Bosma Murder Trial 05.31.16 - Day 56 - Closing Arguments Begin

[NoodlesMcgee]

bbm
No, he probably planned to kill someone on the 4th or 5th. DM (or shall we call him EM for Evan?) called the Bosma's on the 4th--Saturday and if I'm not mistaken, they put him off until Monday.

Believe the Bosma family wasn't available on the weekend so they postponed until Monday. Not positive on that.

 

[billandrew]

But why would they need to improvise and make decisions on the fly if they'd been planning it for over a year?

Here's a possible explanation: They didn't specifically target Bosma. They had a plan to execute the owner of a 3500 truck. Around the end of April, Millard had some urgency to finally carry out the mission. He needed the 3500 truck as soon as possible (perhaps due to an upcoming race that he wanted to go to). He was pushing Schlatman, Jennings, et al to finish building a trailer as well.

Come the weekend of May 3, Millard was fixated on getting the mission done no matter what. He had attempted to make various preparations (such as getting the generator connected to the incinerator), but he didn't quite have everything in place. He was stressed about his cash flows, the business accounting, the property deals, the several women he was juggling, etc. He wasn't thinking straight. But he needed that 3500 right now or it would spoil his trip that he had planned.

The night of Bosma was the last chance. The truck was perfect. The circumstances seemed pretty good. It was nighttime, there weren't many people around. They could murder this guy and have the evidence cleaned up by the following day. They seized the opportunity and improvised from there.

Of course, nothing is ever as easy as one thinks it's going to be. There was way more blood than they expected. They accidentally shot out the passenger window. They were running on adrenaline and possibly stoned or high on cocaine. The generator wasn't working with the incinerator. Maybe they forgot fuel for the propane tank. Lots of unexpected things could have happened. They had to make decisions on the fly.

 

[Alethea Dice]

Susan Clairmont - Hamilton Spectator: A dramatic closing argument at the Bosma trial but with a major flaw

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6...rgument-at-bosma-trial-but-with-a-major-flaw/

"That was a heck of a close.

There was drama. Eloquence. Clarity and common sense. An impressive use of technology.

Ravin Pillay's closing address on Tuesday to the jury on behalf of his client, accused killer Dellen Millard, was among the best I've seen. His ability to steer the jurors through 16 weeks of evidence in a single day — and reshape it to his liking — was truly astounding, making me pause many times to reconsider issues I thought I had already decided."

However, there is one rather fat flaw in his address that I'm not sure what to do with. Perhaps Justice Andrew Goodman will deal with it in his upcoming charge to the jury. It is this: there is no actual evidence to support Millard's team's theory that co-accused Mark Smich pulled the trigger and killed Tim Bosma during the test drive of his truck.

I'm not really sure how that is a "major" flaw when the only evidence that DM pulled the trigger is the testimony from MS. And IMO MS's testimony has been proven pretty unreliable and self-serving.

 

[Tealgrove]

Russell Williams confessed.

Only after he was caught.

 

[sleuther76]

Maybe MS's plan was to have his sister drive it back to Calgary with him after his other sister's wedding was over.

All MOO.

And then how would he register the vehicle? If the vehicle isn't registered he has less than 12 months before he becomes bait to a pull over ... and then what?

 

[Claroon]

Pilay says nothing Millard did makes sense, but that is exactly what he did. For instance, he says "you wouldn't leave a truck that everyone is looking for in your Mother's driveway", but that is exactly what Millard did. So what is the point?

Like I've said, my cat leaves dead things on my sidewalk almost daily. Yes, his lawyer is pointing out his blunders. He could have left it parked behind a Walmart or some other random place IMO.

 

[sleuther76]

They planned the basics. Get a truck, incinerate the body, use a burner phone etc. They didn't plan the route they were going to drive considering they didnt know who they were going after until the test drives.

My questions and this may be best suited for Billandrew, but why if they were prepping the incinerator days before (for the "BBQ") would they not move it to the hangar then? Why have to make that massive detour to the farm?

 

[MrsThreadgoode]

Believe the Bosma family wasn't available on the weekend so they postponed until Monday. Not positive on that.

You are correct. DM asked Tim if the test drive could be on Sat., May 4, but the Bosmas were celebrating Tim's Mom's 60th birthday on the 4th, so the test drive was rescheduled for the 6th, which was Tim's Mom's actual birthday. So deeply sad -- I just don't have the words.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Claroon]

Pillay takes everything so literal. I'm sure that's all calculated but it's interesting. Like because DM didn't specifically write it down or search online that he's innocent? Give me a break. Was DM going to take out a notepad like "Today we murder someone." Sachak and Pillay belong in a magical forest together.

We all know DM did his murdering research long ago.

 

[brightii]

And then how would he register the vehicle? If the vehicle isn't registered he has less than 12 months before he becomes bait to a pull over ... and then what?

Maybe MS would ask his sister to register it and insure it her name until MS got his license and established out west.

All MOO.

 

[sleuther76]

I really still truly believe most of MS's story. I think DM, the spoilt little brat he is, was sick and tired of waiting for the right circumstances and just decided that THIS was the truck he wanted and made the snap decision to go with Plan B ... a plan MS probably knew nothing about. For some reason hearing pillay today just reaffirmed that for me. MOO

 

[sleuther76]

Maybe MS would ask his sister to register it and insure it her name until MS got his license and established out west.

All MOO.

Maybe ... seems like a stretch for me

 

[Alethea Dice]

He's broke and needed to get that caddy to goto Calgary. If he is that broke how is going to fuel that gas guzzler all the way west.

Hahaha. He probably just assumed his good old trusty ATM (aka DM) would provide that too.

 

[MrsThreadgoode]

Sorry ... I posted in error.

 

[billandrew]

My questions and this may be best suited for Billandrew, but why if they were prepping the incinerator days before (for the "BBQ") would they not move it to the hangar then? Why have to make that massive detour to the farm?

The farm and the hangar were not terribly far from each other. They are both part of the Waterloo region, so I wouldn't view it as a massive detour.

Also, some have postulated that they intended to use the incinerator at the farm by powering it with the generator. The text messages in the week or so before the murder certainly lend some support to this idea. However, I don't think we'll ever know for sure why any of this played out quite the way it did.

 

[CJPRINCESS]

Maybe MS would ask his sister to register it and insure it her name until MS got his license and established out west.

All MOO.

And I'm sure his sister would let an unlicensed driver drive a car in her name and her insurance? That liability IMO, is too great for her.

 

[palisadesk]

Look up Igors testimony. He drew it on a board.

And NOTHING magical about a marker and applying it to skin.

I believe (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that Jubalee is correct that it was not suggested in court that DM had taken a marker to his arm and changed how his tattoo looked. Igor indeed drew it as you describe, but that doesn't suggest DM used a marker so much as it reflects an artifact of Igor's memory. Igor got the important details exactly right - the word tattooed, the location on the wrist, which wrist. He was also, according to his testimony, somewhat distracted by his own associations (from his past, he said) of tattoos with criminal elements. It's remarkable and was a breakthrough in the case that his recollection was so accurate, as it definitely hastened linking DM to the crime. The fact that IT had the case of the letters wrong and recalled a frame around the tattoo is not that significant. It is typical of eyewitness errors that less salient details are not recalled exactly.

But we don't need to infer that DM tried to disguise his tattoo with a magic marker -- after all, the critical elements, the ones that identified him, were still visible; he could more easily have disguised it with a large watch or a leather wristband, had he thought of disguising it at all.He obviously didn't think of the consequences of many things he did in the days before the crime. Champion of foresight he ain't.

 

[billandrew]

I just had an epiphany. The fireworks comment makes even more sense to me now. IT was called May 3rd. The other truck owners too. Makes sense that DM may have told MS he would be calling for a test drive May 3 leading MS to make the statement on May 2 "Ok it's fireworks tomoro night."

IT settles on Sunday instead, so DM fills him in I suppose and he responds, the next day "I thought it was fireworks tonight but it's not yet."

Definitely not a fireworks display IMO.

They called Palmilli and Araujo on May 3. I believe Millard and Smich were thinking they could find a test drive that night and "murk" somebody. That's what the change of clothes, the tape, the gloves, the orange guy, the fireworks, and even the sausages frying were all alluding to. JMO

 

[Alethea Dice]

Here's a possible explanation: They didn't specifically target Bosma. They had a plan to execute the owner of a 3500 truck. Around the end of April, Millard had some urgency to finally carry out the mission. He needed the 3500 truck as soon as possible (perhaps due to an upcoming race that he wanted to go to). He was pushing Schlatman, Jennings, et al to finish building a trailer as well.

Come the weekend of May 3, Millard was fixated on getting the mission done no matter what. He had attempted to make various preparations (such as getting the generator connected to the incinerator), but he didn't quite have everything in place. He was stressed about his cash flows, the business accounting, the property deals, the several women he was juggling, etc. He wasn't thinking straight. But he needed that 3500 right now or it would spoil his trip that he had planned.

The night of Bosma was the last chance. The truck was perfect. The circumstances seemed pretty good. It was nighttime, there weren't many people around. They could murder this guy and have the evidence cleaned up by the following day. They seized the opportunity and improvised from there.

Of course, nothing is ever as easy as one thinks it's going to be. There was way more blood than they expected. They accidentally shot out the passenger window. They were running on adrenaline and possibly stoned or high on cocaine. The generator wasn't working with the incinerator. Maybe they forgot fuel for the propane tank. Lots of unexpected things could have happened. They had to make decisions on the fly.

I'm still not buying that he was that desperate for a truck. He also wanted it before JV went to New Mexico to pick up the dune buggy. That didn't happen and he ended up taking the red truck. If worse came to worse, the red truck could still go to Baja as well. The trailer would still need to be finished on time.

The circumstances weren't very good that night either. Even if it was nighttime, there were two eye witnesses standing right in the driveway. Maybe taking a chance on the theft with those witnesses seeing them, but murder? When a truck disappears or doesn't come back, it's one thing. When the owner doesn't come back either, LE looks at things a lot faster and closer.

 

[brightii]

And I'm sure his sister would let an unlicensed driver drive a car in her name and her insurance? That liability IMO, is too great for her.

I didn't suggest that she would let MS drive it. She may have agreed if MS asked, to register, insure and drive the Cadillac out west to Calgary with a plan that once MS was able he could take it over. She was in Oakville at the time of the family wedding and lives in Calgary, so if MS was given a Cadillac by DM for his part in the theft and murder (obviously unbeknownst to her) she may have agreed to help him out. Perhaps having the car to drive would help his sister as well if she didn't have a car. Apparently his sister owned a Cadillac before (not sure which sister) and had a job lined up for him in Calgary. Anyway, I do believe that MS was expecting to receive the Cadillac from DM. Maybe MS didn't care about driving without a licence or insurance. Who knows? Lol

All MOO.