Laura Babcock: Dellen Millard & Mark Smich charged w/Murder in the First Degree #1

[ArianeEmory]

This is tagged on twitter as a new pic of Laura, I don't remember seeing it before.

Nicole Lampa
‏@nicolelampa
New Pic of #laurababcock.Missing toronto woman. 2 large items removed from Millard farm 2day. @ctvkitchener pic.twitter.com/aEqnodThVo

 

[robynhood]

Ctv link ...on todays search of the farm...and DM & sm appear in video link approx. 2;00pm today in court for date for pre trial date!...hoping this video link works on today's search of DM barn ( latest)....cannot find paste...hope someone else will post of ctv....sorry robynhood..more boards and plastic is seen taken out...LE mentioned may be searching for DNA from new info found...

 

[matou]

Bumping for Laura. I had a dream about her last night and in the dream she ended up being on a boat and taken somewhere against her will. xo

 

[swedie]

I find it interesting and was unaware the one search also included possible information/evidence relating to WM. That would have been when LE were digging up the ground in areas. So it seems apparent the farmland won't be on the market for some time. Maybe once the trial is over? It's a wait and see situation. Makes sense that either the new hangar or the farmland hasn't been listed yet. LE may need to revisit anytime before the trial. MOO.

Police who searched murder suspect Dellen Millard’s farm last week have so far found “no significant connection” to a missing Toronto woman, but the head of the city’s homicide squad said objects taken from the property still need to be forensically examined.

Toronto officers also searched the farm in the weeks after Mr. Bosma’s death, but that effort was with regard to both Ms. Babcock – a 24-year-old friend of Mr. Millard who phoned him several times before disappearing in July, 2012 – and his father, whose death last fall was initially deemed a suicide.

Still, he said police will return to the 100-acre farm if they obtain further information that merits another search. “We’re going to continue to investigate until we’re satisfied that we’ve done our due diligence to establish her whereabouts,” he said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/millard-farm-search-is-inconclusive/article14430330/

 

[swedie]

This is tagged on twitter as a new pic of Laura, I don't remember seeing it before.

Nicole Lampa
‏@nicolelampa
New Pic of #laurababcock.Missing toronto woman. 2 large items removed from Millard farm 2day. @ctvkitchener pic.twitter.com/aEqnodThVo

Beautiful young lady. Certainly does not look like one of her latest pictures out there in the MSM. She looks health and vibrant in this picture. May her family have answers very soon which they are so deserving of.

 

[Snoofo]

I agree Swedie, the last photo she is much thinner and less healthy looking as you say. I know many girls that age are body-conscious but I would suspect drugs and stress/depression played a role in her apparent weight loss in the last year before she disappeared. Poor thing.

I think if she's out there she is living in the underbelly side of the drug world, where good people end up. I see them every day in my travels and its an ugly, anonymous world. LB could have had her id stolen and if she uses amother alias she could be out there a long time and nobody would know it. It would actually be beneficial if she'd ever been arrested before, as LE would have prints.

I am curious - if LB checked into a mental health centre at some point - or was taken to one - would LE be alerted? What if she didn't have a health card and didn't give her name? I am guessing with no health card they wouldnt keep her. If there was a health card use, can LE trace that info or is there a privacy concern there?

 

[SnooperDuper]

I agree Swedie, the last photo she is much thinner and less healthy looking as you say. I know many girls that age are body-conscious but I would suspect drugs and stress/depression played a role in her apparent weight loss in the last year before she disappeared. Poor thing.

I think if she's out there she is living in the underbelly side of the drug world, where good people end up. I see them every day in my travels and its an ugly, anonymous world. LB could have had her id stolen and if she uses amother alias she could be out there a long time and nobody would know it. It would actually be beneficial if she'd ever been arrested before, as LE would have prints.

I am curious - if LB checked into a mental health centre at some point - or was taken to one - would LE be alerted? What if she didn't have a health card and didn't give her name? I am guessing with no health card they wouldnt keep her. If there was a health card use, can LE trace that info or is there a privacy concern there?

If someone complains that someone else is flipping/causing a disturbance out on drugs LE can pick that person up and take them to the hospital and LE will stay there with them until either the flippee is admitted or treated as an outpatient and released. Then LE will take off and the flippee takes the bus home (interesting things I have learned at the bus stop.) It's a police contact: it will be on your record but perhaps (?) won't show up if for instance you apply to be bonded because it is not a charge, just contact. However, LE would have full access to the info of course. Any report, LE wants name, birthdate, address so they would strive to gather this information in an event like this.

I can't speak to the health card issue except to say the hospital won't deny you treatment when you are in crisis, but they will want your name and address so they can send a bill. Ambulances also cost money - one real expense cab ride - so if the flippee arrives that way, somebody for sure wants to know who they are so they can send a bill. Of course one can make something up...but I believe they do try to match you to a health card number if they can. It's all electronic records these days and it is a lot easier to do so than in the past.

moo

 

[robynhood]

a record of anyone's OHIP # is kept in all emergency rooms on data base...I know as teacher's often need to acess them in emergencies...when we have kids on field trips...Office secretary used to tell me @my school....robynhood.

 

[Arnie M]

.

I think this response by SL regarding DM is the most telling

..... Lerner said he immediately took Babcock’s phone records to police. He said he texted and called Millard a number of times to ask him about Babcock’s calls.

"He doesn't answer me for two days, then I finally say ‘Hey look if you don't have any information that's fine, send me a text back to confirm receipt of this message,’” Lerner said. Around an hour later Lerner said he received a text from Millard asking him to meet for a coffee to discuss the issue.

Lerner said Millard denied receiving Babcock’s calls until he showed him Babcock’s phone record. Millard then told him that Babcock had developed a drug problem and that he had been supplying her with cocaine for months.
.

Read more: http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/police-pr...suspect-missing-woman-1.1286814#ixzz2g4i0LHiF

Kudos to SL ... he was the first , and sometimes the only person to have real concerns for LB

I feel his early suspicions , instincts , and hunches may very well be correct .... and we have to keep in mind he had those concerns many months before TB went missing .

.

 

[Sillybilly]

Kudos to SL ... he was the first , and sometimes the only person to have real concerns for LB ...

<rsbm>

ITA Arnie and Thanks !! (we seriously need a double Thank You button)

 

[Arnie M]

<rsbm>

ITA Arnie and Thanks !! (we seriously need a double Thank You button)

Double thank you to you toooooo !!!!!!

I think it would be wonderful if LB turns out to be OK ..... but with all the publicity I would expect at least a peep from her . She was a gal who took a wayward turn in life ..... but I blame recreational drugs for that more than anything else. Too many good lives have been ruined in the pursuit of pleasure.

 

[Snoofo]

.

I think this response by SL regarding DM is the most telling



Read more: http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/police-pr...suspect-missing-woman-1.1286814#ixzz2g4i0LHiF

Kudos to SL ... he was the first , and sometimes the only person to have concerns for LB

SL certainly got LB some attention and who knows where that investigation would be without him.

What you quoted was the initial MSM report. What never ceased to confuse me is why, from the second report and on, SL changed his story from he'd been supplying her with cocaine for months to both requests for drugs and a place to stay were denied. Also in later interviews it was unclear whether SL mentioned phone calls in his text messages prior to meeting and if DM denied that many calls took place until he saw the phone records. Realistically that many conversations did not take place because most of the calls were not answered by DM (as we've seen by phone records). In later interviews it doesnt seem like he denied any contact, just the multiple calls.

Despite being only an acquaintance of the man, Mr. Lerner contacted Mr. Millard to inquire about the string of phone calls. He says Mr. Millard refused to discuss the matter over text messages, so the two met for coffee.&#8220;First he denied it, he said &#8216;There couldn&#8217;t have been eight calls,&#8217;&#8221; Mr. Lerner said. &#8220;But I had the records in my bag.&#8221;After seeing the records, Mr. Millard told him &#8220;she was calling looking for drugs and a place to stay.&#8221; He told Mr. Lerner that he did not oblige either request.

If he indeed supplied her with cocaine for months, then it would not be unusual to not want to text about it. I am thinking this is the truth, it makes more sense to me. I cannot deny SL has only helped catapult LB to the headlines which is good for her and her caring family, but he lied at some point. Either DM told him he supplied LB with drugs or he didn't. Nobody questioned him on the change in story.

I know he's doing his best and didnt owe anyone any favours, but we cannot focus on the worst parts of each interview SL gave if the information is so inconsistent.

(Another interesting tidbit. The original detective said they never got the phone records last year either. I thought it was only Carbone that said that)

The original investigators tasked with finding Ms. Babcock were never aware of any relationship with Dellen Millard, Sgt. Woodhouse said. The phone records didn&#8217;t come to police&#8217;s attention at the time either, he said.

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/ne...spect-dellen-millard-before-her-disappearance

(Also interesting they question Lerner but still havent questioned Millard according to DP a couple weeks ago.)

Police have also questioned Lerner. Eleven months after Babcock's disappearance, he said he's just happy the investigation seems to be back on.

Lerner said he contacted Millard recently to discuss the phone calls, and that Millard told him Babcock had been calling for drugs and a place to stay*&#8212; two requests that*Millard said he turned down.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/toronto/story/1.1354137

He confronted Mr. Millard by text message and the two eventually met for a coffee at a Mississauga Starbucks.&#8220;At first he denied it could have been eight phone calls,&#8221; said Mr. Lerner. &#8220;I had the records and eventually he admitted talking with her. He basically told me that Laura had been asking him for drugs and a place to stay and that he denied both requests.&#8221;

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/n...missing-woman/article12015795/?service=mobile

(and many many more like this...the cocaine supply story disappeared after that first interview and the denial of any calls story was less clear.)

 

[Snoofo]

Double thank you to you toooooo !!!!!!

I think it would be wonderful if LB turns out to be OK ..... but with all the publicity I would expect at least a peep from her . She was a gal who took a wayward turn in life ..... but I blame recreational drugs for that more than anything else. Too many good lives have been ruined in the pursuit of pleasure.

Amen to that SillyBilly. It would be amazing if she turned out ok. Although the worst fear is that she was murdered, other possibilities are horrific as well as the path she was on doesnt appear to have been a positive one. But I hope by some crazy good turn of events, she's actually doing ok.

 

[Arnie M]

As far as SL "changing stories" would make sense to me.

The CTV story of May 17 was early in the LB - DM connection , and with his months of pent up suspicions and emotions SL probably blurted out the "truest version" .... and later the softer modified version ,

I dont think CTV would carelessly publish something like that ..... if not true it is slander , if true , it is not slander .

Yet we must acknowledge sometimes people can mis-speak , reporters can mis-quote , and we bystanders can mis-understand.

Interesting that DM was cautious enough not to communicate by phone or text ... maybe in case it could implicate him later .

Did he have fears of being implicated regarding LB ... ?

HOW COME ???????

Does he know she is never coming back ???????

.

Hope I'm wrong and hope she does.

 

[Juballee]

As far as SL "changing stories" would make sense to me.

The CTV story of May 17 was early in the LB - DM connection , and with his months of pent up suspicions and emotions SL probably blurted out the "truest version" .... and later the softer modified version ,

I dont think CTV would carelessly publish something like that ..... if not true it is slander , if true , it is not slander .

Yet we must acknowledge sometimes people can mis-speak , reporters can mis-quote , and we bystanders can mis-understand.

Interesting that DM was cautious enough not to communicate by phone or text ... maybe in case it could implicate him later .

Did he have fears of being implicated regarding LB ... ?

HOW COME ???????

Does he know she is never coming back ???????

.

Hope I'm wrong and hope she does.

Personally I would think the opposite, that the original exaggerated story was just that, an exaggeration after months of frustration. I would think the 'truest' story would be the one that has been allowed to be repeated over and over since then. I think that perhaps he realized that exaggerating would not actually help LB, and that he corrected his story to try to make it more accurate after. I doubt papers are worried about being sued for slander from someone fighting a serious murder charge, that would be like worrying about a hangnail when you're getting your leg amputated. If that were the case, then every newspaper story would match exactly, since there can be only one truth, and they would constantly be fighting lawsuits for every time they mis-quoted someone.


It is possible that DM didn't want to speak of LB asking for drugs via text, that seems pretty reasonable, and could be why he was ignoring her calls as well. It could be that DM thought the matter was serious or delicate enough to warrant a face to face meeting out of respect for LB.

What I still find very bizarre in all of this, is that SL waited about a week before coming forward with his suspicions of DM after DM's very public arrest. Why did it take a week? If that was my missing gf that I actually suspected someone had killed, and that person was charged with another murder, I would have been telling the media that hour, I would not be able to wait a week until the story died down a little, personally. And if I really felt all along that it was that person, the police would have heard from me every day since it was first reported.

<modsnip>

 

[swedie]

IMHO SL is/was hiding nothing. It's the way the MSM printed it maybe? The fact he went to LE from the get go, gave them LB's phone records and reported her missing, tells me he was just a loving and concerned friend. I'm sure there is so much more he could have share with the public but out of respect, he refrained from doing so. What is most important is he shares what he knows with LE. The information he did share with reporters I'm sure is bare bones. Let's not forget, SL continued a friendship with LB after they broke up. I'm sure he has many stories from LB regarding DM. Just because someone does not divulge everything to the public, does not mean they are being dishonest or hiding something.

Yes I also find it very telling how DM wanted to meet in person to have a little chat with SL. To me that says he was hiding something. He was afraid his conversations may have been traced. Very similar to DM suggesting he and AS go out to dinner at the steakhouse. Obviously DM's way of keeping things on a "he said, she said" perspective, no witnesses, nothing to prove what he said.

If SL had anything to hide or lie about, he would not have gone to LE with his concerns about LB missing period. Certain things he did not immediately divulge about LB was done out of respect for her IMO. Delays? He was told initially that she is an adult and may have chosen to disappear on her own accord. The meeting between DM and AS in the steakhouse; I'm certain we only got the bare bones from AS about that get together also. Will be quite interesting to hear what else was said over dinner that day which may help LE determine whether WM committed suicide or was murdered. MOO

<modsnip>

I believe DM did supply LB with cocaine the last time he saw her, probably too much if you kwim and he also found her a place to stay. Either in the incinerator (the need to purchase one, coincidentally right around the last time DM last spoke to her) or who know where he could have disposed of her. I'm sure one day LB will be found and sadly I do not believe she will be found alive. The fact there has been absolutely NOTHING; no possible sightings, no traces of her, just seems all dead ended. I've wondered if DM's barn was used for photo shoots and LE have found that evidence on DM's computer or camera, and that may be what took them to the barn for this last search. Something tells me it was bigger than that though. All MOO.

 

[Alethea Dice]

SL certainly got LB some attention and who knows where that investigation would be without him.

What you quoted was the initial MSM report. What never ceased to confuse me is why, from the second report and on, SL changed his story from he'd been supplying her with cocaine for months to both requests for drugs and a place to stay were denied. Also in later interviews it was unclear whether SL mentioned phone calls in his text messages prior to meeting and if DM denied that many calls took place until he saw the phone records. Realistically that many conversations did not take place because most of the calls were not answered by DM (as we've seen by phone records). In later interviews it doesnt seem like he denied any contact, just the multiple calls.



If he indeed supplied her with cocaine for months, then it would not be unusual to not want to text about it. I am thinking this is the truth, it makes more sense to me. I cannot deny SL has only helped catapult LB to the headlines which is good for her and her caring family, but he lied at some point. Either DM told him he supplied LB with drugs or he didn't. Nobody questioned him on the change in story.

I know he's doing his best and didnt owe anyone any favours, but we cannot focus on the worst parts of each interview SL gave if the information is so inconsistent.

(Another interesting tidbit. The original detective said they never got the phone records last year either. I thought it was only Carbone that said that)


http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/ne...spect-dellen-millard-before-her-disappearance

(Also interesting they question Lerner but still havent questioned Millard according to DP a couple weeks ago.)



http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/toronto/story/1.1354137




http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/n...missing-woman/article12015795/?service=mobile

(and many many more like this...the cocaine supply story disappeared after that first interview and the denial of any calls story was less clear.)

There could be a few reasons why SL's story seemed to change. It could be as Arnie said, with the pent up emotions, he just blurted it out. Or it could be that an exaggerated version was told the first time to finally get someone's attention. Or it could even be that the first MSM article missed enough pieces of what SL actually said that it alters the conception of what happened. I suppose it could even be a combination of all three.

In your second link (CBC), it states that SL contacted DM "recently". I was always under the impression that he had contacted him last year when the phone bill arrived. Sloppy reporting again? Or did SL get tired of waiting for LE to do something and finally contacted DM himself, later than first thought?

JMO

 

[Sillybilly]

What never ceased to confuse me is why, from the second report and on, SL changed his story from he'd been supplying her with cocaine for months to both requests for drugs and a place to stay were denied.

<rsbm>

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, these two separate accountings don't confuse me at all. IMO, he had been supplying her for months, but when he was confronted about her disappearance, he distanced himself from her by indicating he denied her requests in the timeframe associated with her disappearance and in line with the documented phone calls placed in front of him.

 

[cansleuther]

There could be a few reasons why SL's story seemed to change. It could be as Arnie said, with the pent up emotions, he just blurted it out. Or it could be that an exaggerated version was told the first time to finally get someone's attention. Or it could even be that the first MSM article missed enough pieces of what SL actually said that it alters the conception of what happened. I suppose it could even be a combination of all three.

MSM altering/embellishing/exaggerating the conception of what actually happened to create a more exciting story (not unlike the entire "blood on the yacht" debacle) would certainly explain why SL will no longer speak to the press.

 

[Archangel7]

Consider this.....

If DM knows what happened to LB he and DP will likely use that as a plea bargaining chip, particularly if he has knowledge, but not so much culpability wrt LB.

I predict things like LB evidence, and bottom of the deck dealing will begin in earnest(or have already) between now and Oct. 22, Judicial Pretrial.

The Judge will definitely give TL or DP the nod and tell the other to quit playing games.
In other words, drop the charges, OR plea your client, OR tee it up and go "all in" on your client with a trial.

If I was DM/DP, no way I'd want a Jury trial....and I'd be extremely reluctant for a Judge to hear it either.....rock, meet hard place.

I would guess that if DM knows about LB and can dodge a bigger bullet of Murder 1, he will.

In addition, obviously DP thinks by refusing bail, he can brinksmanship his way to a goal of some kind. In other words make the Crown think he has info. so unimpeachable and as yet undiscovered by the Crown to blow the case wide open and have charges dropped or acquit his client.

Ditto for MS on most of the above also.

In my experience....Adult missing persons aren't always as tragic wrt time passing since last seen, as it is with non adults.