Bosma murder suspects make court appearance

A pre-trail date has been set for the two men accused of murdering Ancaster man Tim Bosma. Dellen Millard and Mark Smich made brief court appearances via video Thursday afternoon.

Our Melissa Raftis has the details.

The pretrial date is set for October 22nd at the John Sopinka Courthouse in Hamilton. Smich and Millard are both expected to appear in person that day at 9:30 in the morning.

But Thursday’s appearances were very brief. Millard appeared via video from the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre. He didn’t say anything except for his first and last name, and “thank you” when addressing the judge.

Smich made a separate appearance by video from Toronto.

The men are accused of murdering Tim Bosma who disappeared on May 6th after going on a test drive in his truck with two strangers. His widow Sharlene was in court along with other family and friends but did not address the media.

At the same time, Toronto police were back in Ayr at Millard’s farm for a fourth day in a row. It’s the same Cambridge area property where Bosma’s remains were found in May. Police appear to be continuing their search of a barn and a brown industrial bin. They’re investigating the disappearance of Laura Babcock. She’s a 23-year old Toronto woman who has been missing since June 2012. Police have said she was an escort who had a relationship with Millard.

While the judicial pretrial is now set for October, the murder trails for Millard and Smich aren’t expected to take place until sometime next year.