Sharlene Bosma's full statement following court decision

Cheers and applause erupted outside a Hamilton courtroom Friday after Dellen Millard and Mark Smich were found guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Tim Bosma.

Outside the courthouse, Bosma's widow, Sharlene, thanked the "village" of supporters who have helped her family get through the past three years since her husband disappeared.

• Tim Bosma trial: Millard and Smich guilty of 1st-degree murder

• Dellen Millard: How a wealthy aviation heir became a convicted murderer 

Her full statement is below.

"So, today has been a very long-awaited day for our families. For over three years, we have waited for justice for Tim!

"For three years, we have been in and out of this courthouse, forced to look at and breathe in the same space with the utter depths of depravity in our society. We have had to endure being near the two men that walked down my driveway on May 6, 2013, and took away the bright life in our lives that was Tim.

"It is their own, unspeakable, evil acts that have taken away their freedom, while saying it is unfair. What is unfair is that now that this chapter is over, we have to truly begin building our lives.

"What is unfair is that regardless of all that has transpired in the courtroom today, one thing will never change for us. There is one absolute constant for us. This does not bring Tim back. And he will still never come home.

"For Tim's murderers, their life sentence begins now. And ours began over three years ago when they murdered Tim. That being said, although we endure a life sentence without Tim, we have learned to collectively laugh again, to smile and embrace what we still have. We have memories, a lot of very beautiful memories.

"For myself, I made a choice a long time ago. I choose to remind myself that through everything that has happened in the last three years, I am blessed. I still have much for which to be thankful. I was fortunate enough to have spent 4½ years with a wonderful man, who for three of those years I got to call him my husband. He chose me. And I'm always going to mourn what we're never going to have and what we're never going to be able to share together. But I will celebrate what we were able to have because every one of those moments count.

"I feel honoured to have a beautiful child with Tim that calls me Mom. And she is our miracle baby in so many ways. I am grateful for the time that Tim and I were able to spend together as our own little family. While Tim may have been stolen, that time never will be. We are all thankful for the village of people that surround us all. [Cheering, applause] They have supported us, loved us, upheld us in prayers and in their actions.

"Our families as a whole have been so very blessed by our communities. Tim and I were surrounded by a circle of friends comprised of incredible, inspiring individuals. They have endured my late-night incoherent phone calls, in the beginning staying night after night, been a listening ear for me. They dropped everything to comb through every possible road and street in this province when Tim went missing. For my daughter and I, they are our other family.

"We have unending gratitude to the teams of police officers, detectives, victim services, the victim witness assistance program, and those incredible Crown attorneys upstairs. They have all worked so hard to achieve justice for Tim. It is through their hard work and perseverance that we are here at this moment.

"It was [through] their long days, long nights and even longer weekends spent away from their families that we were able to achieve today's verdict. Words will never ever fully express just how much they are appreciated for just doing their job — which they have frequently told us, they're just doing their job.

"But they have done it so well. Each and every one of them will forever hold a very special place in our heart. We also have an abundance of thanks for the jury. Each of them gave so much of themselves to sit on that jury for such a lengthy trial — time away from their families, their jobs, and their daily lives, to sit and listen and eventually to come to a judgment.

"I cannot imagine how stressful and difficult that this has been on them. We have prayed for them every day and will continue to do so as they re-enter their lives.

"May you all be blessed.

"Over the last three years, we had only begun to learn to rebuild, to learn to move forward, carrying Tim with us. Now the real work begins. Because our story does not end here.

"Thank you."