Dellen Millard to plead not guilty in Bosma slaying, lawyer says

Dellen Millard will plead not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder the death of Timothy Bosma, of Hamilton, Ont., according to his lawyer.
Deepak Paradkar has described his client as "very shaken up, very concerned, wondering how one ends up in a situation like this."
Bosma's remains were found after he disappeared more than a week ago after leaving his home with two men who wanted to test drive a truck he had posted for sale online, police said.
Millard, 27, of Toronto, who had already been charged with forcible confinement and theft over $5,000 in the case, walked into a Hamilton court Wednesday morning, unshaven and looking tired, to hear that he has now been charged with first-degree murder. He was wearing a white dress shirt and beige dress pants. He no longer has a Mohawk haircut.
Dellen Millard appeared tired when he appeared in a Hamilton court today where it was announced he would face a murder charge in the death of Timothy Bosma. (Alex Tavshunsky/CBC)Millard has been ordered to not communicate with a list of people. He is scheduled to make a video appearance in court on June 13.

• An interactive look at key events in the last few days of Tim Bosma
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Bosma was last seen on May 6. He was with the two men in the truck he had posted for sale on the Kijiji and AutoTrader websites. Police believe Bosma was killed the night he disappeared.

Suspect 'shaken up,' lawyer says

Paradkar said the plan for the defence right now is to remand the matter for about a month or so, to get some initial disclosure of the evidence from the Crown.
Tim Bosma was last seen on May 6. Hamilton police believe he was killed the night he disappeared. (Hamilton police)"This is a hugely complex case with multi-jurisdictions, multi-search warrants. We expect disclosure to take months. This is not going to be a quick thing, so we expect at least for a number of months Mr. Millard will just be making remand appearances until we get the case."
Paradkar says Millard is choosing not to speak to police about the investigation.
"At the end of the day, under the constitution, Canadian citizens have the right to remain silent," he said.

Kijiji Canada responds

Bosma created two online ads – one on Kijiji and one on AutoTrader – for his 2007 black Dodge Ram he intended to sell. Hamilton Police Sgt. Mat Kavanagh confirmed during a press conference last week Bosma left only a cell phone number as a point of contact.

Police search for other suspects

At a news conference on Tuesday, police said Bosma's remains were "burned beyond recognition" and that they are still searching for at least two more suspects.

Kijiji responded on their blog:
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic news in Ancaster. Our hearts go out to Mr. Bosma’s family and the community,”
“We confirmed to the police that the ad posted by Mr. Bosma on Kijiji did not feature personal contact information, nor did it receive any replies, which determines the incident did not occur as result of his ad posting on Kijiji,” reads a post from May 13.

“Video evidence that we've now recovered shows that when Mr. Bosma's vehicle left his residence, there was a second vehicle following,” Det. Sgt. Matt Kavanagh of Hamilton police said.
Kavanagh said police have not identified any of the other suspects.
Investigators have been searching a farm near Cambridge, Ont., that is owned by the Millard family. The Hamilton police forensic unit set up a large tent at the rear of the property on Tuesday. Officers could be seen carrying what appeared to be buckets of soil and passing it through large sifting screens.

Bosma's truck targeted

Jim Wilson said he used to live next to the farm two decades ago.
“When you think about killing somebody for a truck, it doesn’t make sense,” said Wilson. “I just wonder if it’s something bigger.”
Hamilton police said that the truck was targeted by the suspects

• 40 Waterloo police officers involved in Bosma investigation

Peter Lowe, a family friend, spoke to media outside the Bosma home in Hamilton's Ancaster and said the family had no statement to make.
"We just ask that you give us the same respect you did last week," he said, regarding giving the Bosma family privacy. "It's tough."
Everyone who knew Bosma, from his closest family members to friends he hasn't seen in years, have the same description: A kind-hearted friend who was generous with laughs and love.
"He was as great a guy as everyone says he was, if not a hundred times more," said Edward De Groot, a neighbour of Bosma's extended family for 20 years.

• Tim Bosma dead, mourning begins

Hamilton police homicide Det. Sgt. Matt Kavanagh, in a more formal way, echoed the same assurance that Bosma is exactly who his family says he was.
"The picture that is being painted of Mr. Bosma is what we have found in our investigation," he said.

Community reacts with shock

The Christian Reformed Church that the Bosma's belong to is like one big, extended family, their members say. And like family, when one of their own has to deal with tragedy, they all come together to help them though.

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"When people have a hard time — and in this case it is a particularly hard time — we come around them like a family would," Henry Hess, director of communications for the Christian Reformed Church North America said.