Related Issues and Food for Thought

[Sillybilly]

After watching the presser from April 10 2014, I noticed that the arrest and charge of Christina Noudga was not part of the Toronto Police investigation of Project Capella. It was part of the OPP investigation. So out of the jurisdiction of Toronto. She was charged on the same day, April 10th 2014 as Smich and Millard on their additional murder charges.

OPP said Thursday they charged Christina Noudga, 21, with being an accessory after the fact in that case.

http://metronews.ca/news/hamilton/9...k-smich-charged-with-murder-of-laura-babcock/

OPP's Major Case Management (MCM) took over in July 2013 after an "investigative link" was found in all 3 cases. Project Capella was the name of the multi-jurisdictional task force, so not just TPS:

The murder of Tim Bosma, the disappearance of Laura Babcock and the death of Wayne Millard are now officially part of a single, multi-jurisdictional police investigation.

Toronto’s Dellen Millard, 28, and Oakville’s Mark Smich, 26, were charged in May with first-degree murder in connection to Bosma’s death. Now, after establishing an “investigative link” between the three cases, Ontario Provincial Police are directing the streamlined case under the province’s Major Case Management (MCM) system.

<bbm>

from:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...s_to_dellen_millard_added_to_joint_probe.html

 

[matou]

Yep, I know that Project Capella is a multi-jurisdictional case. I watched the presser for the TPS part of the investigation where the charges were announced for the murders of Wayne Millard and Laura Babcock. However, during this presser, the arrest of Christina Noudga was not announced. This is because she was charged by the OPP. TPS charged Smich and Millard in those two cases. To my knowledge, there was no press conference announcing her arrest. TPS couldn't mention anything other than the new charges for Smich and Millard.

 

[Arnie M]

.

Earlier we had been discussing the chronology of the court cases and anticipating the ones for LB & WM would likely be first (least complicated) , then proceed to the TB case ...... but I forgot about the CN accessory trial .... I think it would have to be held last because the TB murder would have to proven first .... agree ???

I could never imagine a combined trial .... it would be a nightmare for a judge or jury to keep each component separate . I am expecting prosecutors will plan everything out in a straightforward and concise manner .... hope so anyway .

 

[Alethea Dice]

Yep, I know that Project Capella is a multi-jurisdictional case. I watched the presser for the TPS part of the investigation where the charges were announced for the murders of Wayne Millard and Laura Babcock. However, during this presser, the arrest of Christina Noudga was not announced. This is because she was charged by the OPP. TPS charged Smich and Millard in those two cases. To my knowledge, there was no press conference announcing her arrest. TPS couldn't mention anything other than the new charges for Smich and Millard.

Even though the cases have been linked and streamlined under the OPP's MCM system to better share their information, each jurisdiction still leads their own respective cases. TPS would not be announcing CN's charges as they have nothing to do with TB's case (other than sharing information) and CN has nothing to do with WM or LB's case. The spokesperson for the WM and LB cases would be TPS, the spokesperson for TB's case would be HPS, and I would think OPP under the MCM could speak on either case.

While Toronto and Hamilton police are still &#8220;leading&#8221; their respective investigations, the MCM allows them to share their findings through a centralized software system. Ontario is the only place in the world to have this type of computerized network.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/03/tim_bosma_murder_two_other_cases_with_links_to_dellen_millard_added_to_joint_probe.html

Toronto and Hamilton police are still heading up their respective investigations into the deaths of Bosma, Babcock and Millard's father, but the three cases have now been streamlined under the OPP's Major Case Management (MCM) system.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/11/christina-noudga-accused_n_5132568.html

 

[Alethea Dice]

.

Earlier we had been discussing the chronology of the court cases and anticipating the ones for LB & WM would likely be first (least complicated) , then proceed to the TB case ...... but I forgot about the CN accessory trial .... I think it would have to be held last because the TB murder would have to proven first .... agree ???

I could never imagine a combined trial .... it would be a nightmare for a judge or jury to keep each component separate . I am expecting prosecutors will plan everything out in a straightforward and concise manner .... hope so anyway .

I agree. And if the rumour that dates have been reserved in September for LB's preliminary hearing are correct, that may be what happens. I'm still a little surprised that they haven't applied to be tried separately.

JMO

 

[Juballee]

.

Earlier we had been discussing the chronology of the court cases and anticipating the ones for LB & WM would likely be first (least complicated) , then proceed to the TB case ...... but I forgot about the CN accessory trial .... I think it would have to be held last because the TB murder would have to proven first .... agree ???

I could never imagine a combined trial .... it would be a nightmare for a judge or jury to keep each component separate . I am expecting prosecutors will plan everything out in a straightforward and concise manner .... hope so anyway .

I personally do not think that the WM or LB cases will be less complicated, I actually think the opposite. Both were cold cases that, whether they had been officially closed or not, they had been put aside with the labels of suicide and runaway. Any evidence would be older, any DNA would have deteriorated or been compromised in the intervening time, I think.

Also, there has been no direct indictment in those cases to the public's knowledge, (and I don't think that the crown would have a right to keep it from the public if they had gone with a direct indictment), and since direct indictments are intended to speed things up, I can't see why it shouldn't go first. The charges were laid almost a year before in the TB case as well, so I really can't imagine any scenario other than them pleading guilty in which either one of the other two trials should jump ahead of the TB trial.

All my opinion only.

 

[Arnie M]

.

After reading Alethea Dice posts I am having second thoughts about my court case chronology comments

My mind was on the (coordinated) police investigation .... and I was (wrongly) applying that to the actual court cases .... there could very well be different trials held in different cities (Toronto or Hamilton for example) .... each with different prosecutors , different judges & juries .... maybe not the "total team effort" I first contemplated.

 

[Arnie M]

I personally do not think that the WM or LB cases will be less complicated, I actually think the opposite. Both were cold cases that, whether they had been officially closed or not, they had been put aside with the labels of suicide and runaway. Any evidence would be older, any DNA would have deteriorated or been compromised in the intervening time, I think.

Also, there has been no direct indictment in those cases to the public's knowledge, (and I don't think that the crown would have a right to keep it from the public if they had gone with a direct indictment), and since direct indictments are intended to speed things up, I can't see why it shouldn't go first. The charges were laid almost a year before in the TB case as well, so I really can't imagine any scenario other than them pleading guilty in which either one of the other two trials should jump ahead of the TB trial.

All my opinion only.

Agreed .... and that is partly what I was getting at .... the WM & LB cases are cold cases (like you said) thus there will be a lot less evidence to wade through.... maybe not even enough for a guilty verdict .... but maybe police are putting it through anyway as due process (then let the jury decide)

But there is more to it than that .... I am trying to think like an Appeal Lawyer ... the WB & LB cases could be affected by all the baggage and evidence of the TB trial (if it was held first) .... I am talking about influencing a jury .... you cannot convict a person for murder simply because they also murdered someone else , those other cases cannot be brought up in a trial .... yet every potential Canadian Juror would know all about it and that could be a (legal) problem.

YIKES .... unless there was a complete ban on publication until the very end .... hate the thought.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Agreed .... and that is partly what I was getting at .... the WM & LB cases are cold cases (like you said) thus there will be a lot less evidence to wade through.... maybe not even enough for a guilty verdict .... but maybe police are putting it through anyway as due process (then let the jury decide)

But there is more to it than that .... I am trying to think like an Appeal Lawyer ... the WB & LB cases could be affected by all the baggage and evidence of the TB trial (if it was held first) .... I am talking about influencing a jury .... you cannot convict a person for murder simply because they also murdered someone else , those other cases cannot be brought up in a trial .... yet every potential Canadian Juror would know all about it and that could be a (legal) problem.

YIKES .... unless there was a complete ban on publication until the very end .... hate the thought.

Keep in mind that the Crown did request a DI for the LB trial...even if we haven't heard any more on that

http://www.annrbrocklehurst.com/201...-indictment-in-laura-babcock-murder-case.html

I wonder what kind of evidence would make LE so confident and once again I am led to the "biggest computer seizure..." I think there is an electronic trail in that case that led to the charges for MS and the DI request.

 

[SnooperDuper]

[video=youtube;CsAUfEjPSD8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsAUfEjPSD8[/video]

Thank you for posting this Swedie - this is a more current look at some of the location tracking functions on Smartphones. SL would have no reason to go and turn this kind of functionality off on his iPad - the catch is, it sounds like LE would actually have to get their hands on the device. Would DM be cheap enough to save a possibly incriminating iPad? Or are metal findings taken from the incinerator the last trace of the device and a clue as to what happened to LB?

DM and MS apparently drove all the way to Brantford with TB's phone on. This to me says they are not tuned in to the tracking capabilities of phones, and they may not have disabled the location functionality on theirs. They may have committed the acts of May 6th with their own smartphones on their persons, thinking that using the burner phone would be enough cover. They only had to avoid detection, they figured, not pass investigation.

LE does not need a warrant to investigate your phone in Canada, and this tidbit in the US news interested me too: even something as simple as deleting your browser history (selectively) is considered obstruction of justice down there and is subject to a 20 year penalty. http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/cle...d-obstruction-of-justice-in-the-u-s-1.3105222

Popular personal computers, smartphones, huge databases full of data...the past 25 years has seen huge advances is computer technology and now we are seeing play a major role in the investigation of crime.

I think our "digital DNA" will have just as profound impact on policing and the courts as DNA did 25 years ago.

 

[Alethea Dice]

I personally do not think that the WM or LB cases will be less complicated, I actually think the opposite. Both were cold cases that, whether they had been officially closed or not, they had been put aside with the labels of suicide and runaway. Any evidence would be older, any DNA would have deteriorated or been compromised in the intervening time, I think.

Also, there has been no direct indictment in those cases to the public's knowledge, (and I don't think that the crown would have a right to keep it from the public if they had gone with a direct indictment), and since direct indictments are intended to speed things up, I can't see why it shouldn't go first. The charges were laid almost a year before in the TB case as well, so I really can't imagine any scenario other than them pleading guilty in which either one of the other two trials should jump ahead of the TB trial.

All my opinion only.

Good points. I was thinking that the defense might want the other cases to go first. They will be harder to prove and quite likely much shorter. As well, neither is much publicized so they would be less likely to taint a jury. My feelings are that there will be a publication ban anyway until the final trial. The TB case really should go first though because they will have already waited almost 3 years to get to trial on that one.

JMO

 

[Arnie M]

<snip> .... DM and MS apparently drove all the way to Brantford with TB's phone on. This to me says they are not tuned in to the tracking capabilities of phones, and they may not have disabled the location functionality on theirs. They may have committed the acts of May 6th with their own smartphones on their persons, thinking that using the burner phone would be enough cover. They only had to avoid detection, they figured, not pass investigation ... <snip>
.

Just a side note to mention that in the very early days when police were making public appeals to find Tim , they said the last ping from his cell phone was near the Ancaster Fairgrounds just north of the Bosma residence (Junction of Trinity Road & Highway #2)

They freely offered that information so everybody (public searchers) knew which way the truck was headed and to keep an eye out for it .... after the arrests , police would no longer confirm or deny phone ping locations because now it had become "evidence".

(Then there was this quote from another article) .... Texts and emails flew through the tight-knit Dutch community in rural Ancaster that morning , (Tuesday May 7th) and by 7 a.m. some two dozen friends gathered. They learned from police that Bosma's phone was turned off within a mile of the house. So they started searching. http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2879300--tim-is-missing-have-you-seen-him-/

There were reports from friends and family that TB would never turn his phone off like that ... I suspect police also used that info to conclude TB was killed shortly after they left.

(Now I speculate) .... I bet they went for a short test drive up to the fair grounds , then while headed back they killed Tim , picked up the Yukon , turned the phone off and then went to Brantford

 

[SnooperDuper]

Well DM and MS's trial start date has been pushed back a week to Jan 18, 2016

Secondly, RP and NOT DP is on the record as DM's lawyer for the trial (all three trials, then)

There will be another "pretrial discussion" Sept 3, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...ng-trial-pushed-back-to-jan-18-2016-1.3109601

Both Millard and Smich were in Hamilton's John Sopinka courthouse Thursday, Millard in a blue and white small checkered shirt with a clean shaven face, visibly slimmer than previous appearances. He often stared at Smich in the prisoner's box, who was wearing a white button up shirt, Guess jeans, sporting a beard and pony tail.

The details of court can't be reported on under a standard publication ban that, in the case of jury trials, stops publication of proceedings that take place without the jury present. No jury has been selected for the case, which will skip a preliminary hearing and head straight to trial.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Just a side note to mention that in the very early days when police were making public appeals to find Tim , they said the last ping from his cell phone was near the Ancaster Fairgrounds just north of the Bosma residence (Junction of Trinity Road & Highway #2)

They freely offered that information so everybody (public searchers) knew which way the truck was headed and to keep an eye out for it .... after the arrests , police would no longer confirm or deny phone ping locations because now it had become "evidence".

(Then there was this quote from another article) .... Texts and emails flew through the tight-knit Dutch community in rural Ancaster that morning , (Tuesday May 7th) and by 7 a.m. some two dozen friends gathered. They learned from police that Bosma's phone was turned off within a mile of the house. So they started searching. http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2879300--tim-is-missing-have-you-seen-him-/

There were reports from friends and family that TB would never turn his phone off like that ... I suspect police also used that info to conclude TB was killed shortly after they left.

(Now I speculate) .... I bet they went for a short test drive up to the fair grounds , then while headed back they killed Tim , picked up the Yukon , turned the phone off and then went to Brantford

Yet there were other tidbits and hints that the phone may have been left on for longer...

Police found the phone in an industrial area near Brantford; they say they&#8217;re able to get records of calls made to Bosma&#8217;s cell phone before it was shut off at about 10 p.m. on Monday.

http://news.nationalpost.com/toront...rive-with-two-strange-men-and-never-came-back

Investigators were able to get some information from Bosma&#8217;s cell phone before it was either turned off or went dead.

http://globalnews.ca/news/545030/man-disappears-after-test-drive-with-interested-truck-buyers/

...so we will have to wait and see how much info they got, I guess.

 

[SnooperDuper]

5 months ago when this article was published DP still expected to be retained by DM, but as of now he is off the case...

The case will be called in assignment court Jan. 23, with the intention of firming up the trial date. That confirmation, however, hinges on Deepak Paradkar, who has been acting on behalf of Millard. As of recently, he has not been officially retained by his client, holding up the trial date process at recent court appearances.

Millard is the heir to an aviation fortune. He transferred his assets to his mother around the time of his arrest. Why Paradkar's retainer has not been paid is unclear.

Last September, Paradkar told me money is not an issue for Millard and he expected to be on the record by the beginning of November.

Paradkar is representing Millard along with co-counsel Ravin Pillay.

In November, Pillay popped into the Hamilton double-murder trial of Mark Staples, who went on to be found guilty of the first-degree murders of his father and sister.

Pillay had no connection to the case, except for the fact that it was being prosecuted by assistant Crown attorney Tony Leitch, who is also the Crown for the Bosma homicide. Pillay was there the day Leitch gave his closing address to the jury.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5262706-co-accused-in-bosma-murder-case-faces-new-charge/

The latest trial date, a week later than a previous trial date assigned in the spring, also came with news that Ravin Pillay is on record as Millard's lawyer.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...ng-trial-pushed-back-to-jan-18-2016-1.3109601

 

[matou]

Millard arrived first wearing a white shirt and jeans. He was noticeably thinner then his last court appearance. He&#8217;s also grown his hair and had it pulled back into a ponytail &#8211; he also has a full beard.

Smich, clean shaven and wearing a blue check shirt and blue pants, sat in the prisoners box beside Millard.

Throughout the two hour long hearing, Millard glared at his co-accused who stared straight ahead. It wasn&#8217;t until late in the hearing that they exchanged glances.

I think the CBC got the info wrong about how the suspects appeared. This makes sense.

http://www.chch.com/bosma-accused-millard-smich-in-court/

 

[SnooperDuper]

Yeah I thought something was kooky about the CBC's quote, which is sorta why I quoted it.

Sounds as if DM is quite peeved with MS. Real or show? Has MS rolled on DM?

 

[matou]

Millard and Smich were in the same box once I thought and Smich stared straight ahead, both were seated as far from each other as possible too.

 

[Alethea Dice]

Yet there were other tidbits and hints that the phone may have been left on for longer...



http://news.nationalpost.com/toront...rive-with-two-strange-men-and-never-came-back



http://globalnews.ca/news/545030/man-disappears-after-test-drive-with-interested-truck-buyers/

...so we will have to wait and see how much info they got, I guess.

I don`t think that`s necessarily different. They left for the test drive around 9:30 and LE said they believe he was killed soon after leaving home. They were seen in Brantford around 10:10, about a 20 minute drive away. We`re only talking about a 20 minute window, which it sounds like could be the time period that TB was killed. If the phone was turned off just before they headed to Brantford, that would be around 9:50, which is "about 10 p.m." and would also still be within a mile of his home and where the last ping was.

http://globalnews.ca/news/560553/tim-bosma-a-timeline-of-the-police-investigation/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2558160-tim-bosma-search-moves-to-brantford/

JMO

 

[swedie]

Yeah I thought something was kooky about the CBC's quote, which is sorta why I quoted it.

Sounds as if DM is quite peeved with MS. Real or show? Has MS rolled on DM?

BBM - That's what I was thinking Snooper. Perhaps DM is really peeved because he knows MS is going to be found not guilty and will move on with his life while he spends the rest of his life in prison. His glares, sound pretty immature IMO and more than likely he's putting on a show for the victims' families. Similar to pointing a finger at MS kwim.

The fact that DM is loosing weight, has given up on his appearance, sounds like he is not too hopeful about his future plans of fast cars and exotic adventure. Dreaming while looking through magazines and reading books will have to suffice I guess, if he's found guilty. Well at least he's still alive, his victims aren't. Got to wonder what's up with the long hair Does anyone think DM has tried to play the insanity or not criminally responsible card yet? ALL MOO.