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Twice-convicted Canadian murderer found guilty of killing his father from whom he inherited millions

Dellen Millard
Dellen Millard

Already convicted of murdering two other people, a Toronto man was also  found guilty on Monday of murdering his father from whom he inherited a  multimillion-dollar aviation business.

Dellen Millard “killed his father by shooting him in the left eye as he  slept,” said Ontario Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell in handing down her guilty verdict.

“I can find no theory consistent with innocence.” Wayne Millard, who was found dead in his bed on November 29, 2012 at the age of 71, ran a company called Millardair that he inherited from his father and which he transformed from a cargo carrier to an aircraft maintenance and servicing business.

Following his father’s death, Dellen Millard told police that the elder Millard was a depressed alcoholic stressed over the financial pressures the family business was facing.

During the trial Dellen Millard’s lawyer argued that Wayne Millard committed suicide, which police originally ruled was the cause of his death.

But police reopened the case after Mr Millard, now 33, and his friend, Mark Smich, were arrested and charged with the 2013 murder of Tim Bosma, a 32-year-old man whose truck Mr Millard and Mr Smich took for a test drive.

Mr Bosma was never seen again, and his truck was found on property owned by Mr Millard’s mother. Police believe Mr Bosma was shot and his body was  burned.

Mr Millard and Mr Smich were found guilty of Mr Bosma’s murder in 2016.

A year later, they were also convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Laura Babcock, a 24-year-old woman Mr Millard had been dating in 2012  before his father’s death.

Laura Babcock - Credit: Toronto Police
Laura Babcock Credit: Toronto Police

Her body was never found either, and shortly after her disappearance, Mr Millard bought an incinerator. For both murders, Mr Millard and Mr Smich are serving life sentences with no chance of parole for 50 years.

Prosecutors now want Mr Millard’s parole ineligibility extended by another 25 years when he is sentenced on Nov. 16.

However, the trial judge rejected the prosecution’s main argument that Mr Millard murdered his father because he feared that his inheritance money was  being squandered in the aviation company.

Justice Forestell said that she found Mr Millard, who did not testify in his own defence, guilty based on lies he told police investigators and evidence he collected.

Mr Millard said he had found his father dead around 6 pm on November 29, 2012, and had last seen the elder Millard the day before.

But phone records indicate that Mr Millard’s cellphone was at his father’s home in the early hours of November 29.

A handgun was also discovered next to Wayne Millard’s body. The weapon had Dellen Millard’s DNA on it.