Tim Bosma case: Dellen Millard arrested at gunpoint, court hears
Millard and Mark Smich accused of 1st degree murder in death of Tim Bosma
Four days after Tim Bosma disappeared, Dellen Millard found himself sitting in his SUV with a police officer pointing a gun at him.
On Monday, a Hamilton court heard for the first time details about Millard's gunpoint arrest in May of 2013, days after Ancaster, Ont., man Tim Bosma vanished.
Millard, 30, of Toronto, and Mark Smich, 28, of Oakville, Ont., are charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Bosma, a Hamilton resident. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
It was the evening of May 10, 2013, when Hamilton police officers boxed in Millard's Yukon SUV at a stop sign on Cawthra Road in Mississauga, Ont.
- Tim Bosma trial: how police used cell phone records to investigate
- Tim Bosma trial witness: 'I was hoping beyond hope it wasn't the truck'
- Tim Bosma case: How did police zero in on Dellen Millard?
Sgt. Stuart Oxley walked toward the driver-side window of the SUV with his gun drawn, he testified in Superior Court Monday.
"I approached the car myself with my gun drawn. He looked over at me and put his hands up," Oxley said.
"I said, 'Are you Dellen Millard?' He said 'yes.' "
Millard was then arrested.
Police had decided to put Millard under surveillance after a detective visited him at the hangar housing his family's aircraft maintenance company at Waterloo airport.
Const. Don Sauve testified he was the officer who handcuffed Millard and searched him.
"After he was arrested I took control of Mr. Millard," Sauve said in court. "I brought him over to the sidewalk and that's where I conducted my search."
That's when Sauve made a discovery in Millard's right front pocket: $350 in cash alongside three black latex gloves, court heard. The significance of the gloves hasn't been established.
According to the Crown's opening address, Bosma's truck keys were also found inside his SUV at the time of Millard's arrest.
Arrest photos show 'ambition' tattoo
The Crown alleges Bosma was abducted and shot at close range inside his truck, before his body was incinerated hours later at Millard's airplane hangar in Waterloo.
Court also saw Millard's arrest photos for the first time on Monday.
One of them clearly shows a tattoo of the word "ambition" on his outer left wrist where a watch might be. Millard has always worn long sleeves in court, and has not shown any tattoos.
The "ambition" tattoo was a key part of the description that led to Millard's arrest. It came from Igor Tumanenko, a former Israeli soldier who went on a test drive with Smich and another man before Bosma disappeared.
"For my personal opinion, it's very ambitious to have ambition on your arm," Tumanenko said in court Thursday.
Tumanenko previously testified he went on a test drive with a man who had an ambition tattoo in a box on his wrist. However, Millard's tattoo has no box.
According to an agreed statement of fact, Smich was in the car with Tumamenko for that test drive. A second "taller" man has not been firmly identified in court.
Millard wanted a truck painted
A body shop also owner testified Monday that Millard called him about a rush job repainting a black truck red on May 8, days after Bosma disappeared. Bosma's truck was black.
This was the first time Millard had ever asked for a rush on a paint job, body shop owner Tony Diciano testified. However, he said, the truck in question was never painted because Millard called back and cancelled the job.
Court also heard testimony from Rick Bullman, who lives close to the Bosma's home in Ancaster. He testified to seeing two vehicles pull out of a gravel lane way leading to his father's property in the area on May 6, 2013 — the same night Bosma disappeared.
The first vehicle, he said, was a dark coloured truck. The second was "something in between a car and a truck," Bullman testified. It was also a dark colour.
One of Millard's lawyers, Nadir Sachak, pressed Bullman about his police statement about that night. In that statement, he said, "I just figured it was just someone just horsing around in the field."
Bullman denied saying that to police until Sachak brought it up in his statement. "The point I want to make is that as time goes on, memories fade," Sachak said.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
CBC reporter Adam Carter is in the courtroom each day reporting live on the trial. You can view a recap of his live blog here: