Serial killer Dellen Millard found guilty of assault in prison stabbing

Serial killer Dellen Millard has been found guilty of assault causing bodily harm in connection with a stabbing at the prison where he's serving three murder convictions.

Millard appeared by video in Napanee's Ontario Court of Justice from the Millhaven Institution on Monday morning.

He is currently serving three first-degree murder convictions for the deaths of his father Wayne Millard, Tim Bosma from Hamilton, and Laura Babcock from Toronto. 

Millard's most recent charge is in connection with a fight at Millhaven on July 11, 2021. He was charged along with a man named Clayton Sumner with assault causing bodily harm on Sean Trites, a fellow inmate.

Court heard the stabbing left Trites with his shirt torn and blood-soaked, cuts to his neck and left shoulder and a puncture wound to his abdomen.

A doctor who saw Trites the next day, reopening his chest to treat fresh bleeding around his heart, testified the injury was potentially life-threatening, Justice Geoffrey Griffin told the court.

Millard represented himself in trial

Both Millard and Sumner were also charged with possession of a "3.5-inch, jail-made metal stabbing weapon" for the purpose of committing an offence, said the judge.

Sumner entered a guilty plea for the assault charge, but Millard pleaded not guilty to both charges.

During the trial, the Crown acknowledged there was insufficient evidence for the possession of a weapons charge for Millard, so he was found not guilty and it was dismissed, Griffin said.

Millard represented himself in the matter and called several witnesses, including Trites, who the judge said testified Millard had saved his life that day.

However, in his decision, Griffin noted Trites was very reluctant to testify, initially refusing to leave his cell, and would not submit to cross-examination by the Crown.

"Hopefully everything works out for you, brother," the judge recalled Trites saying to Millard.

Griffin added that because Trites would not take questions from the Crown he was unable to assess the inmate's credibility and unable to attach any significant weight to his evidence.

Millard, whose brown hair is cut medium-length except for a thin ponytail that was draped over his right shoulder, slowly shook his head as the judge read on.

Griffin pointed to a video camera that captured much of violent portion of the fight, which lasted less than three minutes.

The judge said he watched the footage numerous times, slowing it down and zooming in at critical points to understand what had happened. 

While the video makes it clear Sumner is the person who stabbed Trites, it also shows Millard was more than an observer, according to Griffin.

He said the video shows Millard putting his arm on Trites's back and pushing him toward Sumner, before using both arms and standing behind him so he couldn't "retreat."

The judge said the footage also shows Millard "controlling Mr. Trites's movement as Mr. Sumner continues the punch-stab motions to Mr. Trites's torso area."

"I am satisfied beyond any reasonable doubt that when Dellen Millard got behind Mr. Sean Trites while Mr. Clayton Sumner was attacking ... and Mr. Millard with his arm took control of Mr. Trites's body, thereby compromising Mr. Trites's ability to move away from the attacking Mr. Sumner with his weapon, that Mr. Millard was party to the offence of aiding Mr. Sumner in the assault causing bodily harm," Griffin read from his decision.

Sentencing set for April

In a statement to CBC a spokesperson for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) confirmed an inmate had been assaulted at the penitentiary, but declined to share the identities of those involved, citing privacy.

"The assaulted inmate was taken to a community hospital for assessment and treatment following this incident," it read.

"No inmate died as a result of this assault. Staff responded quickly to this incident and no staff or other inmates were injured."

Sentencing is set to take place on April 27.