For those who were unable to follow along today, here is Adam Carter's blog notes about the proceedings. I'll start with the Crown's arguments...
Nov 16 2018 9:26 AM Adam Carter
I’m back in court today as sentencing submissions begin for Dellen Millard for the murder of his father, Wayne.
There’s one key question here: consecutive or concurrent. A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic 25 year sentence. But this judge must decide whether or not Millard will serve that sentence concurrently to his other two, or tack it on consecutively, effectively extending his penitentiary stay into his 90s.
There is some precedent here. The judge in the Laura Babcock case already handed down a consecutive sentence for Millard’s last murder conviction.
We're inside the courtroom now, just waiting for the judge.
Court is now underway. Justice Maureen Forestell is here.
Some housekeeping here to start off.
Crown Jill Cameron is now starting off her submissions. She says if Millard gets a another consecutive 25 years, he will be 102 before he can apply for parole. "He will have no hope of ever obtaining parole," she says. "It's about justice. Wayne Millard deserves justice."
Cameron is now reading out a victim impact statement from Janet Campbell, who was in a relationship with Wayne Millard before he died. "I was his first love and he was mine," she says, adding they were engaged as young adults. "He was looking forward to the future, as was I."
"The last six years has been an entirety. Wayne's death never goes away," she says. Campbell writes she is depressed, has trouble sleeping, and cries out in her sleep. "I'm a widow, on my own. My hopes for the future were stolen, as were Wayne's. I didn't feel old before this, but now I feel old and tired."
Cameron says the judge needs to consider the two previous murders (Bosma and Babcock) and how they impacted "those left behind."
Cameron now running through the Babcock murder, calling it "planned and deliberate."
Cameron is now running through a synopsis of the Bosma case, and how he died, shortly after putting his young daughter to bed.
As this is going on, photos of Bosma, Babcock and Wayne Millard are being shown in screens in the courtroom.
Cameron says no sentence can truly compensate family and friends of a victim for their loss.
Cameron is now reading from the victim impact statement from the Babcock family submitted for that trial. "Our lives are overwhelmed with sadness," it reads.
Cameron says while Wayne Millard was working hard to create a legacy for his son in the form of this new aviation business, Dellen was plotting to kill his father.
Cameron running through the evidence of this latest trial, and how Wayne Millard was shot in the eye. "There was to be no mistake," she says.
She also says Dellen Millard had an "advantaged upbringing."
Cameron says Millard was "wanting for nothing, having been given everything" and was still plotting to kill his father. "Not an ounce of remorse or a shred of gratitude crept into his mind," she says.
"In killing someone, the offender robs them of everything," Cameron says.
"Wayne Millard was a loving father," she says, again pointing to the legacy he was trying to build for his son. "He was a quiet man, and a kind man."
"Any hope for his future was callously snuffed out by an ungrateful and selfish son," Cameron says.
Cameron is now making her case for consecutive sentences here.
As Cameron said Millard was "ungrateful and selfish," he shook his head in the prisoner's box and looked to the ceiling.
Cameron is now going through case law from previous cases to push for a consecutive sentence.
Cameron is continuing to go through case law here.
As Cameron is going through these previous cases, Millard is just looking at her. He's sitting in a white shirt and jeans, and has a bit of a scruffy beard on his face. The trademark braid behind his right ear remains. He's also wearing a leather pouch around his neck.
The last decision Cameron is going through here is the Babcock case. This one is obviously key here, as it was a case where Millard was already sentenced consecutively.
Cameron now quoting from Justice Code's sentencing decision in the Babcock case, in which he said: "Mr. Millard unsuccessfully tried to prove there was a good side to his personality." Code also called him "amoral and dangerous."
Cameron says Millard has "devastated three families" and a message needs to be sent to "other likeminded criminals" that they will be held accountable.
"There is very little positive in my submission one can say about Dellen Millard," Cameron says.
"There are times for mercy, there are times an offender has perhaps had a difficult upbringing ... but that is not the case here. There is no explanation for his crimes other than pure entitlement, depravity and evil," Cameron says. At this, Millard silently scoffs in the prisoner's box.
"This was not an absentee or abusive father," Cameron says.
"Wayne Millard loved and trusted Dellen," she says. "It was under this blanket of trust that he was able to murder his own father when he slept," Cameron says. She also says Millard had an "insatiable appetite to kill people."
"It begs the question, is there anyone he wouldn't kill?" Cameron says. "This is the most morally repugnant crime, times three."
Cameron says a concurrent term here would "wholly devalue" the life of Wayne Millard.
"Justice for Wayne Millard demands a separate penalty for his murder," Cameron says. "Otherwise, Mr. Millard may as well have gotten away with it."
That's it from Cameron. Now Millard's lawyer, Ravin Pillay, is up.