Tim Bosma

Dellen Millard

On August 30, 1985, Dellen Millard was born an only child to Wayne Millard and Madeleine Burns. Wayne Millard worked as a pilot for Air Canada and Millardair, an aviation firm founded by his father, Carl. Madeleine Burns was a flight attendant for Air Canada when she and Wayne met. At the age of 14 in 1999, Dellen set a world record for the youngest person to fly both a helicopter and a fixed-wing plane solo on the same day.

Born of very wealthy parents, Dellen owned several properties in the Toronto area, including a 1.2 million dollar home in Etobicoke, a $500,000 condominium, a 2 million dollar residential rental property, and an $850,000 hundred-acre farm in Ayr. In May 2013, he also finalized the purchase of a $627,000 condo in Toronto’s Distillery District.

Mark Smich

Mark Smich was born on the 13th of August, 1987. Unlike Dellen, his parents were a middle-class family. He also had a criminal record with offenses such as drug possession, driving impaired, and breach of conditions. Mark made his money from drug dealing, selling cigarettes, and occasionally worked odd jobs in Dellen Millard’s hangar.

Mark Smich and Dellen Millard

Dellen Millard met Mark Smich in 2006. Their friendship appeared to be one-sided, in the sense that Mark worshiped Dellen, but Dellen disliked Mark. By 2011 they had grown closer, and in 2012 Mark moved into the basement suite of Dellen’s family home with his girlfriend, Marlena Meneses. At that time, Dellen started arranging for Mark to accompany him on what he called missions. These missions occurred at night time and involved stealing items such as Bobcat construction equipment, lawnmowers, and even trees. It was discovered that these missions were strictly “for the thrill of it” after all, Dellen had more than enough money to purchase such things if he wanted to.

The Murder of Tim Bosma

Tim Bosma was a 32-year-old family man and Canadian citizen of Ancaster, Hamilton, Ontario. Tim was selling a pickup truck online when Mark and Dellen arranged a test drive with him. Tim had not met or known Dellen or Mark. On the 6th of May, 2013, just after 9.20 pm, Mark and Dellen arrived on foot at the test drive claiming that they had been dropped off by a friend. Just before the test drive began, Tim told his wife they wouldn’t be gone long, and he would be right back. But the three men never returned. After several hours Tim Bosma’s wife, Sharlene Bosma, reported her husband missing.

It was later discovered that during the test drive, Tim Bosma had been shot and killed. It is unknown which of the men pulled the trigger. His body was incinerated that night at the Millard hangar, and his remains were never found.

Investigation

From the start, police treated Tim Bosma’s case as a missing person case with unusual circumstances. A ground area search was conducted with the use of a canine unit and a local search and rescue team. On the 9th of May 2013, Tim’s cellphone was discovered deactivated and in an industrial area on the west side of nearby Brantford. It was discovered that the phone used to contact Tim about the test drive was from a burner phone. Phone records from the burner phone showed that the killer had arranged for two other test drives of similar vehicles as well. One of the test drives did not occur when the killer failed to arrive on time, and the other occurred on the 5th of May in Toronto.

The men who attended this test drive matched the description police gained from Tim’s wife about the two men who left with Tim. One of the men had a tattoo on his wrist of the word “ambition” inside a box. On the 11th of May, 2013, Dellen Millard was identified by this tattoo and arrested. On the 12th of May, 2013, police recovered the 32-year-old man’s truck. It was parked inside a trailer in the driveway of Dellen Millard’s mother. The trailer was registered to Millardair.

After a week of being closely watched on surveillance, Mark Smich was also arrested on May 22.

Trial

During the trial, both Dellen Millard and Mark Smich attempted to blame the other for the shooting. Mark argued that he was actually in a separate vehicle following behind the truck containing Dellen and Tim Bosma. However, Dellen argued that all three men were in the truck, and Dellen was driving. Tim was in the front seat, and Mark was seated in the back behind him. According to this version of events, Mark pulled out the gun and told Tim they were going to steal the vehicle. Then a struggle occurred, and he was shot by accident. Mark strongly denies this version of events.

In the end, it was ruled that both Dellen Millard and Mark Smich were in the vehicle and participated in the killing. It was never proved which man actually fired the gun. They were both charged with first-degree murder regardless.

Verdict

On the 17th of June, 2016, both Mark Smich and Dellen Millard were convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of 32-year-old Tim Bosma. They were sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Other murders

Laura Babcock

Laura Babcock Dellen Millard’s ex-girlfriend was last seen alive in July 2012. Her remains were never recovered. In December 2017, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich were also convicted of her murder. Both men received a consecutive life sentence in prison with the same 25 years no parole period. This means the men will now need to serve a minimum of 50 years and will not be released prior to 2063.

Wayne Millard

Wayne Millar was found dead on the 29th of November 2012. He has a bullet wound in his left eye. Wayne’s death was initially ruled as suicide, but it was later discovered that he and Dellen had had an argument about the family business. After the murders of Tim and Laura, police decided to revisit this case. It was discovered that Dellen had purchased the murder weapon, a handgun, from a weapons dealer. It was also Dellen who had informed law enforcement about his father’s depressive mood. Dellen was found guilty and individually charged with the first-degree murder of his father at a judge-alone trial.

As a result on the 18th of December 2018, Dellen was sentenced to life in prison for a third time, with no parole for 25 years. The sentence is to be served consecutively along with his two other life sentences already received. This means that Dellen must serve a minimum of 75 years in prison before he will be eligible to apply for parole. This will not occur until 2088, at which point Dellen will be 103 years old.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Dellen Millard?

Dellen Millard received three consecutive life sentences for the 1st-degree murder of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock. On top of the murders of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock, Dellen was also sentenced to his third life sentence for the murder of his father Wayne Millard. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.