Tim Bosma trial: Dellen Millard planned to 'nab a Dodge 3500' in 2012, texts suggest
That model of truck is the same as the one Hamilton man Tim Bosma was trying to sell
Texts on Dellen Millard's cellphone show he planned to steal a Dodge 3500 truck like Tim Bosma's as far back as February 2012, messages shown at the trial of two men accused of the Hamilton man's slaying revealed Monday.
Hamilton police Det. Const. Craig Harrison began his testimony by showing texts between Millard and a contact named "Say 10" — which the Crown alleges was a nickname for Mark Smich, his co-accused.
- Follow along from inside the courtroom at the Tim Bosma trial
- Dellen Millard stole 'for the thrill of it,' friend says
- Dellen Millard's friend was arrested but released
"Next on the list is: getting you a G1, sound equipment for recording, nab a dodge 3500, sell the green jeep, nab a Nacra18 sail boat," the text shown in court read.
Millard, 30, of Toronto, and Smich, 28, of Oakville, Ont., are charged with first-degree murder in Bosma's death. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Bosma, 32, who lived in the suburban Ancaster area of Hamilton, vanished on May 6, 2013, after taking two men on a test drive in a pickup truck he was trying to sell. Investigators later found charred human remains, believed to belong to Bosma, in a livestock incinerator on Millard's farm in Waterloo, Ont.
'We need a proper plan'
For hours on Monday, the jury was shown hundreds of messages between Millard, Smich and other friends that highlight the group's plans to steal different items, and Millard's quest to track down a Dodge 3500. Bosma's truck, the jury has heard, was a Dodge 3500 pickup truck with a diesel engine — something several witnesses have said was a feature Millard was looking for.
Another text sent from the Millard phone to Say 10 in 2012 read: "I think we can grab that truck I need before I go to the states next. They are common enough, it doesn't have to be that one, it just has to be a Dodge 3500, red's just a bonus."
The response back read: "We need a proper plan though, so lets work on that. We can't make any mistakes."
Other texts showed the plans Millard had to steal a Bobcat tractor — and the discovery after the fact that it had a GPS attached to it.
A message from the Millard phone on Oct. 20, 2012, to Say 10 read: "Only me you & Shane know about gps, let's keep it that way." A message back from "Shaner" (presumably Shane Schlatman, a MillardAir employee who has already testified) read: "Cops just left."
That message, like many on Millard's phone that pertain to illegal activity and the incinerator he had Schlatman build before purchasing one, were deleted.
Rap lyrics resurface
Ontario Provincial Police forensic computer analyst Michael Ryder was also back in court for cross-examination Monday.
It was during that cross-examination that Millard's lawyer, Ravin Pillay, presented the jury with a rap that was recovered from an iPad found at Smich's home.
The lyrics were: "Never lonely, it's just me & my chrome piece, I'm holding the cards I was dealt ... I'm never folding. The one & only ... SAY10, it's no fony [sic]. My 380 iz NO stranger."
The jury has previously heard that the next lyric was: "When I'm angered, you're in danger." A spent .380 shell casing was recovered from inside Bosma's truck.
Another one of Smich's rhymes appeared in a text message from Say 10 to Millard's phone: "It's all about me, you, myself and my greed to get TXDeed, we be taking anything we need that means everything, indeed."
"Nice rhyme," came the response back from Millard's phone.
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: