VIKING
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First published 2016
Copyright © 2016 by Ann Brocklehurst
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Brocklehurst, Ann, 1958–, author
Dark ambition : the shocking crime of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich / Ann Brocklehurst.
ISBN 978-0-670-07014-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-14-319826-0 (electronic)
1. Millard, Dellen. 2. Murderers—Ontario—Case studies. 3. Murder—Ontario—Case studies. 4. Murder—Investigation—Ontario—Case studies. I. Title.
HV6535.C32O65 2016 364.152’309713 C2016-902523-3
Cover design by Five Seventeen
Cover images by Ingram Publishing/Getty Images
v4.1
a
In memory of my mother,
Mildred Brocklehurst Woods
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
TIMELINE
CAST OF CHARACTERS
MAPS
PROLOGUE
ONEIT’S JUST A TRUCK
TWOTHE CROWN’S FIRST WITNESS
THREEMOTHER’S DAY
FOURFORENSICS
FIVESUSPECT NUMBER TWO
SIXCAUGHT ON CAMERA
SEVENTHREE GENERATIONS
EIGHTTHE NEW CEO
NINESUSPICIONS
TENTHE BROS
ELEVENINVESTIGATIONS ARE ONGOING
TWELVETHE GIRLFRIENDS
THIRTEENLETTERS
FOURTEENCUTTHROAT
FIFTEENTEAM SMICH
SIXTEENTHE PLAN
SEVENTEENTHE VERDICT
Photo Insert
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TIMELINE
2011
Spring 2011
Dellen Millard becomes engaged to Jennifer Spafford, takes engagement photos at Millardair hangar at Pearson airport before engagement is abruptly broken off
June 2011
Dellen Millard and Andrew Michalski participate in Baja 500 road race
Summer 2011
Dellen Millard begins dating Christina Noudga
September 2011
Construction begins on new Millardair hangar in Waterloo
2012
March 2012
Millardair opens new Waterloo hangar
June 21, 2012
Shane Schlatman purchases the Eliminator incinerator on Millardair account
July 2–3, 2012
Laura Babcock makes eight phone calls to Dellen Millard before she disappears
November 29, 2012
Wayne Millard dies suddenly
December 14, 2012
Wayne Millard obituary published after death is deemed suicide
December 2012
Millardair cancels its transportation department certification, all employees except Shane Schlatman laid off
2013
May 5, 2013
Test drive with Igor Tumanenko
May 6, 2013
Tim Bosma disappears
May 8, 2013
Hamilton Police holds first news conference on Bosma disappearance
May 9, 2013
Sharlene Bosma makes televised appeal
May 10, 2013
Hamilton Police appeals for information on “ambition” tattoo; Millard arrested
May 11, 2013
Hamilton Police announces arrest of Millard, charged with forcible confinement and theft over $5,000
May 12, 2013
Tim Bosma’s truck is found in Kleinburg driveway of Millard’s mother, Madeleine Burns
May 14, 2013
Hamilton Police announces death of Tim Bosma; Millard to be charged with first-degree murder; first reports of incinerator at Millard farm
May 15, 2013
Dellen Millard appears in court to be charged with first-degree murder of Bosma
May 19, 2013
Mark Smich’s sister Melissa gets married
May 22, 2013
Mark Smich is arrested
May 23, 2013
Mark Smich appears in court to be charged with first-degree murder of Bosma
December 30, 2013
Toronto Star publishes jailhouse interview with Dellen Millard
2014
April 10, 2014
Dellen Millard charged with first-degree murders of Laura Babcock and Wayne Millard; Mark Smich charged with first-degree murder of Laura Babcock
April 11, 2014
Christina Noudga charged as accessory after the fact in murder of Tim Bosma
August 8, 2014
Christina Noudga released from jail on bail
2016
February 1, 2016
Trial of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich begins
June 17, 2016
Dellen Millard and Mark Smich found guilty of first-degree murder of Bosma, sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole until 2038
July 2016
Dellen Millard and Mark Smich appeal their first-degree murder convictions
November 14, 2016
Trial of Christina Noudga set to begin
2017
February 13, 2017
Trial of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich for murder of Laura Babcock set to begin
Fall 2017
Trial of Dellen Millard for the murder of Wayne Millard tentatively set to begin
CAST OF CHARACTERS
BOSMA FAMILY
TIM BOSMA
SHARLENE BOSMA
wife
MARY BOSMA
mother
HANK BOSMA
father
POLICE
MATT KAVANAGH
Hamilton Police, homicide detective in charge (official title re Bosma case: major case manager)
GREG RODZONIAK
Hamilton Police, lead detective on Bosma case (official title re Bosma case: primary detective)
GLENN DE CAIRE
Hamilton Police, chief
DAN KINSELLA
Hamilton Police, superintendent
GREG JACKSON
Hamilton Police, tracked cell phones, interviewed Tumanenko
PAUL HAMILTON
Hamilton Police, interviewed Millard at hangar
JOHN TSELEPAKIS
Hamilton Police, tracked cell phones, interviewed Millard
STUART OXLEY
Hamilton Police surveillance unit, tracked and arrested Millard and Smich
JENNIFER GRANATIER
Hamilton Police, tracked Christina Noudga for castoff DNA
BRENT GIBSON
Hamilton Police, escorted Bosma truck from Kleinburg to Hamilton
LAURA TROWBRIDGE
Hamilton Police, escorted Bosma truck from Hamilton to secure OPP facility
CORY WEICK
York Police, investigated Bosma truck in Kleinburg
MARK LEVANGIE
York Police, investigated Bosma truck in Kleinburg
LAURA McLELLAN
Halton Police, conducted forensic investigation of Bosma truck
DAVID BANKS
Halton Police, conducted forensic invest
igation of Bosma truck
BEN ADAMS
Hamilton Police, investigated Millard farm
PHILIP PECKFORD
Hamilton Police, investigated Millard farm
ANNETTE HUYS
Hamilton Police, conducted forensic investigation of Eliminator
GEORGE HIGGINS
Hamilton Police, conducted surveillance on Millard and Smich
BARRY STOLTZ
Hamilton Police, collected Super Sucker video
STEVE GRIFFIN
Waterloo Police, conducted surveillance on Millard
MIKE CARBONE
Toronto Police, took over Laura Babcock and Wayne Millard investigations
EXPERT WITNESSES
JIM FALCONER
retired OPP detective, computer forensics expert
ROBERT JONES
Waterloo Police, blood spatter expert
TRACY ROGERS
forensic anthropologist
DR. WILLIAM BARLOW
forensic dentist
DR. JOHN FERNANDES
forensic pathologist
JAMES SLOOTS
Centre of Forensic Sciences, biologist, DNA expert
ROBERT GERARD
Centre of Forensic Sciences, chemist, GSR expert
MICHAEL PLAXTON
Hamilton Police, forensic video analyst
WITNESSES
WAYNE DE BOER
Bosma tenant
IGOR TUMANENKO
went on first test drive with Millard and Smich
OMAR PALMILI
missed test drive appointment with Millard and Smich
RICK BULLMANN
Bosma neighbour
CHAZ MAIN
dirt biker who spotted Eliminator on Millard property
JAMES STIEVA
Super Sucker, employee
LAWYERS AND JUDGE
THE HONOURABLE ANDREW GOODMAN
judge
TONY LEITCH
lead Crown prosecutor
CRAIG FRASER
Crown prosecutor
BRETT MOODIE
Crown prosecutor
RAVIN PILLAY
Dellen Millard’s lead lawyer
NADIR SACHAK
Dellen Millard’s lawyer
DEEPAK PARADKAR
Dellen Millard’s original lawyer
Mark Smich’s lead lawyer
JENNIFER TREHEARNE
Mark Smich’s lawyer
MILLARD FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND EMPLOYEES
MADELEINE BURNS
Dellen’s mother
WAYNE MILLARD
Dellen’s father
CARL MILLARD
Dellen’s grandfather
ROBERT BURNS
uncle, brother of Dellen’s mother
CHRISTINA NOUDGA
Dellen’s girlfriend at time of Bosma’s murder
LISA WHIDDEN
second girlfriend and realtor
JENNIFER SPAFFORD
ex-fiancée
ART JENNINGS
Millardair, intern, father-in-law of Shane Schlatman
SHANE SCHLATMAN
Millardair, mechanic
SPENCER HUSSEY
Millardair, employee
JAVIER VILLADA
contractor
ANDREW MICHALSKI
friend
MATT HAGERMAN
friend
AL SHARIF
Millardair, consultant
LISA WILLIAMS
Millardair, contract bookkeeper
SMICH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
MARY SMICH
Mark’s mother
ANDREA SMICH
eldest sister
MELISSA SMICH
elder sister and bride
MARLENA MENESES
Mark’s girlfriend
ELIZABETH MENESES
Marlena’s sister
BRENDAN DALY
friend
Detail left
Detail right
PROLOGUE
FOR SALE BY OWNER
A 2007 Dodge Power Ram 3500 Diesel 4x4 pick-up truck
170,000 kilometres – mostly highway
5.9 litre engine
Extended cab – short box
Gray cloth interior
New transmission, new brakes
Price $24,000.00
Address: Ancaster, Ontario
This is the ad posted online by Tim Bosma’s wife, Sharlene, in the spring of 2013. And it is also the starting point of prosecutor Craig Fraser’s opening address at the first-degree murder trial of the two men accused of Bosma’s murder, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich. Fraser has turned his podium sideways so that he can face the fourteen members of the jury as he explains the case the prosecution intends to prove. His delivery is measured and dry. He is not the type of lawyer who sets off fireworks, inspires TV characters, or wins oratory awards. But for this trial, no special effects are required. Fraser’s style suits the story he is telling—a story that is sensational, tragic, and almost beyond belief. And it all begins with the problems caused by that black Dodge Ram diesel.
The truck had been running up hefty repair bills, causing stress for its owners, a young family on a tight budget. A plan was put in place to sell it and replace it with a cheaper, better functioning truck, but unfortunately there weren’t many prospective buyers. An earlier version of the ad that had run in April had failed to attract even one serious prospect. A man who Tim Bosma referred to as a tire kicker had emailed a few times to ask a lot of questions then never bothered to view the vehicle in person.
The first person to actually want to see the truck was a caller from Toronto who was prepared to drive one hundred kilometres to Bosma’s home in Ancaster to check it out. That seemed like a good sign, so in preparation for the visit Bosma washed and waxed his truck. Then, at 7:25 on the morning of the planned appointment, he sent a text to confirm: “Good morning. It’s Tim. I’m working in Hamilton today if you want to meet or do you still want to meet at my house tonight for 7 pm?” He was upset when the text went unanswered and then relieved when the man from Toronto finally called at 7:22 that evening to say he was en route to see the truck and would be there within an hour.
What happened after that would make headlines around the world. Tim Bosma left with two strangers on a test drive from which he would never return. Social media exploded with the news of his disappearance. The police requested help from the public in their search for the missing man and his truck, and their almost daily news conferences were live-streamed online and then endlessly dissected on the internet. Within days, an arrest was made, and then two weeks later another one. But the arrests didn’t make things any clearer. The opposite, in fact: they made the disappearance of Tim Bosma more puzzling than ever.
The first man police arrested was Dellen Millard, a wealthy young heir to his family’s aviation business who owned several million dollars’ worth of properties in Toronto. On the day after he went for the test drive, he had closed on the purchase of a condo for which he was reported to have paid more than $600,000 in cash. As his lawyer and hordes of online commentators kept insisting, he could easily have afforded to buy a brand-new truck. Others pointed out that if Millard were a psychopath, devoid of empathy and seeking thrills, how much money he had was irrelevant.
The second man arrested was Mark Smich, an unemployed drug dealer who lived with his mother in her suburban middle-class home. His last arrest, a few months earlier, had been for spray-painting graffiti on a highway overpass. Until this trial, he had never inspired anywhere near the same level of interest as Millard.
—
ON THEIR FIRST DAY of trial, both defendants tell the court that they are pleading not guilty to first-degree murder and that they are ready to proceed.
Because of the very public nature of the early investigation into Bosma’s disappearance, it has long been known that the evidence in this case is strong. Two days after Millard’s arrest,
Bosma’s truck was found concealed inside a transport trailer parked in Millard’s mother’s driveway. Human remains burned beyond recognition were discovered at Millard’s Southern Ontario farm. And most sinister of all, Millard was revealed to own a portable livestock incinerator, named the Eliminator, despite the fact that he kept no animals on his farm.
Fraser tells the jury that he and his two fellow prosecutors will prove that in the late evening of May 6, 2013, Tim Bosma was killed in his truck, shot by the two accused at close range, and that his body was then incinerated hours later by Millard and Smich. To make the Crown’s case, there will be testimony from multiple forensic scientists, including blood-spatter and gunshot-residue experts as well as the anthropologist who examined the bones and remains found in the Eliminator. There will be video showing the Eliminator being towed to the Millardair hangar at the Region of Waterloo International Airport and then being ignited outside the hangar door—and still more video taken from the security system in the hangar. There will be extensive analysis of the cell phones used by the accused and their friends. There will be testimony from the friends and girlfriends of Millard and Smich, some of whom knew they planned to steal a truck. And there will be letters sent from jail by Millard to his girlfriend, Christina Noudga, who was charged as an accessory after the fact to Tim Bosma’s murder almost a year after her boyfriend’s arrest.