Tim Bosma trial: Who's who in the courtroom - Action News
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Hamilton

Tim Bosma trial: Who's who in the courtroom

Here are the names you need to know as the trial of two men accused of killing Tim Bosma of Ancaster, Ont., continues in Superior Court in Hamilton.

From Dellen Millard and Mark Smich to the lawyers and witnesses, here are the names you need to know

Tim Bosma disappeared in 2013 after taking two men on a test drive of a pickup truck he was trying to sell. (Facebook)

Tim Bosma

Tim Bosma, 32, vanished on May 6, 2013, after leaving his home in the Hamilton suburb of Ancaster to take two men on a test drive in a truck he was trying to sell online. Days later, his burned remains were discovered on a farm in Ayr, Ont. Bosma, a contractor who was building his first home for his wife Sharlene and their daughter, was deeply involved in the Ancaster Christian Reformed Church community, which continues to support his family.

Justice Andrew Goodman

Justice Andrew Goodman is presiding over the Superior Court trial being held in front of a jury. (Pam Davies)
Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman took over the Bosma trial from Justice Stephen Glithero, who stepped down for health reasonslast year. Goodman has served as a judge in the Ontario cities ofKitchener and London. Before that, he was an assistant Crown attorney in Halton for many years. He made headlines while overseeing a controversial case in which he ordered two sisters from Ancaster, Ont., to pay their uncle $125,000 in libel damages for falsely accusing him of sexually assaulting them in a rural farmhouse when they were children.

Sharlene Bosma

Sharlene Bosma has started a charity to help families of homicide victims since her husband's death. (Samantha Cragggs/CBC)
Since her husband disappeared, Sharlene Bosma has braved the glare of news cameras again and again first pleading for his safe return, and then thanking the public for its support, through tears. "It was just a truck. A stupid truck," she said at a news conference in 2013, when there was still hope her husband was still alive. "You don't need him, but I do. Our daughter needs her daddy." In the months after Bosma died, she launched Tim's Tribute, a charity that helps families of homicide victims.

Dellen Millard

Dellen Millard, of Toronto, is accused of first-degree murder in Tim Bosma's death. (Facebook)
Dellen Millard, 30, is one of two men accused of first-degree murder in Bosma's death. He was an only child and his father and grandfather were in the aviation business. His mother is a former flight attendant and at the time of his father Wayne's death in 2012, he was starting up MillardAir MRO, based at Waterloo International Airport, as a project for his son. On his 14th birthday, in 1999, Millard made headlines by becoming the youngest Canadian to pilot on his own a helicopter and an airplane on the same day. He also competed in the Baja 500 desert off-road race in Mexico in 2011. At the time of Bosma's murder, Millard owned a farm in Ayr, Ont., a house in Etobicoke and three other properties.

Mark Smich

Mark Smich, of Oakville, Ont., is also accused of first-degree murder in Bosma's death. (Facebook)
Mark Smich, 28, is also facing a first-degree murder charge inBosma's death. He was living in Oakville, Ont., with his mother at the time of his arrest which happened on the same day a memorial service was held for Bosma. He appeared in a rap video that circulated online around that time. He did not have a job, but sometimes did work for Millard. The two appeared to be close friends by all accounts. Court has been told that Smich had an alcohol problem and liked to smoke marijuana daily. He also had a temper, according to witnesses who have testified at the trial.

The prosecution

Assistant Crown attorney Tony Leitch is leading the prosecution team. (Google+)
Three assistant Crown attorneys are involved in prosecuting the Bosma case, with Tony Leitch in the lead role. Leitch won two first-degree convictions against Mark Staples in 2014 for killing his father and sister, and has prosecuted many high profile cases in Hamilton. Also on the prosecution team is Craig Fraser, who was called to the bar in 1989 after a decade as a defence lawyer. The third member of the team is Brett Moodie, who was called to the bar in 2010. He prosecuted a case against a man who pretended to be a war veteran at a Remembrance Day Service at Mohawk College.

Thomas Dungey,defence lawyer

Toronto-based lawyer Thomas Dungey is representing Mark Smich. In 2011, Dungey defendedMichael Hall, who was found guilty of second-degree murder for lighting his best friend on fire.Dungey also defended a Toronto man who was sentenced to time served in the road rage death of a Brampton man in 2008. Jennifer Trehearne is Smich's co-counsel.

Ravin Pillay, defence lawyer

Toronto lawyer Ravin Pillay is representing Millard. (LinkedIn)
Toronto-based lawyer Ravin Pillay is representing Millard. He has represented clients in a number of high profile cases, including a man who was charged with a gruesome murder in Philadelphia who was facing extradition to Canada. He also defended a former Bandidos biker gang member at a hearing where the Crown was trying to seize the man's home. Nadir Sachak is the co-counsel.

Marlena Meneses

Marlena Meneses, 22, was Smich'sgirlfriend at the time ofBosma'sdeath.Theymet at a Tim Hortons shop inOakville, and Meneses has describedhow there was an immediate connection between them. About a month after the two met, she moved in withSmichand dropped out of school. Court has heard two sides of the relationship that he was controlling and not "always the greatest" to her, but also that he helped her kick a drug habit.

ChristinaNoudga

Christina Noudga was dating Millard at the time of his arrest and has been charged with accessory after the fact. (Facebook)
Christina Noudgawas Millard's girlfriend at the time of Bosma's disappearance. She was a 21-year-old university student at the time.She was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact in 2014. Noudga was with Millard when he took a trailer containing Bosma's truck to his mother's house. Noudga has testified she now 'loathes" Millard. A number of letters Millard wrote to her from jail, that he wanted her to destroy, have become evidence in the trial.

Matt Hagerman

Matt Hagerman, 26, is a longtime friend of Millard's who used to help out with "missions," which among the friends sometimes referred to criminal acts. While he was testifying, he broke down and said he had made mistakes. He was also accused of lying about his role in the Bosma case by Smich's lawyer.

Andrew Michalski

Andrew Michalski was Millard's friend and former roommate. (Facebook)
Andrew Michalski is Millard's friend and former roommate. He was arrested and questioned but never charged in the Bosma case. He was part of the circle of friends around Millard who participated in occasional "missions." In his first statement to police, he didn't mention his role in helping hide a toolbox from Millard's home, but came clean in a second statement.

Madeleine Burns

Dellen Millard's mother. The trailer containing Bosma's truck was found in the driveway of her home.Noudga testified that Burns guided her in wiping down the trailer after her son was arrested. She and Noudga spent that night at a hotel to avoid the media. She was also involved inNoudga getting letters from Millard and talking to him on the phone when he was in jail, despite a no-contact order between the pair.

Brendan Daly

Brendan Daly isSmich'sonetime best friend. He has testifiedthatSmichgot rid of a gun he had been hiding at his mother's home just afterBosmavanished. Daly also describedhis friend's anger issues andhis violent rap lyrics, as well as Smich's worries about being framed by Millard.

Det. Sgt. Matt Kavanagh

Hamilton police officer Matt Kavanagh led the Bosma investigation. (CBC)
Hamilton Police Det. Sgt. Matt Kavanagh led the local part of the Bosma investigation at the outset, and was a fixture in the courtroom during jury selection.Kavanagh has been assigned to Hamilton Police's Homicide Unit for over 15 years, and has worked on some of the city's most high-profile cases.

adam.carter@cbc.ca

With files from Daniel Schwartz