Tim Bosma case: Millard employee lied to police to protect boss, lawyer alleges

Dellen Millard's employee and right hand man Shane Schlatman lied to police to protect his boss, according to a tense cross examination from the legal team representing Millard's co-accused in the trial of two men charged with murder in the death of Hamilton man Tim Bosma.

When police came calling asking about the case,Schlatmanwasn't immediately forthcoming with key details, the jury heard. When investigators asked him about the location of Millard's red Dodge pickup truck, he didn't tell them where it was.

Court has already heardSchlatmanhelped Millard move it to a friend's home afterBosmavanished.

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Millard, 30, of Toronto, and MarkSmich, 28, ofOakville, Ont., are on trial in Ontario Superior Court accused of killingBosma. Both have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

"So you lied to the police?"said Smich's lawyer Thomas Dungey during his cross-examination of Schlatman.

Maybe I didn't do everything the way I should have.- Shane Schlatman, former MillardAir employee

"In the beginning, yes I did,"Schlatmansaid.

It was then thatDungeyread a statementSchlatmanmade to police:"All right, so yes, the red truck, I do know where it is ... he made me move it."

Bosma, 32, lived in the suburban Ancaster area of Hamilton and was last seen taking two men on a test drive of a truck he had for sale on May 6, 2013.

Police also questioned Schlatmanabout a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a Bobcat tractor found inside the Waterloo, Ont. hangarboth of which investigators believed were stolen, court heard. That line of questioning opened up someof the most heated exchanges the jury has seen in the two months since the trial started.

"My understanding is they had been stolen,"Schlatmansaid. Millard's legal team has often pointed out a host of vehicles being stored inside the hangar as an indication of their client's wealth.

Didn't contact police

Dungey also asked about Schlatman's ability as a trained mechanicto take the ignition out of a vehicle and start it without a key.

"These were things Mr. Millard would have learned from you, right?" Dungey asked. Schlatman responded yes, he would have shown Millard to do "basic automotive work," but not hot-wiring, he testified.

"Did you have any knowledge as to these vehicles and as to where they really came from?" Dungey asked. "No sir," Schlatman said.

He repeatedly said that because Millard was rich, it didn't surprise him that vehicles would just show up at the hangar without explanation which happened with some regularity.

Court previously heard from Schlatman's father-in-law, Arthur Jennings, who called Crime Stoppers about Bosma'struck when he saw it in the hangar.

Jenningsrecognized the truck from seeing it on the news, he said, and called the police tip line. He then found out the truck's VIN number matched Bosma's a fact he later told his son-in-law.

'To hell with Bosma, right?'

Dungey pressed Schlatman about why he didn't call police about the truckonce he learned about its origins.Schlatman said he "didn't think it was important" as his father-in-law had already alerted authorities.

"Maybe I didn't do everything the way I should have," Schlatman said.

"Mr. Schlatman, you didn't do anything," Dungey shot back. His voice rising, Dungeyyelled at Schlatman that he was only in courtto "protect" his employer.

"Your loyalty is [to Millard], so the hell with Bosma, right?" Dungey yelled.

"No sir, it was not like that," Schlatman said, as he turned redder in the witness box.

Fingerprint expert testifies

Firearms expert Jennifer Plathalso testified about the spent shell casing that was found inside Bosma's truck, and the photos found on devices seized in connection to the case that appear to show a Walther PPK handgun.

A fingerprint expert previously testified that Millard's fingerprint was a match to a finger in one of the photos with the gun.

"The fired cartridge case [found in Bosma's truck]could have been fired through this pistol," Plath said. She could not, however, definitively say that the gun seen in the photos was real.

"I cannot say whether it is an actual functioning firearm," Plath said. It could be an air gun, or somehow modified, she said.

The only way she could say with certainty is if she examined the weapon itself. No gun was ever recovered.

CBC reporter Adam Carteris in the courtroom each day reporting live on the trial. You can view a recap of his livebloghere:

Onmobile and can't see the live blog? View it here.

adam.carter@cbc.ca