The murderers Dellen Millard and Mark Smich before the Court of Appeal

The former was sentenced to 75 years in prison for three murders and the latter to 50 years for two murders.

Dellen Millard, left and Mark Smich, right

Hearings begin on Monday in the appeals of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich to the Ontario Court of Appeal, who are seeking a new trial after being sentenced to consecutive prison terms. life without the right to parole of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock.

Millard was later sentenced to an additional 25 years in prison for the murder of his father, Wayne Millard.

The parole ineligibility for Dellen Millard should logically be reduced from 75 to 25 years for the three premeditated murders he perpetrated. Mark Smich's could be reduced from 50 to 25 years for the same two murders he committed with his accomplice.

Part of the verdict is already known, since the Supreme Court of Canada already ruled, in 2022, that cumulative sentences were unconstitutional under section 12 of the Charter on cruel and unusual punishment.

Alexandre Bissonnette, the author of the attack that killed six people at the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec in January 2017.

Since the Supreme Court decision, the punishment for premeditated murder is now life in prison with no right to parole for 25 years, regardless of whether the murderer killed one or more victims.

This does not mean, however, that the individual will be released after serving a 25-year prison sentence.

The Association of Families of Persons Murdered or Disappeared recalls, however, that there is no guarantee that a murderer will not be released after 25 years.

Marcel Bolduc, whose daughter was killed, is one of the founders of the Association of Families of Persons Assassinated or Disappeared.< /p>

Decisions are made by members of the Parole Board of Canada who unfortunately do not always have the appropriate qualifications to decide whether to grant one or not, explains the co-president of the Association, Marcel Bolduc.

In 2018, Dellen Millard became the first Ontarian to be sentenced to such severe punishment, serving three consecutive 25-year sentences for each of the murders he has sponsored, a sentence of 75 years firm.

Laura Babcock, the former girlfriend of Dellen Millard, is the first victim of the Millard-Smich tandem.

The 23-year-old woman was shot and killed in July 2012 in Toronto and her body was burned in a cattle incinerator on a Waterloo Region farm owned by Dellen Millard.

Wayne Millard was subsequently murdered in November 2012. Dellen Millard's father was the owner of the defunct Waterloo aviation company MillardAir which his father Carl Millard had established in 1963 in Mississauga.

Wayne Millard was setting up a new aeronautical company, hoping to pass it on to his son, Dellen.

< p class="e-p">The 71-year-old man was found in bed with a bullet in his head and a gun at his bedside. In her verdict, the judge rejected the defense theory of suicide, although she acknowledged that Wayne Millard was depressed.

Mark Smich was not involved in this murder, but he was Dellen Millard's alibi at the trial [the only one held without a jury, Ed].

Tim Bosma was finally murdered in May 2013 in Ancaster after taking Dellen Millard and Mark Smich with him to test drive the van he had put up for sale on Internet.

Wayne Millard was the owner of the aviation company MillardAir of Waterloo which his father had created in 1963.

The charred body of the father of the family was found a few days later in the cattle incinerator on the same farm.

Tim Bosma's vehicle was found in a transport truck parked in the driveway of the murderer's mother's residence in Toronto.

It was this last murder that enabled the police to arrest and bring the two men to justice before reopening the investigations into the two previous murders.

There are, however, differences between the murders of Millard and Smich and those of Alexandre Bissonnette.

The young Bissonnette committed his carnage in the same place, the mosque of Quebec, and at the same time, on January 29, 2017.

Millard and Smich killed Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock in several months apart in two different cities and the two murders were unrelated, since Mr. Bosma did not know Miss Babcock.

Laura Babcock is the first victim of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich.

The third murder that Dellen Millard planned alone had nothing to do with the first two either.< /p>

The Association of Families of Persons Murdered or Disappeared would also like the Supreme Court to reopen the debate which is not unanimous in Canada and that x27;she revises her decision with nuances.

“Victims' families have long called for longer sentences in multiple murder cases because they have to live with drama all their lives and their grief is almost impossible to do. »

— Marcel Bolduc, of the Association of Families of Persons Assassinated or Disappeared

What is cruel is to remove the life to one person – so imagine three people – cruelty is there, says Mr. Bolduc.

According to the Association, flexibility is needed, because not every murder is the same and the circumstances in which they are committed are important.

Tim Bosma was killed after taking Dellen Millard and Mark Smich for a test drive of his van for sale.< /p>

The Association adds that reducing any sentence to 25 years in prison forces the families of the victims to return more often to testify before the Parole Board to oppose the murderers release from prison.

“Without diminishing the seriousness and cruelty of Bissonnette's gesture, what is unusual is that the murders, in this case, are left behind and have nothing in common, those are three different events and that's where the Supreme Court got it wrong.

— Marcel Bolduc

In Canada, a murderer is entitled to apply for parole every two years when eligible for parole .

The bodies of Laura Babcock and Tim Bosma were burned in this animal incinerator, as had been demonstrated both trials.

Dellen Millard and Mark Smich have been in custody since their arrests in 2013. They will be eligible for parole in 15 years.

This takes us back each time to the drama we have experienced, concludes Mr. Bolduc, suggesting that the presence of the families before the Commission would not be required as often if the murderers were serving longer sentences.

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The outcome of the Millard and Smich appeals is, however, much more uncertain as regards the second part of the hearings.

The two killers, aged 37 and 35 respectively, are asking the Ontario Court of Appeal for a new trial.

< p class="e-p">In court papers, Dellen Millard claims he has new evidence that would show Laura Babcock was seen alive in an Etobicoke wholesale store much later than in New York. x27;time when the Crown attributes his death to the home of Wayne Millard.

Dellen Millard (centre) and Mark Smich were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Laura Babcock in July 2012.

Mark Smich intends to show that the judges at his two trials made mistakes of law, such as the fact that they accepted the Crown's evidence against him when it only applied to his accomplice in the Barbara Babcock murder case.

The murderer still maintains that he did not kill the young woman.

The three appeals will be heard all week by the same three judges of the province's highest court. Dellen Millard intends to defend two of them alone, while Mark Smich will be represented by lawyer Richard Litkowski.

Dellen Millard did not require a lawyer only for the appeal concerning the murder of Laura Babcock. This is Ravin Pillay, who had defended him during his first trial for the murder of Tim Bosma.

The heir of the MillardAir company finally plans to complain about its Laura Babcock murder appeal that it was forced to defend on its own, because the trial judge refused to delay hearings to give him time to access his frozen bank accounts to hire a lawyer.