'Justice for Tim': Sharlene Bosma thanks jury, Crown on 'long-awaited day'

Sharlene Bosma, with her family and that of her late husband Tim Bosma, makes a statement in front of the John Sopinka Courthouse in Hamilton following the guilty verdicts of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich on Friday, June 17, 2016. (Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Tim Bosma's wife choked back tears as she stood outside a Hamilton, Ont. courthouse Friday and thanked the lawyers, jury and judge for bringing about “justice for Tim.”

The jury found Dellen Millard and Mark Smich guilty of first-degree murder in Bosma’s 2013 death. They are sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Both Millard and Smich declined to comment during the sentencing. Smich said he will appeal.

Flanked by dozens of supporters dubbed the “Bosma Army,” Sharlene Bosma offered gratitude to those who kept her strong throughout the painful trial.

“For over three years, we have waited for justice for Tim. Today has been a very long-awaited day for our families,” Bosma said to supporters’ cheers.

“We have had to endure being near the two men who walked down my driveway on May 6, 2013, and took away the bright life in our lives that was Tim.”

Mourning lost years

Sharlene Bosma called Millard and Smich “the utter depths of depravity in our society” and condemned their “unspeakable acts.” She said that while Millard and Smich are now serving life sentences, “ours began over three year ago when they murdered Tim.”

“What is unfair is that regardless of all that has transpired in the courtroom today, one thing will never change for us. There is one absolute constant for us: this does not bring Tim back, and he will still never come home.”

Despite the heartache, Bosma says that she made a choice years ago to focus on joyful memories with Tim, whom she married in 2010, rather than dwell on sadness.

“I’m always going to mourn what we’re never going to have, what we’re never going to share together. But I will celebrate what we were able to have because every one of those moments counts,” she said.

The couple had a daughter together, who Sharlene Bosma called “our miracle baby in so many ways.”

“I am grateful for the time Tim and I got to spend together as our own little family,” she said. “While Tim may have been stolen, that time never will be.”

‘Our story does not end here’

Bosma thanked the friends who supported her and her family from the early days of Tim’s disappearance and throughout the harrowing trial.

“They have endured my late-night incoherent sobbing phone calls in the beginning, staying night after night, been the listening ear for me. They dropped everything to comb through every possible road and street in this province when Tim went missing.”

Bosma said she also has “unending gratitude” to the police officials, detectives and victims’ services supports who helped investigate the case and offered help along the way.

She emphatically thanked the Crown lawyers who successfully argued for the convictions, calling them “incredible.”

“It is through their hard work and perseverance that we are here at this moment. It was their long days, long nights and even longer weekends spent away from their families that we were able to achieve today’s verdict,” she said.

Addressing members of the jury, Bosma said that “each of them gave so much of themselves to sit on that jury for such a lengthy trial.”

“I cannot imagine how stressful and difficult that this has been on them. We have prayed for them every day and will continue to do so as they re-enter their lives,” she said.

Bosma ended her speech on a message of hope, saying that she and Tim’s family now begin the process of re-establishing their day-to-day lives.

“Over the last three years, we had only begun to learn to rebuild, to learn to move forward carrying Tim with us. Now the real work begins, because our story does not end here,” she said.