Dellen Millard and Mark Smich have both been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old father Tim Bosma, who disappeared when the two men took him on a ride in his truck.
Millard, of Toronto, and Smich, of Oakville, Ont., were sentenced hours after the verdict to the automatic sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole for 25 years.
The 12-member jury in Hamilton, Ont., reached its decision on Friday after five days of deliberations and a nearly five-month trial.
Millard appeared to be smiling as the verdict was read. Smich was stone faced.
Millard declined to comment during the sentencing, while Smich indicated he will appeal.
Justice Goodman said during sentencing that Bosma was an "innocent, decent, hardworking family man" and that what happened to him is “incomprehensible.”
Both men are also charged with the first-degree murder of Laura Babcock, a Toronto woman who went missing in 2012 after a romantic relationship with Millard.
Millard is accused of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his father. Wayne Millard’s death was originally deemed a suicide.
'We have memories'
Sharlene Bosma did not give a victim impact statement in court but instead spoke to media and cheering supporters outside the courtroom.
She said that although Smich and Millard had now received life sentences, “ours began over three years ago when they murdered Tim.”
“That being said, although we endure a life-sentence without Tim, we have learned to collectively laugh again, to smile and to embrace what we still have,” she said. “We have memories, a lot of beautiful memories.”
“I will celebrate what we were able to have because every one of those moments have meaning,” she continued. “I feel honoured to have a beautiful child with Tim that calls me mom.”
Assistant Crown attorney Tony Leitch thanked the jury during a brief statement after the sentencing.
“Tim Bosma was a good man and he deserved everything we gave,” Leitch said. “Justice has been done in our community.”
Millard, 30, and Smich, 28, had both pleaded not guilty in the murder of Bosma, who disappeared on May 6, 2013 after taking two strangers for a test drive in a truck he was trying to sell online.
Days later, Bosma’s remains were found burned beyond recognition on Millard’s farm property near Waterloo, Ont. News of the disappearance of the innocent young father whose remains were found days later made headlines around the world, and had people thinking twice about buying goods online.
The jury’s verdict caps a trial which began on Feb. 1, and in which the Crown sought to prove that the co-accused planned for more than a year to steal a truck, abduct and kill its owner and burn the remains in an animal incinerator called “The Eliminator.”
The jury of six men and six women had a mass of evidence to consider. Justice Andrew Goodman instructed the jury they could consider verdicts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter, as well as a verdict of not guilty.
During the trial, Smich testified in his own defence that Millard fatally shot Bosma and then burned his body. Smich said he was handed the gun and buried of it in a rural area, but said he did not remember where.
Millard did not testify himself but his lawyer, Ravin Pillay, said in closing arguments that his client was too smart to commit such a dumb crime. He questioned why his client would be so careless as to show his face to Bosma’s wife and tenant before driving off with Bosma in the truck.
Instead, Pillay called Bosma’s killing a “failed attempt to turn the theft into a robbery,” and that it was Smich who ended up accidentally shooting and killing the 32-year-old.
In addition, Pillay said Millard only helped Smich cover up the killing.
Close to 100 witnesses took the stand over the course of the trial. Others who testified during the trial included Millard’s employees, Bosma’s wife Sharlene, as well as Smich and Millard’s ex-girlfriends.
The jury began as 14 people, but one juror left when her brother died suddenly. Another juror left after handing the judge a note – the contents of which were not disclosed – before being excused. The judge gave jurors one path to consider a first-degree murder conviction: “That sole route is if you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt on the entirety of the evidence that the murder was planned and deliberate.”
