Dellen Millard and Mark Smich

Background and Relationship of the Killers

Dellen Millard was born on August 30, 1985, into considerable wealth as the only child of pilot Wayne Millard and Air Canada flight attendant Madeleine Burns. His grandfather, Carl Millard, founded Millardair, an aviation firm. In 1999, at age 14, Millard set a world record as the youngest person to fly both a helicopter and a fixed-wing plane solo on the same day. As an adult, he owned a portfolio of properties including a $1.2 million home in Etobicoke, a $627,000 condo in Toronto's Distillery District purchased in May 2013, a $2 million rental property, and an $850,000 hundred-acre farm in Ayr. Mark Smich, born August 13, 1987, came from a middle-class background and had an extensive criminal record for petty offences including drug possession, impaired driving, mischief, failure to appear, and breach of conditions. He made a living selling drugs and cigarettes and occasionally worked odd jobs in Millard's hangar. The two men were introduced around 2006. By 2011 they had grown closer, and in 2012 Smich and his girlfriend Marlena Meneses moved into the basement suite of the Millard family house. Around this time, Millard began organizing what he called 'missions', night-time excursions with Smich and other friends to steal items like Bobcat construction equipment, lawnmowers, and trees. Millard's mother, Madeleine Burns, was a flight attendant for Air Canada when she met Wayne Millard, who was also a pilot for the airline before working at the family business. Dellen Millard attended schools in Toronto but showed a greater interest in aviation than academics from a young age.

Murder of Tim Bosma and Police Investigation

Thirty-two-year-old Tim Bosma, a father from Ancaster, Ontario, had listed his Dodge Ram pickup truck for sale on Kijiji in May 2013. On May 6, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich contacted him by phone to arrange a test drive, arriving on foot at his home just after 9:20 p.m. Bosma left with the two men and never returned. During the test drive, Bosma was shot and killed. His body was incinerated that same night in an animal incinerator at Millard's hangar. The Hamilton Police Service launched an investigation, quickly discovering the contact phone was a burner phone. On May 9, Bosma's deactivated cell phone was found in an industrial area of Brantford. Police used call records to discover the pair had arranged two other test drives for similar trucks in the days before the murder. One failed to occur when they were late, and another took place in Toronto on May 5. Witnesses from that May 5 test drive provided descriptions matching the men who took Bosma, and one noted a man carried a small satchel bag and had an 'ambition' tattoo inside a box on his wrist. This detail led police from Peel and Toronto to identify Dellen Millard on May 10. Millard was arrested on May 11. On May 12, Bosma's truck was found inside a trailer in the driveway of Millard's mother's home, a trailer registered to Millardair. Police confirmed Bosma was deceased on May 14 after locating burned remains in the incinerator at Millard's Ayr farm. Mark Smich was arrested on May 22, 2013. The police investigation was treated as a missing persons case with unusual circumstances from the start, involving ground searches with canine units. The incinerator used was a large, red unit that could reach extremely high temperatures.

Trials and Sentencing for the Bosma and Babcock Murders

The trial for the murder of Tim Bosma began in 2016. Smich testified he was in a separate vehicle following Bosma and Millard, and that Millard alone shot Bosma in the truck. Millard's lawyer, Nadir Sachak, argued all three men were in the truck with Millard driving, Bosma in the passenger seat, and Smich in the back, and that Smich pulled a gun intending to steal the vehicle, leading to a struggle and an accidental shooting. The Crown contended both men participated in the planned killing. On June 17, 2016, Millard and Smich were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 25 years. In a separate trial, they were convicted in December 2017 for the first-degree murder of Laura Babcock, a 23-year-old Toronto woman last seen alive in July 2012. Her remains were never found, but evidence showed she was killed and her body burned in the same incinerator, called 'The Eliminator', located at Millard's hangar at the Region of Waterloo International Airport. The Babcock trial heard she struggled with mental health and drug use, was working as an escort, and had become infatuated with Millard. Justice Michael Code ordered the life sentences for the two murders be served consecutively, resulting in a combined parole ineligibility period of 50 years. The trial for Babcock's murder featured extensive digital evidence, including over 100 text messages exchanged between Babcock and Millard in the days before her disappearance. The Crown's theory was that Babcock was killed because she had become a nuisance to Millard. The jury deliberated for several days before reaching a verdict.

Murder of Wayne Millard and the Gun Trafficking Connection

Wayne Millard was found dead in his home on November 29, 2012, with a gunshot wound through his left eye, a death initially ruled a suicide. After the Bosma and Babcock arrests, police reinvestigated and charged Dellen Millard with first-degree murder. The 2018 judge-alone trial heard evidence of disagreements between father and son over the family business. The Crown presented evidence that Millard had purchased the .32 calibre Smith & Wesson revolver used to kill his father, and that Millard's cell phone was at his father's home from around 1:00 a.m. until shortly after 6:00 a.m. on the night of the death. Millard did not testify. On September 24, 2018, Justice Maureen Forestell found Millard guilty. She stated in her findings, 'I am satisfied that Dellen Millard killed his father by shooting him in the left eye as he slept. I can find no theory consistent with innocence'. He was sentenced on December 18, 2018, to a third life term, with the 25-year parole ineligibility period ordered to be served consecutively to his other sentences. This legal outcome was connected to the earlier conviction of Matthew Ward-Jackson. On January 12, 2018, Ward-Jackson was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment after pleading guilty to nine charges relating to gun possession and trafficking. These charges included selling the .32 calibre revolver used to kill Wayne Millard and the Walther PPK handgun used in the murder of Tim Bosma. Ward-Jackson was an acquaintance of Millard, born in 1987.

Appeals, Prison Violence, and the Supreme Court Sentence Reduction

Dellen Millard and Mark Smich launched appeals against their convictions for the murders of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock. The Ontario Court of Appeal rejected these appeals on June 15, 2023. Millard separately appealed his conviction for murdering his father, which was also rejected in March 2023. During his incarceration, Millard was involved in a violent incident at Millhaven Institution in 2021, where he restrained a man while another inmate stabbed him. Millard was charged with assault causing bodily harm and weapons possession. He was convicted of the assault charge in March 2023. His co-accused in the assault pled guilty. A major change to their sentences resulted from the Supreme Court of Canada's 2022 decision in R. v. Bissonnette, which struck down consecutive parole ineligibility periods as unconstitutional. This ruling directly affected Millard and Smich. Millard's combined 75-year ineligibility period and Smich's 50-year period were both reduced to no more than the standard 25 years for first-degree murder. Consequently, their parole eligibility date was moved to 2043. The Supreme Court ruling applied retroactively to all offenders serving consecutive parole ineligibility periods. Following the June 2023 appeal rejection, Smich's lawyer, Thomas Dungey, stated an intention to request leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The assault victim at Millhaven survived his injuries.

Transfer to Medium Security and Ongoing Victim Family Anguish

The decision by the Correctional Service of Canada to transfer both killers to medium-security prisons provoked distress and anger from the victims' families. Mark Smich was moved to a medium-security facility in 2021. Dellen Millard was transferred later to a medium-security prison in Gravenhurst, Ontario. The CSC would not publicly confirm the transfers, citing policy against disclosing personal information about offenders. The families of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock felt their concerns were disregarded. In a joint statement, Bosma's widow Sharlene and his parents Hank and Mary said they were disgusted by Millard's move. Laura Babcock's mother, Linda Babcock, told CBC News the transfers reopened old wounds and disrupted her family's peace. Toronto criminal defence lawyer Ryan Handlarski commented that while such moves can be an incentive for good behaviour, it was hard to understand given Millard's recent assault conviction. The medium-security facility in Gravenhurst is the Beaver Creek Institution. The Correctional Service assesses security classifications based on factors like institutional adjustment, escape risk, and public safety. The families have continued to advocate for changes in how violent offenders are managed within the prison system.

Chronology of Key Events and Evidence

The cases against Millard and Smich unfolded over more than a decade. The animal incinerator, 'The Eliminator', was the disposal method for two victims. Burner phones were used to contact Tim Bosma. Dellen Millard's distinctive 'ambition' tattoo was a critical piece of physical identification. The firearms used in the murders of Wayne Millard and Tim Bosma were traced through the gun trafficking network of Matthew Ward-Jackson. Digital evidence, including cell phone location data and text message records, helped establish timelines. The Crown's theory across the cases was that the killings were planned and deliberate. The following table lists the major events.

Questions about Dellen Millard and Mark Smich

What crimes were Dellen Millard and Mark Smich convicted of?

Millard and Smich were jointly convicted of the first-degree murders of Tim Bosma in 2016 and Laura Babcock in 2017. Dellen Millard was separately convicted of the first-degree murder of his father, Wayne Millard, in 2018. Millard was also later convicted of assault causing bodily harm for a 2021 prison stabbing incident. The murders involved shooting the victims and disposing of the bodies by incineration in a device called The Eliminator.

What was the sentence for killing Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock?

For the murder of Tim Bosma, both men received a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years in June 2016. For the murder of Laura Babcock in December 2017, they received another life sentence, with the judge ordering the 25-year parole ineligibility periods to be served consecutively. Following a 2022 Supreme Court of Canada decision, their parole ineligibility periods have been reduced to no more than 25 years each, making them eligible for parole in 2043. The original consecutive sentencing would have made them eligible in 2063.

Why are Millard and Smich eligible for parole in 2043 instead of 2063?

A 2022 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Bissonnette declared consecutive parole ineligibility periods unconstitutional. This decision directly affected Millard and Smich's sentences. Their original 50-year and 75-year ineligibility periods were reduced to the standard 25 years for first-degree murder. Consequently, their parole eligibility date was moved to 2043, 25 years from the sentencing for Wayne Millard's murder in December 2018. The ruling applied retroactively.

Where are Dellen Millard and Mark Smich now?

Both men have been transferred from maximum-security to medium-security prisons in Ontario. Mark Smich was moved to a medium-security facility in 2021. Dellen Millard was transferred to a medium-security prison in Gravenhurst, specifically the Beaver Creek Institution, at a later date. The Correctional Service of Canada does not publicly confirm such transfers, citing offender privacy. Their transfers were reported by news media and confirmed through statements from victims' families.

How were Millard and Smich caught for Tim Bosma's murder?

Police identified them through a combination of witness descriptions and phone records. A witness from a previous test drive on May 5, 2013, described a man with an 'ambition' tattoo on his wrist. This detail was released to the public, leading other police services to identify Dellen Millard. Police then used call records from the burner phone used to contact Bosma to trace activity. Millard was arrested on May 11, 2013, after his mother's home was searched and Bosma's truck was found. Smich was arrested on May 22 after surveillance.

What happened to Laura Babcock's body?

Laura Babcock's remains have never been found. Evidence from the trial established that after her murder in July 2012, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich burned her body in an animal incinerator called The Eliminator, located at Millard's airplane hangar at the Region of Waterloo International Airport. The same incinerator was later used to dispose of Tim Bosma's body in May 2013. The Crown presented evidence that Babcock was killed because her presence had become problematic for Millard.

Sources and further reading

• Dellen Millard and Mark Smich (Wikipedia)
• Serial killer Dellen Millard, who murdered Tim Bosma ... (cbc.ca)
• Dellen Millard, Mark Smich to serve consecutive life ... (globalnews.ca)

Checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-26.