Defence attempts to discredit key Crown witness at Dellen Millard's murder trial
Crown has spent 11 days trying to prove Millard killed his father, Wayne
Dellen Millard's lawyer attempted to discredit the testimony of a crucial Crown witness Friday at Millard's first-degree murder trial in the death of his father, Wayne.
The Crown's final witness, Det. Const. Grant Sutherland, began his testimony Thursday, when he told the court that he doesn't think 71-year-old Wayne Millard shot himself.
Millard's lawyer, Ravin Pillay, spent hours Friday chipping away at Sutherland's evidence. He seized every opportunity to describe how key evidence in the trial, like the alleged murder weapon, was moved, and that other evidence, like the bloody pillow Millard was found on, was not forensically analyzed.
"You know a proper examination is to take that pillow, go to the Centre of Forensic Sciences and conduct an examination, correct?" Pillay asked.
"Depending on the circumstances, if it's warranted, yes," Sutherland responded.
Wayne Millard's death was originally ruled a suicide. He was found at his home at 5 Maple Gate Court in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke with a single gunshot wound through his eye on Nov. 29, 2012.
You knew when you were asked to review this matter, the pivotal issue ... was whether or not this was a suicide.- Ravin Pillay, defence lawyer
His 32-year-old son was charged in his father's death after police started investigating the murders of Tim Bosma, a father and husband from Hamilton, and Laura Babcock, a Toronto woman Millard had been involved with.
He is currently serving consecutive life sentences for those slayings. Millard has pleaded not guilty to killing his father at the judge-alone trial being held in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto.
Court has previously heard that because the case was originally investigated as a suicide and not a homicide, some investigative techniques that police usually employ at crime scenes were not followed. One of those is placing rulers in photos of the scene for an exact sense of scale.
"You agree with me that there's no ruler in the scene photography? You know that putting a ruler in photography is important, correct?" Pillay asked Sutherland. "For the scaling of evidence, yes," Sutherland responded.
Finding the right bullets
Millard's lawyer also peppered Sutherland with questions about ammunition he used to conduct forensic tests on the alleged murder weapon. Sutherland testified Thursday that the bullets found in the gun at the scene were "unobtainable" in Canada, so he used ammunition made by the same manufacturer, with a slight weight difference.
Sutherland said Friday the bullets he used were a "suitable replacement," but "not identical."
"You have no basis to conclude they behave in the same way in that firearm," Pillay said. "I disagree," Sutherland responded.
Through his questions, Pillay suggested that Sutherland went into his investigation already knowing Millard was facing charges in three different murder investigations, and that would have coloured his conclusions.
"You knew when you were asked to review this matter, the pivotal issue … was whether or not this was a suicide," Pillay said.
Sutherland responded that police never asked him to "quantify whether or not it was a murder or a suicide."
An aviation legacy
Before Pillay cross-examined Sutherland, court heard Friday from Region of Waterloo International Airport general manager Chris Wood.
The new iteration of Wayne Millard's company, MillardAir, was getting ready to open at the Waterloo airport in 2012 just before he died.
Wood testified that Wayne Millard told him he was building the business to leave it for his son.
"I remembered thinking to myself, my dad's not building me a hangar like this, that's a pretty nice dad. Obviously the legacy of the company was important to him," Wood said.
Wood testified that both airport executives and Wayne Millard himself were excited at the prospect of MillardAir opening a maintenance and repair operation at the airport, which is essentially a garage for airplanes. But after Wayne Millard died, Wood said, it became clear that Dellen Millard was not interested in running a commercial venture out of the hangar.
Wood said he only ever saw light aircraft, a helicopter and a lot of "junk" in the MillardAir hangar. "A lot of older cars and parts and things like that," he said.
"We were trying to have them do something with the hangar that was beneficial for the airport," he said.
After hours of cross-examination Friday, Pillay plans to argue that Sutherland's evidence should not be considered as part of the judge's decision.
Usually, those legal arguments would have to be kept secret until a trial's jury retired to consider a verdict, but because this trial is before a judge alone, it will be done in the open.
The Crown said in court earlier this week that it was expecting to close its case on Friday, but that was pushed back by the length of Sutherland's cross-examination. Assistant Crown attorney Jill Cameron will re-examine Sutherland on Monday morning, before legal arguments on the admissibility of his evidence begin.
Once the Crown's case is closed, Pillay will have to divulge whether or not he will call any defence witnesses.
Follow along with a recap of the CBC's live blog from inside the courtroom. On mobile and can't see the live blog? View it here.
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