Remembering Tim Bosma: One year later - Action News
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Hamilton

Remembering Tim Bosma: One year later

It's been a year since Ancaster's Tim Bosma left home with two men who responded to an ad he posted online looking to sell his truck. Bosma's body was found during the search of a farm in Kitchener, Ont. His family is planning private remembrances.

Hamilton's Tim Bosma disappeared on May 6, 2013 after leaving his Ancaster home with two strangers

Tim Bosma's family is still struggling to understand why the husband and father was killed one year ago. (Facebook)

It's been one year to the day that Tim Bosma disappeared from the family home he built with his own hands in Ancaster, Ont.

He went for a ride on the evening of May 6with two men police say answered an ad for the truck he was selling. Bosma told his wife Sharlene he would be right back and drove off into the night.

That was the last time she saw him alive. What started as a missing person's case quickly escalated to a search that gripped Hamilton and made national headlines. Sharlene pleaded through tears at a press conference later that week for his safe return. "It was just a truck, a stupid truck," she said. "You don't need him, but I do."

One week later, police announced they had found Bosma's charred remains on a Waterloo area farm. There wasn't even enough of him left for a casket the Bosma family said goodbye to a small box.

Wounds are still fresh for the Bosma family. Both Sharlene and Tim's parents are at every court appearance for the three people who have been charged in connection with his killing. They plan on marking the anniversary ofBosma'sdeath privately. And family spokesman said they would be leavingthe public eye for the month of May. The familywill be hosting the "Tim's Tribute" charity golf tournament on June 6 at the Century Pines Golf Club in Flamborough. That event falls 13 months to the day ofBosma's disappearance and Sharlene is expected to make some public comments then.

One year later, two men have been charged with Bosma's murder, with a woman has been charged with being an accessory after the fact. Here's a look back at the tragic events fromthe days after Tim Bosma disappeared and important dates over the past year.

April 28 - May 15

Click on the dates to see the story. Slide the bar to the left to see more stories.

May 21, 2013 - May 5, 2014

  • May 22: Memorial service for Tim Bosma takes place at Carmen's Banquet Hall in Hamilton. In the same banquet hall where three years earlierSharlene Bosma married husband Tim, sheshared the story of her love for him with the rest of the world. She talked about how they met and married, their home, her pregnancy, their daughter and her first words.
  • May 22: 2nd suspect named in Tim Bosma slaying. Mark Smich of Oakville, Ont., was arrested on Wednesday May 22 by Hamilton police, about an hour before the start of the memorial service forBosma. The first suspect, Dellen Millard, was arrested on May 11.
  • May 23: Mark Smichset to pleadnot guilty. Smich, 25, appears in court and his lawyer says he intends to pleadnot guilty.
  • May 28: Tim Bosma slaying suspect Millard's farm searched again. Toronto homicide detectives continue to search Dellen Millard's North Dumfries farm near Cambridge, Ont. in connection with the disappearance of Toronto woman Laura Babcock and the suicide of the Millard's father, Wayne Millard.

June 4 - April 11, 2014

  • June 4: Police say Laura Babcock had a relationship with Dellen Millard. Toronto police announce that Babcock and Millard were in a "non-traditional" dating relationship. Police say Babcock wasknown to be involved in the sex-trade business as an internet escort for several months prior to her disappearance, but that Millard was not involved in the sex-trade business.
  • June 5: Police announce Tim Bosma's accused killer tried to arrange third test drive. Hamilton police confirm a third man was contacted for a test drive of a truck he was selling with the same cellphone that was used to call Tim Bosma the day before he died. The third man who was allegedly contacted by Millard lives inthe Toronto area, police say. He had a Dodge Ram 2500 dieseltruck listed for sale on Kijiji and AutoTrader. He missed the phone call and a test drive was never arranged.
  • August 1: Bosma family announces Tim's Tribute charity. Sharlene Bosma announces a new charity called Tim's Tribute, which will help families of homicide victims with immediate needs, like the costs of aburial, headstone and even groceries.
  • September 12: Millard farm search continues. Police continue to search the North Dumfries farm owned by Dellen Millard in connection with the Bosma case and Laura Babcock's disappearance.
  • October 3: Ontario Provincial Police take over Bosma Case. The provinces Major Case Management (MCM) system takes over the Bosma case. The MCM system is used so that valuable information that links multiple cases can be shared between police forces when serial predators and offenders are concerned."
  • April 10: Millard and Smich charged with murder again. Police announce Millard has now been charged with killing both Toronto woman Laura Babcock and his father, whose death was originally ruled a suicide. Smich is also charged in connection with Babcock's murder. Christina Noudga, 21, of Toronto, has also been charged with being accessory after the fact in connection to Bosmas slaying.

The people involved

Tim Bosma: The 32-year-old Bosma disappeared the evening of May 6 after he took two strangers on a test drive in a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel truck he had listed for sale online on Kijiji and AutoTrader. His burned remains were found days later.

Dellen Millard: Millard, 28, is the heir of the MillardAir aviation dynasty. He is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Bosma's death, as well as the death of his father Wayne and Toronto woman Laura Babcock, with whom he was romantically linked.

Mark Smich: 26-year-old Mark Smich is the second man charged in connection with the deaths of Bosma and Babcock. Smich was previously convicted on drug possession charges in 2005 and 2006 and on impaired driving charges in 2009.

Christina Noudga: The 21-year-old Toronto woman has also been charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection to Bosmas slaying. Crown attorney Anthony Leitch told CBC News that Noudgas charges relate to an allegation that she tried to help Millard "escape" on May 9, 2013. He would not elaborate as to what was meant by escape, or from whom.

Laura Babcock: Toronto woman Laura Babcock's death is now being considered the city's 55th homicide of 2012. Det.Mike Carbone told CBC News last June that Babcock wasknown to be involved in the sex-trade business for several months prior to her disappearance.

What's next

Answers to what happened to Bosma likely won't come until at least 2015 when Millard and Smich's trial begins. An eight-week preliminary hearing has been set for September, 2014.

Noudga remains in custody, and is due to appear in court again on May 22. Crown attorney Anthony Leitch told CBC News that Noudgas bail hearing has to be handled in Superior Court because of the seriousness of the offence.

Only a handful of offences are handled this way, he said. The prosecution will be requesting the court deny her bail.