Bosma day 15

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A Hamilton jury heard more about the state of finances at Millard Air today. Dellen Millard and Mark Smich have pleaded not guilty in the first degree murder of Tim Bosma.

Lisa Williams testified that she still does some bookkeeping for Millard Air, work she’s done since before Wayne Millard’s death, when his son Dellen Millard took over the aviation business. Williams still sees Millard’s mother, Madeleine Burns, who still collects $5000 a month from Millard Air, even though the company hangar was sold last April and there is no income. The last employee was let go when the hangar sold, Williams told the court yesterday there were 14 when Wayne Millard died and Dellen fired all but Shane Schlatman.

Williams visited with Dellen Millard in jail a half dozen times, up until September 2014. In this text message exchange with Millard that the jury saw today, the accused estimates he made $125 000 in 2013. After the arrest police asked Williams about Millard Air finances, and she told them “if you’re going by the bank account, I would say things are getting very tight.”

But under Millard’s lawyer’s questioning, she agreed she had no formal training as a bookkeeper and couldn’t opine on the affairs of a corporation. She said when Wayne Millard was alive at the beginning of 2012, Millard Air had no income, just expenses and a $3.7 million loan to make the hangar into an airplane maintenance business. When Dellen Millard took over at the end of 2012, he talked about making the building a storage hangar, like an airplane hotel. That never materialized and as far as Williams saw, Millard Air never made any money.

Williams’ husband also did work for Millard Air, in IT and security and he is expected to testify as well. There is no court tomorrow, but when the jury comes back next week we expect to hear from an expert from the centre of forensic sciences on the blood that was found in Tim Bosma’s truck, where prosecutors say he was killed and on the hatch of the livestock incinerator, where prosecutors say his remains were destroyed.