Tim Bosma trial: Blood, DNA evidence links Bosma, Millard
Murder trial of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich continues in Ontario Superior Court
There is a one in 18 quadrillion chance that the blood found inside and outside Tim Bosma's truck came from someone other than the slain man, a Hamilton court heard Monday as the trial of two men accused of killing the father of one continued.
James Sloots, a forensic biologist from the Centre of Forensic Sciences, took the jury through the complicated process of how DNA evidence was recovered and analyzed in the case.
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While it isn't possible for Sloots to say with total certainty that the blood matches Bosma's DNA, the chance that it doesn't is astronomical — it even exceeds the number of people that the Population Reference Bureau estimates has ever lived on Earth.
Investigators recovered Bosma's DNA from his toothbrush, Sloots said, and then that was used to compare against blood samples found inside and outside of his truck. The first sample studied came from the truck's undercarriage.
"Tim Bosma cannot be excluded as the source of that DNA profile," Sloots said. Several other blood samples found around the truck including on the cup holder, the glove box and the muffler fit the same description with similar "random match probabilities" of one in 18 quadrillion.
Prosecutors believe that Bosma was shot and killed inside the Dodge pickup truck he had been trying to sell online, and then his body burned in a livestock incinerator.
Dellen Millard, 30, of Toronto, and his co-accused Mark Smich, 28, of Oakville, are accused of killing Bosma, 32, who lived in the suburban Ancaster area of Hamilton. Both accused, who are being tried in Ontario Superior Court in front of a jury, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Blood found on incinerator
Sloots also discovered blood stains on a metal ledge below the load door of the incinerator, called The Eliminator.
"When I compared the DNA profile of that blood to the toothbrush of Tim Bosma, he cannot be excluded as the source of that blood," Sloots said. Again, the probability of the blood coming from someone else was estimated at one in 18 quadrillion.
Court heard last week about human bones that were found inside the incinerator. No DNA could be extracted from the remains because of intense heat damage.
Court also saw photos of three Nitrile gloves that were found in Millard's possession when he was arrested in 2013. Blood was found on the gloves, Sloots said, and like the blood found inside the truck, Bosma's DNA could once again not be excluded.
This time, the chances of the DNA coming from someone other than Bosma was estimated at one in 2.2 quadrillion.
A second male DNA profile was also found on the gloves. Investigators checked it against Millard's DNA, which was seized under a warrant after he was arrested.
Millard's DNA could not be excluded from the inside of the gloves, Sloots said. The chances of it coming from someone else was one in 610 trillion.
Female DNA profile discovered
Scientists also compared a female DNA profile found on the gloves against Christina Noudga's DNA profile, which investigators obtained from a drinking straw she had discarded. Noudga, who was Millard's girlfriend at the time, has also been charged as an accessory after the fact.
Noudga's DNA could not be excluded from the DNA found on the gloves. The chances of it coming from someone else was put at one in 2.3 quadrillion, Sloots told jurors.
Earlier in the trial, Halton Regional Police Det. Const. Laura McLellan testified that 64 swabs of blood from Bosma's truck and the trailer in which it was found were sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for further examination.
A green tarp that was seized from inside the trailer in which Bosma's truck was found also tested positive for blood. Once again, Bosma couldn't be excluded as the source of the blood on the tarp, with a one in 300 million chance it came from someone else.
Court also saw photos of a canvas Diesel shoulder bag that was seized from Millard. A "satchel" or Indiana Jones-style bag has been mentioned several times in testimony and cross-examination, but its significance has not been fully explained.
A blood stain was found on the bag, but a DNA comparison was not possible.
The trial continues Tuesday.
CBC reporter Adam Carter is in the courtroom each day reporting live on the trial. You can view a full recap of his live blog here: