Tim Bosma trial: Blood, DNA evidence links Bosma, Millard

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 Mondayas the trial oftwo 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.

• Tim Bosma trial: forensic biologist returns to testify Tuesday
• Financial health of Dellen Millard's company disputed
• Incinerator had been cleaned out, court hears

While it isn't possible for Sloots to say with totalcertainty that the blood matchesBosma's DNA, the chance that it doesn't is astronomical it evenexceeds the number of people that the Population Reference Bureau estimates has ever lived on Earth.

Investigators recoveredBosma's DNAfrom 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 cupholder, the glove box and the mufflerfit the same description with similar "random match probabilities" ofone in 18 quadrillion.

Prosecutors believe thatBosma 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.

DellenMillard, 30, of Toronto, and his co-accused MarkSmich, 28, ofOakville, are accused of killingBosma, 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

Slootsalso discoveredblood stains on a metal ledge below the load door of the incinerator, called TheEliminator.

"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 remainsbecause of intense heat damage.

Court also saw photos of three Nitrilegloves 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'sDNAcould once again not be excluded.

This time, the chancesof the DNAcoming from someone other than Bosma was estimated atone 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 thegloves, Sloots said. The chances of it coming from someone else wasone 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 atonein 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, witha one in 300 million chance it camefrom someone else.

Court also saw photos of acanvas 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 Carteris in the courtroom each day reporting live on the trial. You can view a full recap of his livebloghere:

On mobile and can't see the live blog? View it here

adam.carter@cbc.ca