Dellen Millard pleads not guilty to father's murder as trial begins
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Twice-convicted killer Dellen Millard pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in a Toronto courtroom Thursday, as his trial for the death of his father, Wayne Millard, began.
The trial marks the final charges yet to be settled against Millard, 32, who is already serving consecutive life sentences for the deaths of Hamilton’s Tim Bosma in 2013, and Toronto’s Laura Babcock in 2012.
The trial is being held before a judge alone in Superior Court in Toronto, and is expected to last about four weeks. Millard has pleaded not guilty.
The 71-year-old Millard’s death was originally ruled a suicide back in late 2012. He was found dead in bed at his home at 5 Maple Gate Court in Etobicoke, Ont., with a single gunshot wound through his eye.
After police launched investigations into Dellan Millard for the Bosma and Babcock murders, police reopened the case. He was then charged with murder in his father’s death in April of 2014.
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The Crown contends that further investigation revealed Millard’s DNA was on the grip of the gun that killed his father. It also says text messages and cell tower records show Millard was the one who bought the gun on July 2, 2012.
The trial’s first witness was Janet Campbell — a cousin by adoption of Wayne Millard’s who, in the months before his death, had become his girlfriend. The two also dated for a time in their teens, she said.
Campbell testified that the two were quite close, often talking on the phone for hours and meeting up for trips to Millard’s airplane hangar in Waterloo, Ont.
“I think he cared deeply for me,” she said.
The two last spoke on the phone on the night of Nov. 28, 2012, and into the early morning hours of Nov. 29, Campbell said.
Wayne Millard died from a gunshot wound to the head. (Rob Seaman)
Everything seemed fine at the time — but in the days after, she began to panic after she couldn’t get in touch with him. So she emailed Dellen Millard, and after two tries, got a response.
“He told me his father was dead … He said, ‘My father is dead, and it would appear by his own hand,’ Campbell said. “I believe that’s how it read … I was stunned. I was totally, absolutely stunned.”
Campbell also said that Millard seemed in good spirits before he died, and wasn’t depressed.
“He said he loved me. That he adored me,” Campbell said.
Millard represented himself during the Babcock trial. This time, he is being represented by lawyer Ravin Pillay, who acted as the head of his defence team for the Bosma trial.
Assistant Crown attorneys Jill Cameron and Ken Lockhart are again prosecuting the case, after successfully securing convictions for Babcock’s murder.
Justice Maureen Forestell is presiding over the trial.
adam.carter@cbc.ca
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/first-nations-more-money-education-minister-1.3907717?cmp=rss
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