Canadian True Crime - Dellen Millard and the Murder of his Father

Episode Date: October 15, 2018

He's already in jail for two consecutive life sentences for two murders - Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock. In this final episode, we find out what happened with the murder of Dellen Millard's father, Wayne Millard.This episode is part one in a multi-part series that covers three cases over six episodes. All episodes, in order, are:07 - The Murder of Tim Bosma08 - Dellen Millard [1]09 - Dellen Millard [2]19 - The Murder of Laura Babcock [1]20 - The Murder of Laura Babcock [2]33 - Dellen Millard and the murder of his fatherLook out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi there. Before I begin, I just wanted to tell you about an amusing piece of feedback I got from the last episode. Well, to me anyway, among the indignation and downright furious-type responses about what happened to the Shafir family women were quite a few polite complaints and corrections about my pronunciation of the word Nissen. I do know what brand of car that is. In fact, my husband owned one until right before we moved to Canada. A 180, if anyone that knows Nissen's, is listening. Yep, in Australia, we pronounce it Nissen, having lived in the Greater Toronto area since 2009

and listened to all of the local radio ads, I assure you I am more than aware that you pronounce it as Nissan. But on this occasion, this was not my personal error in pronunciation. It was a product of my accent. I thought about trying to pronounce it the way it's pronounced. here in North America, but I couldn't do it without laughing. So whenever you see a nissen, please think of me, and feel free to continue to correct me on errors. It's all good information for me. And thank you so much for listening to Canadian True Crime.

This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. Please note, this episode is a final in a series. It's still. Started with episode 7, 8 and 9, and then continues with episodes 19 and 20, and now this, episode 33. If you haven't listened to all of these previous episodes, I do recommend that you pause this one now and go and listen before coming back to this episode. It is a long and twisted story. I have put the exact episode numbers that you need to listen to in the show notes.

But first, a quick recap. Dallin Millard was the sole heir to a well-known Toronto Aviation family, a spoiled little rich kid who hadn't really done anything with his life except spend his family's wealth on partying, buying cars and other toys. He was also known for buying the company and loyalty of much younger friends with drugs and accommodation. One in particular was Mark Smitch, an aspiring rapper, drug dealer and general dropkick around the town of Oakville. Mark and the group of younger friends would help Dellen with what he called his missions.

Typically, petty criminal acts like stealing ride on lawnmowers, cars and other items. Dellen likely could have afforded to buy these items thanks to his family's wealth, but it seemed he just enjoyed the thrill of it. What very few people knew was that this wasn't all that was going on. Dellen Millard's need for a thrill was getting darker, and it seemed he didn't care what price had to be paid. It all busted wide open when 32-year-old Tim Bosma put his truck up for sale on Kijiji. Two men walked down the married father's home driveway at 9pm at night.

He went off for a test drive with them and never came back. The dark, tangled web of Dellen Millard's life began to unravel. The police tracked the whole thing back to him and Mark Smitch. He wanted the model of truck that Tim Bosma was selling because it was more fuel efficient than the one that he had. But also, he didn't want to have to pay for it because it seemed that his company was becoming asset rich and cash poor. And he had a giant customized incinerator

called the Eliminator that he was itching to use. Again. Tim Bosma was murdered by gunshot in his own truck while still on the test drive, and his remains reduced to no more than dust and a pile of bone fragments, leaving behind a shattered wife and toddler daughter. But this wasn't the first time that Della Millard had used this incinerator. After Tim Bosma, the police started taking a good, hard look at him

and came across a few startling things. The year before Tim Bosma went missing, so too did Dellen's on-off girlfriend, Laura Babcock. Laura had mental health problems that had escalated and was living a transient life just before her disappearance, as well as working for an escort agency. When her friend and parents reported her missing and her friend alerted the police to a possible role played by Dellen Millard, they didn't give the case any preference because Laura was living what was deemed to be a high-risk lifestyle. She'd be back, just wait and see.

We've all heard that before. It wasn't until a year later, after discovering Delan Millard's role in Tim Bosma's death, that police paid much more serious attention to Laura Babcock's file. As it turned out, when they searched Delin's ex-girlfriend's house and his personal electronic devices after Tim Bosma went missing, they found a whole pile of startling evidence. It suggested that Delan's girlfriend, Christina, Nudga, had a rivalry with Laura Babcock. In fact, Christina was quite the mean girl.

Dellen decided to get rid of the problem, get rid of Laura. So he purchased an industrial incinerator, customized it so it could be transported on a trailer and worked out a plan to lure Laura Babcock. Finally, as her mental health took a sharp turn downwards, when she was literally homeless and had nowhere to stay, she reached out to Delin in her. in desperation, who took this opportunity to silence her once and for all. Like Tim Bosma, Laura Babcock's life was snuffed out without a second thought, and all trace of her was destroyed in the incinerator. These two crimes were tried separately,

and Dallin Mollard and Mark Smitch were each found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, and that is the last we would hear from Mark Smitch. But we aren't done with Dallin Mollard yet. Because in between the murders of Laura Babcock and Tim Bosma, Dallin's own father died. At the same time as the police announced he was going to be charged with the murder of Laura Babcock, they also announced that he would be charged with the murder of his own father,

Wayne Millard. This is Christy and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 33, Dellen Mollard and the Murder of the Murder of. of his father. Wayne Millard's parents, Carl and Della, started their own charter airline in 1956, called Millard Air. Della was the savvy businesswoman and Carl was the guy who flew the planes. They only had one child, Wayne, who received early flight training and was flying planes by himself from a young age. The company Millard Air was most successful during the 60s and 70s, when the planes delivered auto parts to and from Detroit, a major auto hub.

Wayne Millard met flight attendant Madeline Burns in the 70s when he was flying for Air Canada. They got married and on August 30, 1985, their only child was born, Dallin Mollard. His grandmother Della had died the year before he was born and Dallon's name was a tribute to her. Millard Air as a company had seen the last days of its great success and in fact things had started to go downhill. In 2006, Carl Millard passed away and his son Wayne Millard took over as president. He wanted to ramp up the business and transform it

into what's called an MRO venture, maintenance, repair and operations, essentially a hotel for planes. But at the same time, he wasn't a natural businessman and appeared to many to be turning into a bit of a recluse. An old aviation business associate, Cam Harrod, would say that this wasn't his experience with Wayne. The two first met in 2008, four years before Wayne's death. Cam described Wayne as a good guy, a great guy, not your typical wealthy aviation guy. quote, I don't want to say he was slovenly, but he didn't really care about his appearance. Four years later, in the summer of 2012, the two men reconnected when Wayne visited Cam unexpectedly at his hangar

near Kitchener, Ontario. Wayne said his company now operated a new hangar in the same area, and thought he'd see who else was around in the industry. At the time, Cam noticed that Wayne was positive, upbeat, and offered him the opportunity to visit the hangar any time. This was just months before Wayne died. Also, in the summer of 2012, Wayne Millard reconnected with an old friend of his, Janet. They were actually cousins by adoption and had dated when they were in their teens and early 20s. They drifted apart as they each got married and then eventually divorced, before they got back in touch in January of 2012, when Wayne emailed Janet to wish her a happy new year.

From this email, they started chatting and started speaking more and more frequently as the time went by, talking about music, books and all sorts of things. Janet would say the two had grown quite close, talking to each other quite often for hours at a time. They also met up for a few trips to the Millardere hangar in Waterloo, which was a big deal for Wayne as he was a homebody. He was quite proud of the hangar and the family business he was helming. Janet knew that he was in business with his son at the time, but didn't know much else about their arrangement and she'd also never met Dallon.

She said that she knew Wayne had taken out loans for the ailing aviation business and was experiencing some stress because of that. Quote, the business was sucking the life out of him. But to Janet, he seemed fine otherwise. He was emotionally guarded, she said, but over time he began to share details of his life with her, like the fact that he had a drinking problem. In November of 2012, they slowly began a romantic relationship,

and he stayed over at her house one night and into the next afternoon. He told her frequently that he loved her, that he adored her. Janet said that Wayne was generally in good spirits. He was 71 years old now, but in generally good health, no illnesses, apart from debilitating back problems which caused him to use a motorized scooter sometimes to get around in, although he could walk without it. He would often be bedridden for days from back pain.

The last time Janet spoke with Wayne was the night of November 28, 2012. It was a long phone call that loved. lasted into the early morning hours of November 29th. They talked about his business and how Wayne was setting up the hotel for planes. He told her about enhancements he'd made to the hangar that he was exceptionally pleased about. It was Janet's birthday in just a couple of days on December 4th, and Wayne was excited about it. He told her he was going to her house and was planning a special cake and present. He'd taken the day off work and warned his husband.

associates in advance not to bother him on that day. In the summer of 2012, Dellen Mallard contacted gun dealer Matthew Ward Jackson, or Big Issue, as he was also known, to buy a gun. By September 2012, Dallin had purchased three guns from the sky, one of them being the Walter PPPK handgun that would be used to murder Tim Bosma. And another one was a 32-caliber revolver with an old-school-looking wooden handle. About two weeks before Wayne Millard died, Dallin Millard uploaded a photo of himself to a social media account. The photo was of him with a bloody eye.

It wasn't real. It had been taken in 2005 after Dellen had completed a course in special effects makeup. But it might possibly come to mean something else. Marlena Menaces was the former girlfriend of Mark Smitch and often hung around with Delin and Mark while they completed what they like to call their missions. You know, stealing cars, ride on lawnmowers, trucks, testing out industrial-sized incinerators.

In the lead-up to Wayne's death, Marlena said she saw Delan with a gun, quote, a Western-looking gun with a wooden handle. She'd never seen that gun before, and she never saw it again after that. One day in late November 2012, although Marlena couldn't remember exactly what date,

Dallin went over to Mark's mother's house in Oakville, arriving there in the afternoon with his dog, Pado. Marlena noticed that he had two phones with him. Just after midnight of November the 29th, both of Dellen's phones pinged off towers near Mark's mother's house. Later that night, Marlena and Mark walked Dallon to a corner store just down the street. He said he was getting picked up from there to go on a date, telling them that it was with someone else other than his girlfriend at the time, Christina Nudga.

As you'll remember, Dellen was known for having several girlfriends on the go at the same time. He left his credit card for Malena and Mark to order some pizza and said he'd be back later on that night. Just after 1am, one of Dallon's phones called a taxi near Mark's mother's house in Oakville. When Marlena and Mark got back to his mother's house, they noticed that Dallon had left his other phone there. The pair went on to drink, smoke weed, and eat the pizza Dellen had authorised them to buy. Although Marlena couldn't confirm the date of all of this, Dallin's credit card statement shows a purchase for pizza the early morning hours of November 29th.

That's the day that Wayne Millard was found dead. Malena and Mark ate their pizza and then passed out on the floor. In the morning hours, phone records showed that one of Dallon's phones was now at his father's house. The other one was still back at Mark's Mitch's mother's house, where Malena and Mark lay passed out on the floor. According to Wayne Millard's girlfriend, Janet, she and Wayne were talking on the phone into the early hours of that morning. At around 6am the same morning, Dallin's phone, the same one, pinged off towers still near his father Wayne's house at Atobico. The evidence suggested he'd been at his father's house with one of his phones from around 1 a.m. until 6 a.m. on

the morning of November 29th. That morning, Mark and Marlena both woke up to Delin standing over them, saying that he was now back from his date. He got a blanket and pillow and fell to sleep on the floor beside the couple. Crashed, as Marlena called it. She thought it was strange because Delon had never slept at Mark's mother's place before. In fact, it was usually she and Mark who stayed at Delon's place. Dellen never told them who he was on a date with and didn't talk about what happened on that date.

When they woke up, the three of them hung out for a bit and went out to get something to eat. And after that, Dellen drove them both back to Mark's mother's house and he left. That afternoon, cell phone records showed that one of Dellen's phones went to the Waterloo Airport and then back to Mark Smitcher's house and then finally back to his father's house just before 6pm.

According to police statements, this is the time that he said he'd discovered his father's body. The first thing he did was send a panicked text message to his friend. Dellen texted Andrew saying, quote, Bro, please come over. I don't want to be alone. Something terrible has happened. Andrew replied that he was coming.

The next call Dellen made, though, was not to pull. police. It was to his mother, Madeline Burns. Andrew arrived just before Madeline did, but didn't stay for long. And soon after, he sent Delin a text message saying, Dude, I'm sorry for not coming to see Wayne, I couldn't. If you need anything, let me know. On November the 29th, 2012, the body of 71-year-old Wayne Millard was found. Madeline Burns was the one who called police to tell them that her her ex-husband had passed away, and there was blood all over. She was there with Dellen when the paramedics arrived. Delan told one of the paramedics that he only stayed with his father three to four

times a week, and he'd tried to get a hold of his father for a few days now, before coming over to check up on him after he'd heard nothing back. He mentioned that Wayne had a long history of alcohol abuse. Paramedics found Wayne in his bed. His body was stone cold and starting to turn black. It was evident to the paramedics that there was nothing they could do. It had clearly been some time since the man had died. He was on his side, partially covered with blankets, with his head resting under his right arm and his left arm outstretched off the bed. His left arm had blood on the palm and four arm. He'd been shot through the eye. His head had a trail of dried up blood flowing from it. His head was resting on a blood-soaked pillow, which had a black sooty mark on it just

inches away from his head. Next to the bed was a black and white Lulu Lemon carry bag that had a loaded 32-caliber revolver with a wooden handle on it. There was blood on the bag. The police came soon after to document the scene. One of the police officers said that Madeline appeared very distraught and cried on and off during their conversation. In contrast, the officer didn't remember Dallin having any emotional reaction, despite the fact that the body of his father was lying just metres away. Speaking of Madeline Burns, she was a mysterious character who was really seen in public in connection with the trials. But she had supported her son Dellen in many ways and continued to do so.

She helped Christina Nudga wipe fingerprints off the trailer outside her house, the trailer that Tim Bosma's truck was being hidden. After her son was first arrested, she refused to speak with police on multiple occasions. She managed all Dellen's finances while he was in prison and even wrote a four-page letter in support of him at one of his sentencing hearings. The letter went on about how he was a

gentle spirit, always generous, loyal to a fault and protective of those he perceives as marginalised, weaker, or lacking in some way. She went on about his childhood and how he was always a very good boy, accomplished in many things and never got into any trouble, until of course grade 10, where, quote,

A couple of students set Dylan up for removing chemicals from the science lab. She got power of attorney the day after Delon was arrested and accepted his transfer of three properties for $1 each, which she sold straight away to pay a Millardere debt. And she acted as a prime delivery person for Delan's letters inside jail to Christina outside, despite their no-contact order. One letter from Christina to Dellen included nude photographs,

the transport of which was facilitated by his mother. One time Madeline even organized a phone call between them. She went to a pay phone with Christina and held the phone up to her ear. Dellen reportedly sang the song Wonderwall by Oasis to Christina. Anne Brocklehurst, author of the acclaimed book Dark Ambition, the shocking crime of Dallan Millard and Mark Smitch said that Madeline Burns, quote,

really believes he's being framed. She's in complete denial. Back to the scene of Wayne Millard's death. The house on Maple Gate and Etobico was Dallon's primary residence, and now the place where his father had suddenly died. But the police believed that it was a suicide and investigated it as a coroner's case for sudden death, not a murder investigation.

The gun was moved before it was photographed by investigators, and it was seen to have been picked up and held by the coroner first, before being put back on the floor and then photographed. The pillow with the black sooty mark on it was not taken into evidence, and therefore not forensically tested, nor were the blankets partially covering Wayne's body or the bag the murder weapon was found in. The police found several medications in the room, painkillers and muscle relaxes, but these were not taken as evidence. There were no rulers placed in photographs for size comparison and no measurements were taken of anything. If the case had been deemed a murder investigation, the police would have come back with a search warrant and conducted a thorough search of the house.

But this didn't happen. One of the police officers went outside and found Dallon waiting in his car with his dog, Petto. He told Dellen that found a gun. Dellen asked if it was a revolver. This question struck the officer as odd because they had not discussed anything about a gun before this point, let alone a revolver. Dellen was not searched because at this point he was just being treated as a witness. He was not suspected of any wrong. doing at the time, and there were no grounds to arrest him for anything. The next night, after he'd finished his police statement,

Dellen sent a text message to his official girlfriend, Christina Nudga. Quote, My dad shot himself. My world has never been so upside down. The last time I spoke to him, I told him the company's financial troubles were his doing and that he was a failure. Usually he tells me not to worry, but this time he said maybe.

I was right. Dellen then moved on to the topic of suicide. Quote, he's always had depression, but he's never been suicidal. I've dealt with suicidal people. It doesn't fit. On December 3rd,

four days after Wayne was found, Della Melaide texted one of his employees at the hangar and asked him to discreetly change the locks. He asked that the employee be there in the morning, saying to keep an eye out if anything gets put in someone trunk. And later on that day, Delon emailed a business contact of his father's named Al Sharif,

saying, My father has died. The business is unable to continue. Effective today, Miladere is closed. He then texted Mark Smitch, quote, I have to go to the airport tomorrow morning to sign papers and give a speech telling the employees they're out of work. The next day, an unknown number texted to me. Dallon, quote, can I ask how your dad died? Dallon replied, suddenly in the night. When Cam Harrod, Wayne's business associate who he'd visited just months before his death, found out about what happened, he was shocked that Wayne had died by suicide.

This is not what he would have expected based on their last interaction and Wayne's open invitation to visit. Janet Campbell, Wayne's romantic influence. in the months before his death and the person he'd been talking to on the phone the night he died had tried to get in touch with him over the following days and couldn't reach him. She began to panic and emailed Dallon to see if he knew anything. She hadn't actually ever met Dallon in person, so emailing him was a fairly big deal. After two unanswered emails, she finally received a reply.

Quote, My father is dead and it would appear by his own hand. Janet was stunned. After Wayne's death, a gathering was arranged for his family and friends. Janet attended where she met Dallon for the first time. They spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and Dallin presented her with the gift his father had bought for her birthday. Flying lessons. The trial started on May the 31st, 2018, with 33-year-old Della Mollard pleading not guilty for a third. time. The judge presiding over the trial was Justice Maureen Forstell. Delin Millard represented himself at his

trial for Laura Babcock's murder, but for this trial, he chose to retain Raven Pillay, the same lawyer who represented him during the Tim Bosma murder trial. The Crown attorneys were Jill Cameron and Ken Lockhart, who tried Delon for both the murders of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock. Dallin requested a judge-only trial because the extensive media coverage of his previous two trials would have made it almost impossible to find a jury that wasn't biased to some extent. His preference was to put the entire decision in the hands of one person, a judge. While at the last trial, Dellen's shackles were hidden by table curtains

so the jury wouldn't be able to see he was already in custody and therefore risk bias. This time, there were no pretences. He sat inside the prisoner's box. On the first day of the trial, he wore jeans, a dress shirt and a blazer. And as you'll recall from the last trial, he exhibited a number of different hairstyles,

with his hair getting shorter as the trial progressed. At this trial, his hair was still cropped short, but he retained that one long braid behind his right ear that he had at the end of the last trial. Always confident, Dallin looked at the people packing out the courtroom, smiling. Laura Babcock's mother, Linda, was there. Dellen was observed sharing a long look with his mother, Madeline Burns, who mostly stayed away from previous court proceedings.

Photos were displayed of the body of Wayne Millard, the way it was found in his bed. The photos were described by members of the media as, gruesome and extremely graphic. From the prisoners' box, Dallin alternated between looking up at the photos of his dead father and taking notes on a laptop. The crown opened by saying that they would present evidence that proves that Dellen killed his father Wayne

because he didn't like the legacy his father was trying to leave for him. The defence counted that Wayne Millard killed himself because he was a reclusive alcoholic with depression. The first witness was Wayne's girlfriend Janet, who said that she racked her brain for a reason as to why he might have died by suicide, and the issues with the business was the only thing she could think of. Quote, I was grasping at straws. When asked if he suffered from depression,

she said that he suffered from the same sort of depression that anyone might have, but that it wasn't clinical, and he didn't seem depressed to her in November in the lead-up to his death on the 29th. A captain in the Armed Forces Reserve, Tracy Ruddy, testified, saying that in September of 2012, just two months before Wayne Millard died, she contacted him.

She was organising a command ceremony there in the spring of 2013 and wanted to inquire about potentially hiring his hangar as the venue for it. He was excited and offered for her to hold the ceremony there free of charge. This witness was called to present evidence that Wayne had future plans in his life beyond the date that he died and therefore likely wasn't suicidal. Same as with his girlfriend Janet and his excitement about planning her birthday party, which was just days after he died.

A business associate testified that Wayne Millard was getting ready to open a new phase of his company in 2012. Chris Wood, region of Waterloo International. Airport manager, testified that Wayne told him he was building the business to leave for Dellen and was excited about future prospects. But he testified that after Wayne died, it became clear that Dillon didn't want to continue with that plan and only kept light aircraft, a helicopter, lots of older cars and other junk in the hangar, instead of continuing with the business. John Barnes, another business associate of Wayne's, testified. that he started working at Millardair in July of 2011. He said that he and Dellen didn't see

eye to eye, going on to detail how there were some problems with parts of the hangar that were not being cleaned, and also how Dellen's growing collection of cars kept taking up valuable hangar space. A couple of days after Wayne died, Dellen and his mother, Madeline called a meeting of all Millard Air employees at the hangar. They were all told that the business was being shut down and that Wayne Millard had died of an aneurysm. Another employee testified, saying that to him it seemed Wayne had some financial issues. Court records reveal he had taken out a bank loan and had mortgaged both his hangar and his home. The employee testified that Wayne Millard said he had $10 million available to spend

on creating the MRO business venture. But problems started. when the costs got up to over 5 million. Quote, it was apparent that there wasn't $10 million to start with. Marlena Menaces, Mark Smitcher's former girlfriend, testified. By now she had substantial experience as a crown witness, having testified at both the Tim Bosma trial and the Laura Babcock trial.

As you'll recall, she was asked to wait in the truck with headphones on while Dallin and Mark dealt with Laura and put her body in the incinerator. In this trial, Malena spoke about how she met Wayne Millard at his house a handful of times. She said he was polite, but seemed to have been a little ill, sick and weak. She noticed that he had body odour and looked like he hadn't washed in a while, but she said she never saw him drink or look drunk. She said she never saw Dellen and Wayne have any argument, but knew that Dellen didn't like the way his dad ran the business.

He preferred the way his grandfather Carl ran it. Malena spoke about what happened the day Dellen was hanging out with Mark and her at his mother's house, said he had to leave for a date, came back in the early morning hours and then slept, which he'd never done before. She said just a few days later she learned that his father Wayne had died. She spoke about seeing the Western-looking, gun with a wooden handle, and on cross-examination was asked to clarify which gun she was talking about, and told her testimony contradicted previous testimony she'd given.

Ravin Pillay pointed out multiple inconsistencies between what she'd said in court and what she'd said in earlier statements and testimonies. She had admitted that her memory wasn't great, she was doing drugs around this time, and that she had lied in previous testimony because she had said, she was young. It was clear that this line of questioning was designed to attack her credibility as a witness. Dr. David Evans, the coroner who originally deemed Wayne's death a suicide, testified. Coroners investigate any death that is non-natural. Originally, he said that he looked at the trajectory of the bullet, the powder on the pillow, and the general scene, quote,

it would appear this death was consistent with suicide. However, on the stand, Dr Evans admitted he wasn't an expert in crime scene reconstruction or bullet trajectory. He testified that his rulings on the case were influenced by statements that he'd received from Della Mollard and Madeline Burns, who told him about Wayne's business problems and depressive episodes. In his experience, it wasn't common for someone to shoot them. through the eye, but at the same time he thought the way Wayne's hand was found might have

been consistent with pulling the trigger with his thumb. He said that at the time he thought it was more consistent with a suicide, but added, in retrospect, before Delamillard's lawyer quickly objected and cut him off. Dr. Evans went on to say that the rigor mortis had set in to such an extent that he estimated Wayne Millard had been dead for at least 18 hours by the time he examined him. He said that he noticed bleeding from the left eye, but it was only during the examination that he noticed the left eye was absent, leading him to note that this was a gunshot wound to the head.

There was no evidence of an exit wound. Dr Evans denied questioning that he moved the bag that contained the gun, saying he just shifted the side of the bag because he knew to leave, the evidence at the scene as it was. A forensic officer with the Toronto police testified about the ways the coroner's office handled the crime scene and the mistakes they'd made. This officer testified that he saw the coroner move the gun

before it was photographed. He also spoke about not testing the black soot mark on the pillow when that mark could, quote, possibly be gunshot residue, a substance that would almost always become. evidence in a murder trial. Retired Toronto police detective James Hutchin also said he saw the coroner pick up the bag and take the gun out. During testimony, he said there were several signs that caused him to suspect the death was suspicious. Quote, the first thing Dallamalad did when he found

his dad deceased was not to call 911, but to call his mother, and they waited until she arrived at the home to call 911. He also said that Dellen had parked a large trailer at his father's house, which also set off alarm bells. He said that sometimes people will take valuable items out of a deceased loved one's house before they call 911. He asked Dellen and his mother to come and give video statements. Neither of them objected. He also noticed Dellen's visible lack of emotion and calmness, but ultimately said that none of these were enough to do.

charge Delon with anything. On cross, Delon's lawyer Raven Pillay asked a lot of questions about the retired detector's note-taking on the day, suggesting that his testimony couldn't be trusted because he didn't have a notebook on him for most of the night and wrote the info down later on. This line of questioning caused him to get agitated and at one point he raised his voice and spoke over the judge. At the end of questioning, the crowned, the crowned. The crowned apologize to the judge for this witness. A few more police officers testified, with one saying that she didn't suspect that Dallon had anything to do with Wayne's death. Quote, he was quiet, he seemed cooperative, he was kind of reserved. Another said, quote,

he was calm, he was forthright with information. The video of Dallon's statement to police was played. If you'll remember, over all of these cases so far, we've seen. We've seen. We've seen many, many photos of Dallon and we've heard Mark Smitch rapping, but we've never seen video of Dellen or audio of him speaking. He's remained somewhat of an enigma. That's why when this video was released to the public in June of 2018, it was shared widely. In it, Dallin is wearing a black leather leather look jacket, a black took or beanie on his head, and has his trademark canvas bag slung across his shoulder. For the interview, he did not remove his bag or his jacket.

In this clip, he describes exactly how he came across his father's dead body and what happened next. And also sitting with us is Dellen Lillard. That's correct. Dellen, can you spell your first name, please? D-E-L-L-E-N. And your last name? Millard, M-I-L-L-R-D. Okay, and you also have a middle name, right?

Evan. You spell that place? E-V-A-N. Okay, good. Okay. So Thursday, it's time between 6.30 and 6.30, I got back to the house. I've been working at our family business in Waterloo. I came in through the side door.

That's the door most everybody uses in the house. And I open up the next door, which leads to the next door, which leads to the door. leads to the cat area of the house is the door from the kitchen to the hallway. And then my dog petto was waiting for me there. And I walked down the hallway and I walked to my room. And I picked a sweater out of the closet. It had been a cold day. And then I was on my way back to the kitchen to make a snack.

And I noticed that my father seemed to still be asleep in bed, which was odd because it was late in the afternoon. And so I pulled my head in and something didn't really seem right about the way he was laying. He was laying very stillly. And then I walked into the room. I saw the blood on the pillow.

And for a moment I had to leave the room. I actually went back to my room. And I got out my phone. And I walked back into my dad's room. And I called my mother. And I told her what I was. I literally said I'm standing in my dad's room and there's blood all over his pillow and he's dead. And she just started screaming on the phone.

In the video, Dellen says the last time he saw his father alive was on the Wednesday at around lunchtime for a business meeting. He said that night he stayed the night at Mark's house. He brought up that his father had a drinking problem, describing him as having a very strong liver, someone who drinks every night. He said his father was stressed out and obsessed about his business and then went on to speak about his mental health. Dellen also brought up Janet.

Quote, about a week ago he asked me if I would be all right with him seeing a woman called Janet. He said he wanted his father to be happy. Now your dad's help. Well, he threw his back. It's been a while now. Nine months ago, between seven and nine months ago. That really, really restricted his mobility.

He was bedridden for two or three months. And then recently he's been able to drive himself out to Waterloo. His electric scooter there goes around the hangar. Any other metal products? Heart, liver bones. strong heart. Very strong liver. It would have to be.

I mean? I said it'd have to be. Why? He's always liked alcohol. Now, was your dad a big drinker or a regular drinker or an alcoholic? How would you describe it? I don't like to say the word alcoholic, but it fits. He was a regular drinker.

every night more than I could drink. He was also a regular non-drinker. During the mornings and days, he wouldn't drink at all. It was always just late at night. And how much would he drink at night? It changes over time all the time. Okay, was your dad depressed at all? He had depression in him.

He carried some great sadness with him throughout life that I never really knew exactly what it was. He never really wanted to share it with me. It wasn't like he was always sad either. Did he get treatment for depression? Was he under a lot of stress with this new endeavor? Lots. Lots this year.

Was there a chance the business was going to fail? Yeah, that chance is more than a chance. Is it still a chance? How soluble is your dad if the business fails? I'm not sure I understand that question. Well, like, based on the fact that it was your grandfather's malaria or company, the big transportation company, sold his hangars in Toronto. The house and some of his possessions,

your dad had amassed a certain amount of wealth. looked like he was pretty successful. So if this business, this new endeavor doesn't fly or it takes a longer time to get off, is your dad going to go bankrupt? Yeah, everything that we have is in this business. The court heard an agreed statement of facts that found that Wayne Millard had alcohol in his system when he died

and was over the legal limit to drive. Forensic pathologist Dr. Jantha Hereth testified about the gunshot that caused Wayne Millard's death. He testified that the bullet was fired into Wayne's eye socket at close range before coming to a stop in the right middle part of his brain. Graphic images of Wayne's face and exposed eye socket flashed across the screen again, showing that the gun had obliterated his eyeball and killed him either immediately or within seconds. People in the courtroom gasped and one person had.

to leave. Dr. Herrith went on to say that Wayne's eye was likely closed when he was shot and that the gun was either partially touching or about a centimetre away from his eye. His physical exam revealed that Wayne did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system, which is of course contrary to the agreed statement of facts that he was over the legal limit of alcohol consumption to drive. But this is likely explained away by the fact that the high level may have been due to decomposition alone, since it'd been 18 hours since he died. Dr. Herrith went on to say that an expert panel had decided not to conduct a toxicology screen. Detective Constable Grant Sutherland, a crime scene reconstructionist, testified, and when asked

whether he thought Wayne Millard fired the gun at his own eye, he replied, I don't believe that he did. He said that in order for Wayne to have shot himself the way he was positioned when his body was found, he would have had to hold his hand in a position on the gun that no one would ever do. It's not a way that anyone really would hold a gun. He did say that it would be technically possible, but very unlikely. He also testified that there was no gunshot residue on Wayne's left hand, the hand he would have had to use to shoot the gun. The court saw videos of Detective Constable Sutherland

firing bullets into a styrofoam mannequin head trying to recreate the sooty gunshot residue pattern that was found on Wayne's pillow. He testified that he couldn't recreate it exactly, saying it was likely because a styrofoam head would react slightly differently to a human head. Dellen's lawyer Raven Pillay tried to discredit this crime-seeing reconstruction testimony.

getting the witness to admit that some investigative techniques that police were supposed to have followed weren't, and some parts of the recreation weren't exact, and that could have impacted his findings. Raven Pillay then fought the judge to have the evidence excluded. Crown prosecutor Jill Cameron argued back that, there is nothing in this record that would disqualify Detective Constable Sutherland on the basis of bias or on his record. In comparison to the Tim Bosma trial, Ravin Pillay had been going hard on Crown witnesses,

but now went hard at the judge. He also argued that Dellen's statement to police should be inadmissible, suggesting that despite not having been arrested, Dellen was clearly not free to leave and had no lawyer present. The Crown replied that Dallon was only a witness at the time and not treated as a suspect. This was backed up by the prior testimonies of VIII. various police officers who stated that Dellen was not forced to talk

and wasn't intimidated in any way by the police. In the end, Raven Pillay dropped the application. This evidence would remain. But what was ruled inadmissible was the testimony from the crime scene reconstructionist, with the judge saying that the testimony showed bias and lack of reliability. Major evidence in court documents submitted showed that there was DNA on the gun. But due to the fact that the death was originally ruled a suicide, it wasn't tested against Dallon's DNA until June 2015, two and a half years after Wayne Miller died.

The results concluded that there is a one and five quadrillion chance that the DNA found on the handle of the gun that killed Dellen's father, Wayne, belonged to anyone else except Dallon. CBC Hamilton journalist Adam Carter, whose thorough trial blogs have informed the majority of this series of episodes, wrote a great article about the small moments of humanity displayed during the court formalities. Laura Babcock's mother, Linda Babcock, attended the trial every single day, sitting on the opposite side of the courtroom to Dellen's side. Quote, I'm here to see justice done for Wayne Millard,

We are there for him so the judge can see that his death means something to a lot of people. Linda also shared a hug with Dallon's uncle, Dr Robert Burns, the brother of Madeline Burns. You'll remember Robert as the vet who was completely unaware that Dallin had been using him as an alibi for the reason needed to buy the industrial incinerator. Dr Burns testified at the previous two trials,

making it very clear that there was no love. lost between he and Dellen. He even called his nephew a sick, twisted prick. Robert Burns played a small but similar role in this trial, as he did in the previous trials. Everyone was back to see each other again in what would be the final scheduled trial in their interconnected sagas.

About dealing with her grief after losing Laura, Linda Babcock said to the media, quote, it's a day-to-day thing, it will be for the rest of our lives. As we left the Tim Bosma trial, it was announced that his family was going to be suing the Millard estate for $14 million. But the assets were frozen until after this trial, so the Bosmas had, in effect, been waiting for over two years. The Slayer rule is a Canadian law that states a criminal is not to benefit from his or her

crimes. So in this case, although Dallin was the legal benefactor of his father's estate, if he was found guilty of murdering Wayne, the fact that he would inherit the estate would be in itself a direct benefit of his crime. So the Bosphers had a lot to consider with this trial. If Dallin were found guilty, he would not inherit his father's estate, meaning the bosmas would have had a much smaller pull of money to claim from. And if he was found guilty, he was found guilty, he would not inherit his father's estate, meaning the And if he was found not guilty, would it really matter anyway? He would already be in jail until his late 70s. Regardless, Tim Bosma's family told the CBC that it wasn't about the money

and more about the principle of going after Dallon in court. Quote, it's more just holding him accountable. We want to be able to move on with our wonderful memories of Tim. In closing arguments, the Crown stated they believe. they had proved that Dallon murdered his father because he didn't want to be left the business that his dad was building for him and didn't like the fact that his father was using his future inheritance to fund it. Dallon's defense team, meanwhile, reminded the judge that not a single witness came forward to suggest any bad blood between Dallon and his father. The trial ended

in June of 2018, with Justice Forstell saying she was going to be going. to need until September to prepare her ruling. Three months later, the crowds gathered at the courthouse for the decision. The judge found Dallin Mollard guilty of the first-degree murder of his father, Wayne Millard, saying that he carried out a planned and deliberate killing of his father. Quote, I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Dallin Mollard killed his father by shooting him in the eye as he slept. I can find no theory consistent with innocence. Dellen was described as being slumped over in the prisoner's box and now starting to cry as she

read out her decision. At the end, she referred to Dallon's false alibi, which was him saying he'd stayed at Mark Smitch's mother's house. As she spoke, his jaw dropped and he stared at her shocked. Delam Millard was then led out of the courtroom in shackles, while many people stood up and clapped. The Crown said it was going to seek a consecutive life sentence, meaning Delon would end up with three life sentences, one after another. Sentencing is scheduled for November. I'll be sure to update you at the beginning of the next episode after sentencing happens. Outside the courtroom, Laura Babcock's father spoke to the press, saying that his family, the Bosmas and Dellen's own family would be forever linked as a result of these series of crimes.

Quote, it's being proven that not only did the Bosmas and ourselves lose a loved one, but the Millard family must live with the fact that this heinous individual murdered his own father. Clayton Babcock went on to say, quote, For all those out there who believe that the sentence of an additional 25 years to Mr Millard's 50 years is too harsh, we say you haven't dealt with this kind of sorrow. We live with a cloud of sadness and loss over us every day. Like all people who have lost a close loved one through tragedy, there'll be not a day in our lives where the loss of Tim, Laura or Wayne won't be felt.

At the end of September 2018, the Globe and Mail Molly Hayes spoke to Charlene Bosma, wife of Tim Bosma, who we really haven't seen at all since her husband's trial. She goes by a different name today for the sake of privacy and said she didn't want to attend the other trials because it wouldn't have been best for her emotional or mental health. She said that she tries not to dwell on the what-ifs anymore. Quote, I have fully thought about if they'd taken Laura Babcock's disappearance seriously at the time, there could be two people still alive, maybe, maybe, but what ifs don't change what is. Charlene has now moved to a new house, and not long ago she got remarried to one of her late

husband's closest friends. Wes was a groomsman at Tim and Charlene's wedding, and Tim was best man at his. During the Tim Bosma murder trial, Wes was living in Western Canada, but he moved back to Ontario after his divorce. He and Charlene reconnected and after a time their relationship turned into more and they got married on September 8th, 2018. Charlene's daughter with Tim Bosma is now seven and Charlene says she hopes that with the consecutive sentences, hopefully her daughter will never have to see Delam Millard and Mark Smitch at a parole hearing. She says that how you go on in life is a matter of perspective. Quote, it becomes a choice about how much more you are willing to give them, and for me, I'm done. So finally, we come to the end of the final chapter of the saga that

revolved around Dellen Millard. Well, I sure hope so. We are still waiting for sentencing, and I'll be sure to update you on this next episode. Dellen Mallard and Mark Smitch are serving two consecutive life sentences, meaning they won't be eligible for parole, until 2063, Dellen will be about 78 years old and Mark about 76. Della Millard is still in the process of appealing his conviction

in both the Bosma and Babcock murders. The families of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock will continue going on with their daily lives. As for the Millards, who knows, Dallin's mother seems to be the only person left in his corner and even she was too reclusive to attend court and show him public support. Thanks for listening. A big thank you to Elliot K. Waddingham for their research help in this episode.

This month I'm saying a huge thank you to these patrons for their support via patreon.com slash Canadian True Crime. Kristen B. Taylor H. Sarah S. Laura F. Lizette S. Elise H and Amanda H. Thank you all so much.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram just by searching for Canadian True Crime. This episode of Canadian True Crime was written by me, with some research assistance provided by Elliot K. Waddingham. Audio production was by Eric Crosby. The voice of the disclaimer was the anonymous host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast. The Canadian Trouclaims.

True Crime theme song was written specifically for me by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian true crime story. See you then.