Crown wrapping up its case, 3 years after Tim Bosma's disappearance
On May 6, 2013, Tim Bosma took two men out for a test drive of his pickup truck and never returned
Exactly three years ago today, on May 6, Tim Bosma said goodbye to his wife Sharlene for the last time.
She watched the man she loved get into the Dodge Ram pickup truck he was trying to sell with two strangers who had come to take a test drive. The three men drove off.
Her husband never returned home.
This weekend marks the third anniversary of his disappearance, which prompted a desperate search and public pleas for his safe return. But those hopes ended when charred remains were found in a livestock incinerator on a farm in Ayr, Ont.
The bones were burned beyond the point that DNA testing could identify them, but investigators believe they belong to Bosma.
The trial for the two men accused of killing Bosma began at the start of February and continues, with the Crown close to wrapping up its case.
Mark Smich, 28, of Oakville, Ont., and Millard, 30, of Toronto, are charged with first-degree murder in Bosma's death, and both have pleaded not guilty.
Millard's former girlfriend Christina Noudga who testified this week is believed to be the prosecution's final witness — though the Crown's case has not officially closed yet.
Next week, we should learn if the Crown is closing its case, and whether the defence will call any witnesses. It is unknown whether Millard and Smich will testify.
Letters from prison and laughter
For most of this week the jury heard from Millard's former girlfriend, Christina Noudga, who has been charged as an accessory after the fact in Bosma's death. Court heard details of letters sent from Millard to Noudga after he was arrested and jailed.
Noudga testified that after months of receiving secret letters from he jailed boyfriend, she started to feel she was being played. The letters offered a look at how Millard thought the case against him would go.
"Because there is so much disclosure still to come," Millard wrote to Noudga, "it's not certain what defence I will use. It is clear though, that police are going to use my phone record in an attempt to pinpoint my location at a given time.
"This is based on the assumption that I am carrying the phone. I need to attack this assumption ... I want supporting evidence, and testimony evidence, that it was usual/normal for me to lend my phone to Mark [Smich]."
On Tuesday, the jury heard that Noudga fell out of love.
Noudga told Smich's lawyer, Thomas Dungey, "I have absolutely no feelings of emotion towards him." Dungey asked "And when did that happen?" Noudga replied "When he got me arrested.
"I got to spend four months of my life in a tiny little box," Noudga said, "and over time I started to feel a contempt towards him ... a loathing. He put me in a situation I didn't belong in ... he also cheated on me and I found out after the fact."
On Wednesday, cross-examination continued for Noudga, with her answers sometimes resulting in laughter erupting in the courtroom. One of those times was when Noudga testified she did not think she was destroying evidence when she wiped down parts of a trailer that contained Bosma's truck, under the instruction of Millard's mother, Madeleine Burns.
Then Dungey asked why she wiped the trailer down if she didn't think there was evidence. Noudga responded saying that she didn't think it was evidence. More laughter. Justice Andrew Goodman had enough and called for order.
Dungey ended his cross-examination of Noudga by pointing to a line in a letter sent to her by Millard. It read "I deserve you, and you deserve me."
"That's what he wrote to you, right?" Dungey said. Noudga agreed. "No further questions," Dungey said.
The judge heard legal arguments on Thursday without the jury present. The trial will resume in front of the jury on Monday morning. You can follow CBC Hamilton's live coverage starting at 10 a.m.