What I'm trying to get at, or rather figure out, is that WM himself never appeared to showed an interest in Millard Air as a business. He let his father take care of that while he pursued his own interests, no doubt taking full advantage of the family money that CM acquired from the business to pursue his interests. So as a role model of loyalty and dedication to the family "dynasty", WM may have been a little lacking in that area for his own son DM.
And you didn't go to French immersion private school, but you expect me to?
I can't provide you with a role model of how to do it, but I expect you to do it anyway?
Now after CM's death, what happened? Did WM try to step in and run the show? Did he let others do it for him? Or did he just let the business die a natural death and allow DM full access to the hangar for his own personal "hobbies"?
At that time Millardair was running itself, with just tech and an admin. CW showed up for a few hours a day. Once CW died, I doubt WM had to check in much at all. How many controversies per day are you going to have in a parts order shop? CW's knowledge of old times and old planes and therefore old parts would be missed, but how much would WM be able to add once CM was gone? CM was an old guy.
It doesn't appear to me that it was even an issue until Pearson refused to renew the lease. Now if it was an active, viable business at that time, why would they do that? No doubt they were fully aware of some questionable activities going on within that hangar. Couldn't have been very good for security purposes at the airport either. The airport was growing and changing and having run down hangars just hanging around on the property without any real viable business being conducted in them probably didn't fit in with their vision. Millard Air must not have been living up to the expectations of the lease in order for them to not have been allowed to renew it.
The hangar Millardair was in was THE oldest, crappiest hangar at the airport. They were selling old planes for scrap metal and parts off of archaic small aircraft. The Airport Authority thought they were a total waste of space. And, as you pointed out, a security problem too.
So I see that as a wake up call for WM. The "empire" that his father had built with the family name and respect in the aviation world was pretty much gone. He had to feel some sense of guilt or remorse over that. He wanted to rebuild that "empire" and restore the family name in the aviation world but he needed his son to step up and take responsibility for it for the long term. A son who had never really had to take responsibility for anything prior to this. And who was probably not too happy with the idea that while his father had been pretty much allowed to do whatever he pleased for most of his life and still live off the profits of the family business, DM was now expected to help resurrect the business and actually work for his money.
For WM the MRO was a vision. It was an opportunity go get in on the ground floor, under favourable conditions (recently came into money from the other hangars, the economy was improving, that airport and government made generous offers to support the business), for the long term. He wasn't sure about getting clients, but you know, if you build it, and you can hang in there, they will come. (At the time he died, the MRO had been ready to go and without a client for only 21 business days.) And, you're right, he would have rebuilt the empire and restored the family name.
And how important is the family name? I can't find CM's FULL obit, but the version I have seen is 1,400 words and that's not even all of it! Whoever had it printed (WM?) spent $30k. Mention was made of it in a book on the newspaper industry as one of the larger paydays for a newspaper in 2006 (in obits). I think that the legend of CM, the Millard name, meant everything to WM. He was willing to spend exceptional amounts to uphold the family name.
I tried to see things from DM's side. To DM, the MRO is totally non viable. To DM, the MRO is WM's project and it dies when he does.
Was it a bad time or a bad place to build an MRO? Was their business manager legit? Was any consultant, employee, official trying to con or mislead WM or DM or both? Were WM and DM's finances so fragile that the MRO would bankrupt them? Was there any reason why DM had to stop the project at all costs? Was there any emergency?
It seems they did their market research, buying professional reports from Stratfor, which employs professional economists and analysts. The economy was improving but all levels of government were still dishing out millions in stimulus cash to improve infrastructure like airports. AS, their Business Development Manager, had done this all before. WM seemed aware of the opportunities and risk. They had enough money to give it a go, and the bank was not breathing down their neck. In other words there was nothing wrong with the MRO. Nothing at all. Well, they needed clients, but it had only been 21 business days since they were ready to go (contingent on the removal of DM's junk.)
It's possible when LE found DM fetching financial records for the accountant he was in fact digging for the invoice for the incinerator that he'd charged to the company. Why else would a guy known for showing up at the crack of noon drive all the way out there, first thing in the morning? Oh crap. Forgot about the invoice. I doubt that he was acting as the concerned CEO.
I had been haunted by DM's claims that he felt used and taken advantage of and it turns out those were DP's words:
http://www.cp24.com/video?clipId=239820
@ 3:38
Reporter: And you also said that when you spoke a litle bit earlier today that you expect that more light will be shed on the case as to what your client's involvement was exactly, and I think the media - one of the members of the media - asked you whether you believe your client was framed?
DP: That was run by me as a theory, theoretically, I mean is what happens is different theories are put in terms of fitting the facts pattern or not. I'm not saying he was framed or not - we don't know, we're early days in this - certainly that's one of the theories that's been floating around, that he may have been framed,
or at least, perhaps, taken advantage of or used. That's a theory that's out there.
While WM may have been somewhat responsible for his son's lack of work ethic up to that point, he certainly did not deserve to be murdered over his decision to put a good chunk of the family money into resurrecting Millard Air in honour of his father who had built it from the ground up and to hope to leave that business to his son and possible future generations of Millard children to keep the legacy going that his father , CM, had worked so hard to build.
I guess as far as the family legacy, DM wasn't feeling it.
So just what was it in DM that made him decide to possibly murder his father, dismantle the business, even though it meant he would lose everything that had been put into it at a rate of 80 cents to the dollar, and refuse to go forward with the business in honour of his grandfather? I don't see this as being a "business" decision on his part. I see this as someone who had no real respect for the family name and aviation history and who just wanted to live his life his way, race cars, have drug fueled parties with his "friends" (hangers on really), flip real estate, travel and partake in any other criminal activity that suited his fancy.
MOO
Well it is not as if he was so broken up about his father's death that he could not go on:
http://www.cp24.com/news/lawyer-for...-will-plead-100-per-cent-not-guilty-1.1279416
@ 5:35
Reporter: His father's death in December, that seems to have been a turning point according to what we've heard so far?
DP: I don't think it was a turning point, the only thing that happened is he takes over the company, he's CEO his mom is Vice President.
In terms of any kind of depression or that sort of thing, I don't see any of that, he's a very well balanced young man, good head on his shoulders and from what I've seen, very humble and unassuming. I had no idea until getting involced in this case who he was and he never presented himself as being some heir or anything, but very humble.
Thank you, DP, for clarifying that.
Just a refresher on how DP and DM came to know each other:
http://www.cp24.com/news/lawyer-for...-will-plead-100-per-cent-not-guilty-1.1279416
@ 6:10
Reporter: And had you ever met him before this incident?
DP: No, I had a brief meeting with him on an unrelated matter through another client, but that's nothing to do with this case.
http://www.cp24.com/video?clipId=239820
@ 5:39
Reporter: What do you know about him on a personal level? What kind of person is he?
DP: In terms of the, my, personal relationship with him I sort of can't get into that because of solicitor client issues. I simply can tell you the kind of person he is from, from, from what's been reported, a very unassuming fellow, into different things such as cars and, and, airplanes, and just a person of pretty decent character from what I can tell.
