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'Do you find me sketchy?' Accused killer Dellen Millard questions ex-boyfriend of Laura Babcock

Dellen Millard received a warning Tuesday from the judge overseeing his first-degree murder trial about an "inappropriate" line of questioning during his cross-examination of the ex-boyfriend of the woman he is accused of killing.

Millard and Mark Smich face 1st-degree murder charges in death of woman who hasn't been seen since 2012

Dellen Millard, centre, questioned Laura Babcock's former boyfriend Shawn Lerner in court on Tuesday. (Pam Davies/CBC)

Dellen Millard received a warning Tuesday from the judge overseeing his first-degree murder trial about an "inappropriate" line of questioning during his cross-examination of the ex-boyfriend of the woman he is accused of killing.

Millard, 32, of Toronto, is representing himself at the Superior Court trial in Toronto, while his co-accused, Mark Smich, 30, of Oakville, Ont., has a lawyer. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of Laura Babcock.

Babcock was 23 when she vanished from Toronto in 2012. Her body was never recovered and prosecutors have told the jury they believe the two men used a commercial incinerator to dispose of it.

This is Day 2 of the trial, which is expected to go on for 10 weeks.

A day after questioning Babcock's father, Millard faced off with Shawn Lerner, who dated Babcock between 2010 and 2011.

"Shawn, you don't like me very much, do you?" Millard asked as he opened his questioning.

"No," Lerner responded.

"Do you find me sketchy?" Millard then asked.

"Yes," Lerner replied.

Laura Babcock disappeared from Toronto in 2012. Dellen Millard and Mark Smich have been charged with her murder. (Facebook)

Later, Millard shifted his questions to Lerner's feelings for Babcock. The pair dated for about a year and a half before breaking up in the winter of 2011.

"How do you feel about Laura today, your personal feelings?" he asked.

"I miss her," Lerner answered.

Previously, at the Laura Babcock murder trial:

Read CBC News's full coverage as the trial continues.

Millard paused and said: "She was your first sexual partner, wasn't she?"

At that point, Crown prosecutor Ken Lockhart stood up to object, but Justice Michael Code was already shaking his head and staring down Millard.

"That's not an appropriate question," Code said.

The judge also stopped Millard, later on, from pursuing questions about what Lerner was told by people he contacted during his search for Babcock in the summer of 2012, on the grounds that it was "hearsay."

But Lerner did testify about one person he spoke with during that search: Dellen Millard.

'Don't know where she is'

On Monday, Lerner told the court that he contacted Millard after learning through Babcock's cellphone records that her last eight calls before disappearing were to Millard.

The court viewed text messages the two exchanged in 2012. When Lerner notified Millard that he was searching for Babcock, who hadn't been seen, he replied: "heard about that, don't know where she is."

The two met at a Mississauga Starbucks to talk about BabcockLerner testified that Millard told him that Babcock was "mixed up" with drugs and "the wrong people."

Millard, left, and Smich, right, are accused of first-degree murder in the death of Babcock. (Facebook, Instagram)

Lerner also said Millard told him he should have "no reasonable expectation of finding her."

When asked by Millard about the strength of his memory of this, he said he remembered the meeting "very vividly."

'I cared about her'

Millard confronted Lerner about any bias he might have toward him.

The two men only knew each other through Babcock, who became involved with Millard after dating Lerner.

Lerner was asked about a birthday party for Babcock he attended at Millard's Toronto condo. At that party, Lerner said, he was concerned that Millard gave Babcock "unsolicited" drugs, likely ecstasy or MDMA.

Asked why he was concerned, Lerner said, "Because she was my girlfriend and I cared about her and loved her."

From left to right: Dellen Millard, Mark Smich, Justice Michael Code, Clayton Babcock and Crown attorney Jill Cameron in court on Monday. (Pam Davies/CBC)

At one point, Millard asked Lerner if he was "trying to shift the case one way or another?"

"No, absolutely not," Lerner responded.

"Are you trying to shift suspicion onto me?" Millard then asked.

"No, I'm trying to answer your questions," Lerner said.

Mentioned suicide

During Lerner's evidence in chief, he testified that Babcock mentioned suicide once while they were dating. It was during a time when her mental health seemed to be particularly bad and she attended a hospital.

In his cross-examination, Smich's lawyer, Thomas Dungey, pressed Lerner for more specific information.

Lerner said it happened more than six years ago and he couldn't recall if Babcock spoke about suicide to him or he overheard her say it to a nurse.

Dungey had Lerner revisit a statement he gave to police during their investigation in which he said Babcock "really melted down" during that episode.

Smich's lawyer also asked Lerner if he ever saw Babcock cut herself intentionally, something Millard also posed to Babcock's father on Monday.

Lerner testified that he never saw this, but that he "saw her with cuts." Lerner said he did not know if they were self-inflicted or not.

Friends remember final contact

The Crown also called two of Babcock's friends as witnesses on Tuesday. Like another friend called on Monday, all had known Babcock since her high school days or even earlier.

Babcock was described as a "fun-loving," "easy-going" person and, more to the Crown's purposes, someone who stayed in regular contact up until the time period in which it's alleged she was killed.

However all of them, as well as Lerner, testified that Babcock seemed to be struggling in the months leading up to her disappearance. All but one testified that Babcock told them she was working as an escort.

Under cross-examination, Dungey asked Babcock's high school friend Jason Dengate if he was aware that Babcock's parents called the police about her at one point during this period.

"I believe she mentioned that," Dengate testified.

Another friend was questioned by Dungey about Babcock's drug use.

Longtime friend of the Babcock family Elisabeth Van Rensburg told the court that she knew Babcock used cocaine "a couple of times" and smoked marijuana.

Dungey, again pressing for more specific details, asked the witness if Babcock smoked marijuana to deal with mental health problems.

"I don't think it was mental health," Van Rensburg responded, "just that she liked it."

Victim's bank accounts

Late Tuesday, the court also heard from a TD Bank employee who testified about Babcock's banking activity.

The Crown submitted as evidence Babcock's bank statements showing this activity mostly coming to a halt after the date she's alleged to have been killed.

The bank employee testified on Tuesday that some of the transactions completed after this date were connected to the accounts of Babcock's parents or were carried out automatically by the bank.

For more details about what happened in court see our live blog:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevor Dunn is an award-winning journalist with CBC Toronto. Since 2008 he's covered a variety of topics, ranging from local and national politics to technology on the South American countryside. Trevor is interested in uncovering news: real estate, crime, corruption, art, sports. Reach out to him. Se habla español. trevor.dunn@cbc.ca