charred human remains were found inside the incinerator hidden on Millard’s farm, and Bosma’s blood found on the outside.
The jury watched surveillance video of what appears to be the incinerator lighting up outside Millard’s aircraft hangar, where the court heard Bosma’s body was burned. Video taken around the same time shows Millard and Smich inside the hangar.
The jury heard Smich’s former girlfriend, Marlena Meneses, testify that the two men picked her up the next morning and were “celebrating” and “very happy,” saying their mission went well.
And they read Millard’s letters, smuggled from jail to his former girlfriend, Christina Noudga, in which he plotted to tamper with evidence, change witness testimony and manipulate jurors — which he said was the only way he could avoid a life sentence.
Smich testified in his own defence, though Millard chose not to. He said Millard shot Bosma during the test drive while Smich followed behind in Millard’s SUV.
Millard’s l awyers said Smich shot Bosma when he tried to steal the truck at gunpoint and the gun went off as Bosma struggled to escape.
Nobody denied the two had taken Bosma on the test drive.
In the end, the evidence was overwhelming.
Thomas Dungey, Smich’s lawyer, said he will appeal the verdict. “We feel we there are very strong grounds to appeal,” he said.
Millard, too, is expected to appeal, although his lawyers would not comment immediately after court.
Millard and Smich each faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Laura Babcock, Millard’s former girlfriend, and Millard is further charged with another murder, that of Wayne Millard, his father.
Just as the legal drama will continue, Sharlene Bosma reminded the cheering throng that the vibrancy of the Bosma clan will also go on. “Our story does not end here.”