I have to give MS at least some credit for manning up and telling his version of what happened that night, but I still think he is a who should spend the rest of his life behind bars. He told the jury what they wanted to hear, and I am guessing that DM’s dogs are going to be all over him like a bad rash in cross.
IMHO, MS is telling some of the truth, perhaps even most of it. I think he is conveniently leaving out crucial details of his involvement. I guess if I was on a first degree murder rap, I, like most of us, would do what I can to avoid life without a chance of parole for 25 years.
That said, a few things really bothering me about today’s testimony:
- MS says this was only supposed to be scoping out a truck for a potential robbery. They even hide the Yukon so no one can recognize the vehicle or read the plates. But don’t you raise more suspicion, by walking up a long driveway, essentially in the dark, on a Monday night after 9 pm for a test drive, a car nowhere to be found despite being out in a rural area? I know the Tim Horton’s story that was told in front of SB and WDB, but if the plan is to steal the vehicle later that night (or even if it is to steal it at gunpoint and leave Tim unharmed), TB has his phone and can tell police about the calls from the Bate phone. Surely these idiots knew that, so hiding the Yukon was both unnecessary and likely threw up red flags right away? That is why I still believe murder was part of the plan, and it was premeditated. They didn't want anyone to ID their vehicle, because if they liked the truck, TB (and his phone) was never coming back up that driveway.
- I still don’t understand how the whole “my friend can’t find Tim Horton’s” story (one TH is about two minutes away), finding the “friend” parked in a field and then going out to Brantford didn’t raise red flags with TB. Why not just take the truck up Trinity, across Book, over to Wilson, etc...???? That is assuming TB was still alive, of course. That is why I questions MS’s story of how it all went down. He was the father of a young daughter, who was a mere couple of hundred yards away. Surely, he was cautious of what was playing out and was starting to put the pieces together. Why go for a ride to Brantford unless it was against his will? So they didn’t have to come back to Ancaster, and MS and DM could leave in the Yukon and TB could drive his truck home? But, Tim already knew they were “coming from Toronto.” Ancaster wasn’t exactly out of the way on the way back. It isn’t adding up. Of course, that is assuming MS is telling the truth and he learned of the shooting when they pulled over in Brantford.
- MS couldn’t move Tim’s body, partly because of his shoulder and partly because he did not want to, but had no problem partying it up in the following days, including at his sister’s wedding, smiling with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He wasn’t as distraught as he wants everyone to believe. A distraught man would have gone to the police before being arrested in broad daylight a couple of weeks later. He was just well coached today. He is still a d-bag, and even if his account told today is true, he was still involved in a planned robbery that led to a murder.
That said, and as much as it pains to say it, the timelines at the Brantford Bobcat seem to line up. Unless I am mistaken, they pull over at 9:49 and leave around 10:04. Tim’s phone was apparently turned off at 10:02.
I think, for the most part, MS is telling the truth about pulling over on Oak Park. That would give him about 15 minutes to see what had happened (whether he knew the murder was coming or not), change the plates, and leave the scene, discarding the phone out the window.
Speaking of which, how incredibly stupid were these two? With Tim now dead, they throw his phone out a window ONTO THE FREAKING GRASS instead of smashing it to bits and getting rid of it forever? Really? Did they not think it would be found, especially given the news that was sure to hit TV the following day? That the first thing police would do was turn the phone on and trace its last known calls, to see if there was any connection to a missing man 20 minutes away, and that the phone would be tied to the Lucas Bate phone? Did they not think the police would be looking at that right away, and be able to trace its whereabouts? For “career criminals”, these two sure were a couple of ****ups.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions, and I have a feeling we are going to get a lot of answers in the next couple of days. I also think, for whatever reason, CN and some of the players in this motley crew of misfits might be feeling quite nervous this evening. The lies are going to start catching up to some of them very shortly....
I pray for the Bosma family tonight. Even though Tim has been gone for three years, today’s testimony must have hit with the force of a sledgehammer in its finality.
All MOO.
