Dellen Millard posted photo of himself with bloody eye weeks before father shot, court hears
Millard is accused of murdering his father, who died from a gunshot wound to the eye
Dellen Millard uploaded a photo of himself with bloody eye makeup to the online gaming platform Steam just weeks before his father was shot in the eye, court heard Monday as Millard's first-degree murder trial continues.
The Crown attempted to have the photo introduced as evidence at the judge-alone trial in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, arguing the timeframes were too implausible to be just a coincidence.
But Justice Maureen Forestell ruled the image to be too prejudicial, and said she would not consider it in her decision. She said it was "clearly discreditable conduct evidence."
Millard, 32, once studied makeup effects and artistry. Court heard the photo was taken in 2005, and then uploaded to Millard's Steam account somewhere between Nov. 10 and Nov. 14, 2012. Wayne Millard died of a gunshot wound through the eye later that month.
The death of 71-year-old was originally ruled a suicide in 2012. He was found at his home at 5 Maple Gate Court in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke with a single gunshot wound.
"About two weeks before Wayne Millard died ... it certainly appears Mr. Millard selected this picture to be his profile picture," assistant Crown attorney Ken Lockhart said.
Lockhart told the inquiry that if Wayne Millard had shot himself in the eye and died by suicide, Dellen Millard likely would have wanted to change his profile picture instead of leaving it up as he did.
Millard is currently serving consecutive life sentences for the murders of Tim Bosma, a father and husband from Hamilton, and Laura Babcock, a Toronto woman he had been involved with. He was charged in his father's death after police started investigating the disappearances of Bosma and Babcock.
Millard has pleaded not guilty to killing his father.
Dozens of devices seized, searched
Evidence about what was found on Millard's computers and cellphones was introduced by retired Ontario Provincial Police officer Jim Falconer.
Text messages entered into evidence showed the efforts Millard was making in the summer of 2012 to buy guns from a weapons dealer. One of those guns was later found next to his father's body.
The man who sold Millard those guns — Toronto's Matthew Ward-Jackson — was sentenced to 11 years in prison for firearms trafficking earlier this year.
Court heard at his trial that between February and September of 2012, Ward-Jackson sold three handguns to Millard.
One of those guns was the Walther PPK handgun used in the Bosma murder. Another was the .32-calibre revolver found next to Wayne Millard's body.
Court saw text messages Monday between the two men from July 1, 2012, in which Ward-Jackson says, "32 but its a really nice nice compact piece I'm sure ud like it." He then later texted, "They've been prohibited for 30yrs here now. So u got a very rare thing lucky u."
No mention of father in text messages
While text messages introduced at the Bosma and Babcock trials pointed to motive, that was not the case in court Monday.
The text messages did, however, shed some light on Millard's relationships with those around him — particularly with Mark Smich, who was found guilty alongside Millard in the Bosma and Babcock murders.
Smich tells Millard in messages that he loves him on multiple occasions, and frequently asks him for money. Smich also sends him violent rap lyrics, and in one instance refers to finding "extra space in the trunk" for a woman.
In March 2012, Millard texted Smich and said, "How ruthless are you willing to be to make $$? I have some ideas, but it's next level stuff. we'll talk about this weekend. I know you need income."
Millard also sent Smich an e-transfer on April 15, 2012, saying, "I'm down to $2,000 in my account with $7,500 in credit card debt. Spend wisely bro."
At no point in any of the texts shown in court Monday did Millard mention his father.
Follow along with a recap of the CBC's live blog from inside the courtroom below. On mobile and can't see it? View the live blog here.
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