Bosma killer's ex-girlfriend now under the microscope as her trial begins
Did Christina Noudga know about the blood on Millard's hands? Her trial starts in Hamilton on Tuesday
It was when she said she had performed oral sex on a soon-to-be convicted killer on their way to move a now-infamous animal incinerator in the dead of night that she shocked the courtroom the most.
Christina Noudga said it matter of factly, eliciting murmurs from the court and looks of utter disgust from Tim Bosma's family.
That story was just one of several alibis for explaining why she had no knowledge of Bosma's murder, and the damning evidence that she was helping to move in the wake of his 2013 slaying.
On Tuesday, the 24-year-old Toronto resident's trial on charges of being an accessory after the fact begins in front of a judge alone in Superior Court in Hamilton, months after Noudga's onetime boyfriend, Dellen Millard, and his friend, Mark Smich, were each found guilty of first-degree murder.
Noudga has pleaded not guilty.
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Noudga was one of the most polarizing figures at the months-long Bosma trial, where she spent days in the witness box testifying about her involvement in a case that garnered widespread attention for the senseless murder of the 32-year-old husband and father from Hamilton.
I got to spend four months of my life in a tiny little box, and over time I started to feel a contempt towards him ... a loathing.- Christina Noudga
On occasion, spectators in the courtroom outright laughed at her hubris, and the ridiculousness of her testimony. Noudga sometimes laughed too as she testified, leaving Bosma's family looking on, aghast.
That family will once again sit in court each day, standing witness for their dead son, husband, brother and friend.
But this time, the trial won't be about who killed Bosma — it will be about deciding whether Noudga knew about the blood on her boyfriend's hands, yet still helped him cover his tracks after Bosma was shot and killed in May 2013 for his pickup truck, and then burned in a massive animal incinerator dubbed the Eliminator.
Noudga says she now 'loathes' Millard
In many ways, Noudga was the Crown's star witness — effectively handing investigators damning evidence in the form of dozens of letters that Millard sent to her from jail.
Now, with convictions secured for Millard and Smich (though both are appealing the decisions), the Crown's focus shifts to Noudga herself. Her testimony from the last trial cannot be used against her this time around, because of the Canada Evidence Act.
To hear Noudga tell it during her previous testimony, her feelings for Millard vanished after she was arrested and held in custody in April 2014.
"I got to spend four months of my life in a tiny little box, and over time I started to feel a contempt towards him ... a loathing," she said from the witness box in May.
There is no guarantee the judge will hear Noudga's story from her own lips this time around. While she was compelled to testify at the Bosma trial, she is under no such obligation at her own hearing.
It's unlikely that Millard will be called to testify at the trial, but it remains to be seen whether court hears from his mother, Madeleine Burns.
Unlike several people connected to Millard or Smich and who testified at the last trial, Noudga showed no remorse for not going to the police and telling them what she knew after Millard's arrest.
Noudga repeatedly said she was "advised" not to go to police by a lawyer, and cited "solicitor-client privilege" for that decision. She only gave a statement once she was arrested and charged.
It's expected much of that statement will be revealed in court during her trial.
Moving evidence and wiping down prints
The Crown's case against Noudga centres on three main pieces of evidence: the Eliminator, a toolbox that is believed to have contained the murder weapon, and a digital video recorder that contained critical video evidence.
On May 9, 2013, Millard picked Noudga up at her home in his red Dodge pickup, towing a large trailer. Bosma's truck was inside.
The two drove to his mother's home in Kleinburg, Ont., where they parked the trailer. Millard wouldn't tell his mom what was in it, even after a barrage of questions.
During questioning by the Crown, Noudga said she never asked Millard what was inside the trailer. She said they were both "extremely stoned."
That point will prove pivotal at this trial, as the Crown must prove she helped Millard even while knowing the nefarious cargo he was carrying.
The couple then drove to the farm property Millard owned in Ayr, Ont.
"It was more of a sexual expedition driving that way ... he was driving, and I was performing sexual favours to him," she testified.
The sex act she said she performed on Millard was one of the few facts Noudga said she could remember during hours of testimony at the previous trial.
Over and over, she told the Crown she couldn't remember any details about specific dates, times and conversations, only elaborating when the Crown asked her to refresh her memory from police statements and other documents.
Crown from Bosma case returns
Once Millard and Noudga arrived at the farm, they donned gloves and moved the Eliminator out of the barn and onto a wooded path nearby. In her previous testimony, Noudga maintained Millard told her they were doing so because the floorboards under the Eliminator had been creaking.
Once that was done, the two went to the house of Matt Hagerman — a friend of Millard's. Her then boyfriend passed Hagerman a locked yellow toolbox, in which gunshot residue was eventually found.
The jury also heard that Millard gave Noudga a digital video recorder just before they moved the truck, and asked her to hold onto it. That DVR was from the MillardAir hangar in Waterloo, Ont., and contained security camera footage of Millard and Smich in the hangar on the night that Bosma died and was burned.
Noudga testified she never viewed what was on the DVR. "It didn't spark my curiosity," even after Millard was charged with first-degree murder, she said.
After Millard's arrest, Noudga wiped down parts of a trailer that contained Bosma's truck, under the instruction of Millard's mother. Yet at the last trial, Noudga somehow maintained she did not destroy any evidence.
"We didn't remove any evidence. We just removed our touching the trailer," she said. "At the time, we didn't see it as evidence."
Assistant Crown attorney Brett Moodie, one of three Crown veterans from the Bosma trial, will be the prosecutor for Noudga's trial.
Brian Greenspan — who has represented big name clients like Naomi Campbell, Justin Bieber and Michael Collogly, the former corporate controller for Nortel Networks Corp. — will lead Noudga's defence.
The trial is expected to take three weeks, and CBC Hamilton will be in the courtroom each day, providing live blog coverage.
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