Dellen Millard shot Tim Bosma, co-accused's ex-girlfriend testifies

Accused killer ​Mark Smich told his former girlfriend that Dellen Millard shot Tim Bosma before the two of them burned his body in a livestock incinerator, Marlena Meneses testified Thursday.

The 22-year-old Meneses delivered some of the most dramatic testimony heard so far at the jury trial in Superior Court in Hamilton.

Meneses told a packed courtroom that Smich told her Bosma was killed the night of May 6, 2013, when he took Millard and Smich on a test drive of a truck he was trying to sell.

"He said that Dell murdered him. That he shot him," Meneses testified, as members of the Bosma family became visibly emotional inside the courtroom. Bosma's wife Sharlene sat stone faced, while others cried.

"He told me he did nothing, that Dell did it all," she said.  "He told me that Mr. Bosma was gone, gone."

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"What he told you in so many words was, they burned him, Dell shot him," assistant Crown attorney Craig Fraser said.

"Yeah," Meneses responded.

She said she didn't ask why the 32-year-old was killed. "I didn't want to know. I was with the guy. I didn't want to know anything."

Smich, 28, of Oakville, Ont., and Dellen Millard, 30, of Toronto are charged with first-degree murder in Bosma's death. Both have pleaded not guilty.

I would say Mark cared for Dellen more than he cared for other people. He was in love with him.- Marlena Meneses

Meneses, 22, told the court Millard and Smich were celebrating a successful "mission" the morning after Bosma vanished.

"They were just very happy, saying that they wanted to celebrate ... they didn't tell me exactly what they were celebrating," Meneses said. "They just said that the mission went well."

"Mission" was a slang term Millard and his friends sometimes used as a code for criminal activity, court has heard.

Meneses told the jury she knew the two planned to steal a truck. Millard and Smich had talked about it in front of her in the days leading up to Bosma's disappearance.

"They just told me they were going for a test drive and might steal a truck," she said. "I already told them they shouldn't go, but nobody listened to me.

"I didn't really understand it, because from what I knew, Dellen had a lot of money ... if he wanted a truck, just go buy one."

She said Smich also told her he was given a gun after Millard was arrested, but that he disposed of it. "He told me that he wrapped it in duct tape and buried it somewhere ... he said somewhere in a forest. He wouldn't tell me which one."

Meneses is yet another witness on a long list of people in Millard and Smich's social circle who knew something about the case, but didn't go to the police. 

"I should have. I regret it. I could have stopped so much if I had gone to the police. I should have," she said, while dabbing her eyes in the witness box.

Meneses testified she told Smich repeatedly that he should go to police, but he said no, because he "wanted to go to his sister's wedding."

Spectators lined up for hours to get a seat inside the courtroom — some even arguing in the line outside over spots. They heard about how Meneses and Smich met at a Tim Hortons shop in Oakville, and how there was an immediate connection between the two. 

"We just hit eyes, and they were all big, and it was like he was in love with me," she said. About a month after the two met, she moved in with Smich and dropped out of school. She's still a few credits shy of her high school diploma. 

"We were pretty close, but, he wasn't always the greatest to me," Meneses testified.

The witness also testified that she scrubbed toilets for Millard for no regular pay, and that Millard and Smich were "close like brothers."

"I would say Mark cared for Dellen more than he cared for other people. He was in love with him," she testified.

"You could just tell that was Mark's feelings towards Dellen."

She said hasn't spoken to Smich since his arrest in 2013.

"The day I got arrested, I just figured why even bother still being with him," she said. Meneses was arrested alongside Smich, but was never charged.

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:

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adam.carter@cbc.ca