Family of murdered Toronto woman being forced to prove to coroner she's dead

For months, Linda Babcock sat in a courtroom listening to the horrifying details of her daughter's murder at the hands of convicted killers Dellen Millard and Mark Smich.

Now, in a bizarre turn of events, she's being forced to go to courtto convince Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner that her daughter Laura is truly dead.

It's a macabre situation caused by a strange gapbetween institutions. In the eyes of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, Laura Babcock is dead as evidenced by Millard and Smich's dual first-degree murder convictions, which a jury handed down in late 2017.

But because the 23-year-old Toronto woman's remains were never recovered, the coroner's office has not yet issued a death certificate leaving an exhausted family with yet another hoop to jump through to find some semblance of closure.

"I just assumed that once there was a convictionthat the coroner's office would be notified but there isn't any communication between the two offices," Linda Babcock told CBC News.

"It has to be a policy change with the coroner's office."

Litigation lawyer Kurt Pearson, who was not involved in the case,told CBC News this is an "extremely unique situation" that reveals what's likely a "completely unanticipated gap" in the legislation.

"If somebody has been convicted [of murder], that conviction should stand on its own to satisfy the requirements to issue a death certificate," he said.

Proving your loved one is gone

Laura Babcock was one of three people who died at the hands of Millard, 33, of Toronto. He was also convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his father, Wayne, as well as Hamilton man Tim Bosma.

Smich, 31, of Oakville, Ont., was also convicted of first-degree murder in Bosma's death.

According to the coroner's office, in situations where a person is believed dead but no body has been recovered, a coroner cannot, by law, complete a death certificate.

To have a person officially declared dead when no remains are available, their family must get a court declaration via the Declarations of Death Act.

Laura Babcock's family reacts to guilty verdict

7 years ago

Duration 3:10

Clayton Babcock read a statement on behalf of his daughter's family following the guilty verdict in Laura Babcock's murder trial, which he described as a "six-week funeral." Dellen Millard and Mark Smich were automatically sentenced to life imprisonment without a chance of parole for 25 years

That involves going to court to establish the death either through what's called "circumstances of peril" which includes situations like a plane crash where no remains are recovered or through a lengthy investigative process once seven years have passed since the person was last seen.

Linda Babcock told CBC News she was shocked the family hasto go through the declaration of death process, considering a jury has already decided her daughter is dead.

Cheryl Mahyr, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner, said in an email that requests like this are "extremely rare," and she had no idea how long the process might take.

Pearson said the coroner's office likely feelsits hands are tied.

"They aren't trying to make it difficult for the family, it's just the circumstances they're operating under," he said.

Brian Gray, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, told CBC News in an email Thursday afternoon the ministryis "looking at ways of facilitating the issuance of a Declaration of Death in such cases upon conviction."

"No one wants grieving families of murder victims to have to prolong the difficult and public court process they experience," he said.

Fighting for legislative change

Babcock, for her part, wants to see a legislative directive that in situations where a murder has taken place, the coroner's office will accept a conviction as ajudgment that a person is dead, body or not.

That would close the loop as part of the trial process, instead of forcing a grieving family to prove a loved one's death after the fact, she said.

"Since [Millard and Smich] have been convicted of murdering her, give us some peace of mind and register her as deceased," Babcock said.

Instead, Babcockhad to appear before a judge this week to get a court order declaring her daughter dead. Now, Babcock says, she has to get a lawyer, go to court againand petition the coroner's office to officially registerher daughter's death.

The whole process has been weighing on the family, Babcock said.

"It just scrapes the scab off again," she said. "It's horrible."

• Dellen Millard: How a wealthy aviation heir became a convicted murderer

Laura Babcock had little in the way of assets when she died, so settling her estate isn't complicated. She also didn't have life insurance, which removes another hurdle;neither of those matters could be settled without a death certificate.

For the Babcock family, it's more of an emotional issue. They still get mail for their daughter, like a voter card that showed up at their house before the last provincial election.

Moments like those make it even tougher to find closure, Babcocksaid.

"I'm not blaming anybody," she said."But this technicality needs to be changed."

adam.carter@cbc.ca