Murderer: Mark Smich

About Smich

Biographical

Alias/Nickname:
Sex: Male
Date of birth: N/A N/A,
Location of birth:
Birth order: Youngest
Number of siblings: 2
Parent’s marital status:
Father’s occupation:
Abuse by father?:
Mother’s occupation:
Abuse by mother?:
Traumatic family event:
Age at traumatic family event:

Relationship History

Sexual preference: Heterosexual
Marital status: Single
Number of children: 0
Lived with children during series?: No
Lived with parents during series?: Yes

Psychological History

History of substance abuse: N/A
Had received psychological therapy?: N/A
Institutionalized for mental illness?: N/A
Psychological diagnosis: N/A

McDonald Triad

History of starting fires: N/A
History of animal abuse: N/A
History of bed wetting: N/A

Potential Contributing Factors

XYY: N/A
Physically attractive: N/A
Physical defect: N/A
Speech defect: N/A
Head injury: N/A
Physical abuse: N/A
Psychological abuse: N/A
Sexual abuse: N/A
Parental substance abuse issues: N/A

Education

Highest grade completed:
Highest degree achieved:
Grades at school:
IQ:

Employment History

Military service: N/A
Attempted career in law enforcement: N/A
Worked in law enforcement: N/A
Types of jobs worked:
Fired from jobs?: N/A

About Murders

About the Series

Time span of series: November 29, 2012 - May 6, 2013
Number of Victims: 2
Location of murders:
Victim profile: Laura Babcock (his accomplice Dellen Millard's ex-girlfriend), Tim Bosma
Accomplice?: Yes
Name of accomplice: Dellen Millard
Relationship to accomplice: Friend

Murderer Profile

Murderer category: Serial killer
- Serial killer sub-type: Hedonistic
- Serial killer characteristics:
- Domestic killer sub-type:

Criminal History

Committed crimes previous to series?: Yes
Description of previous crimes: Drug possession, failing to comply, impaired driving and mischief
Previously convicted of a crime: Yes

Method

Murder method: Shooting
Characteristics of crime: Kidnapping
Types of sexual assault: N/A

After Death Behaviour

Posed body: No
How was body posed?:
Took body part as trophy: No
Description of body part trophy:
Took personal item trophy: No
Description of personal item trophy:
Left exposed at crime scene: No
Hidden at crime scene: No
Buried at crime scene: No
Left exposed in different location: No
Hidden at different location: No
Buried at other location: No
Dismembered:
Burned: Yes

Victims

March 14, 2018May 27, 2018

Murderer: Dellen Millard

Dellen Millard, along with his accomplice Mark Smich, is serving two consecutive 25 year sentences for the first-degree murders of Laura Babcock and Tim Bosma. He alone will be facing another trial for the murder of his father, Wayne Millard, in the fall of 2012.

Millard was born into a wealthy aviation family. His grandfather started his own charter airline, MillardAir, in the 1960s based out of Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The business went bankrupt in the 1990s, and was changed to an aircraft maintenance business.

Millard’s father, Wayne, took over the business upon his father’s death in 2006. Before he died in 2012, he moved MillardAir to Waterloo International Airport.

Wayne was an airline pilot and Millard’s mother, Madeleine Burns, was a flight attendant, so it was natural that he was taught to fly from a very young age. In fact, he became the youngest person to pilot solo both a helicopter and airplane on the same day – his 14th birthday.

Although his family was quite wealthy, Millard was never showy in high school. School mates described him as quirky, but there was no behaviour that would hint at a violent nature.

After high school, Millard was listless and couldn’t settle on a life direction. He briefly enrolled in culinary school, and tinkered around with the idea of becoming a make-up artist or an animator. He took up photography and did a shoot for the Suicide Girls.

He lived with his father in their Etobicoke home, where he was well-known to host raucous parties, and became a legendary host, especially to teenagers.

Timeline

2008-2009: Dellen Millard meets Laura Babcock at the Brunswick House pub in Toronto. They date for a short amount of time, but later become friends and occasional lovers.

Aug. 2011- April 2012:

Babcock visits the hospital over 12 times for her mental health problems.
She is dating Shawn Lerner, who later becomes a close friend.

Feb. 26, 2012: Millard’s girlfriend, Christina Noudga, and Babcock have a text exchange that raises the tension between Millard and Noudga.

Noudga: Happy birthday. A year ago today was the first time I slept with Dellen.
Babcock: That’s fine, I slept with him a couple of weeks ago.
Noudga: Did you miss your medication today? You’re a crazy psycho bitch just trying to get my boyfriend. You had him and you lost him. Give it up.

April 16, 2012: The following texts are sent:

Millard to Babcock: You are harmful to me. please don’t try to contact me until you’ve made some huge leaps of self discovery. as i said before, good luck with life.

Babcock texts mutual friend Andrew Michalski: ya dells def not a fan of me. He told me he told xtina when he slept with me before. Erg these ppl cause [so] much unwanted drama for me. and bring me into it.

April 17, 2012: Millard sends Noudga a text letting her know he is going to take care of the Babcock problem.
Millard to Noudga: first im going to hurt her. Then I’ll make her leave. I will remove her from our lives.

May 2012: Millard asks his mechanic Shane Schlatman to order a commercial incinerator.

June 2012:

Babcock works for Last Minute Escorts.
She couch surfs with her dog, Lacey.
Lerner gives Babcock an iPad for her so she can search for apartments.

June 26, 2012: Babcock, 23, is last seen near Queen Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto around 9 p.m.

July 2, 2012: Matthew Ward-Jackson (a rapper called Ish) sells Millard a .32-calibre handgun.

July 3, 2012:

Both Millard and Babcock’s phones ping off towers together as they move from Kipling station to Millard’s Etobicoke home. Smich’s phone pings near Millards home as well.
Millard send Smich a text at 7:30pm. Millard to Smich: I’m on a mission, back in 1 hr.

July 4, 2012:

Millard’s computer connects to Babcock’s iPad and renamed Mark’s iPad.
Babcock’s phone goes dead.
2:40pm — An object wrapped in a blue tarp at the Waterloo farm is photographed on Millard’s phone.
6p.m. Millard places an order for a new mattress paying for quick delivery.

July 5, 2012: The $15,424.50 animal incinerator, The Eliminator, that Schlatman ordered arrives.

July 7, 2012: Millard’s phone notifies him a calendar reminder to do a “Barn smell check.”

July 11, 2012: Schlatman, with Millard and Smich’s assistance, build a trailer for The Eliminator.

July 14, 2012: Lerner and Babcock’s family both file missing persons reports.

July 23, 2012:

Millard and Smich’s phones ping towers travelling from the airport hanger to Millard’s farm in Waterloo.
3:07 p.m. — Millard texts Smich: Bbq has run its warm up, it’s ready for meat.
10:38 p.m. — Millard’s phone Googles “What temperature is cremation done at?”
Photos from Millard’s phone show objects burning in The Eliminator, the objects are later identified as human bones during court testimony from a forensic expert.

July 24, 2012: Mark’s iPad (previously Babcock’s) records written rap lyrics attributed to Smich that say “The bitch started off all skin and bone/ Now the bitch lay on some ashy stone/ Last time I saw her’s outside the home/ And if you go swimming you can find her phone.”

July 27, 2012: Babcock’s cell phone bill arrives at her parent’s house and Lerner sees her last calls were to Millard. When he confronts Millard, he is told that Babcock called looking for drugs and a place to stay. Millard says he turned her down for both.

Aug. 2012: Smich invited friends Desi Liberatore and David Cronin inside the garage at his mother’s home in Oakville to smoke pot. Smich raps the lyrics for them and then makes a confession that he “killed a girl, burned a body, and disposed of it in a lake.”

Nov. 29, 2012: Wayne Millard is found dead with a gunshot wound through his eye. Inside the Etobicoke home he shares with Dellen at the time were Dellen, Dellen’s mother, and Dellen’s ex-fiance. Mark Smich is living in the basement. His death is ruled a suicide.

May 5, 2013: Two men meet up with a seller in Toronto to test drive his truck. The seller later says he found them suspicious.

May 6, 2013: Two men arrive at Tim Bosma’s home in Ancaster to test drive his Dodge Ram pickup truck he had listed for sale on Kijiji. It is after 9:30p.m. and Bosma mentions that it is late for a test drive, but accompanies them anyway. He is never seen again.

May 7, 2013: Hamilton Police Service declare Bosma officially missing.

May 9, 2013: Sharlene Bosma (Tim’s wife) appeals to the kidnappers to return her husband during a press conference.

May 10, 2013: Bosma’s phone is located in Brantford.

May 11, 2013: Dellen Millard is arrested and charged with forcible confinement and theft over $5,000 in relation to the Tim Bosma disappearance.

May 12, 2013: Bosma’s truck is found at Millard’s mother’s home in Kleinburg home.

May 15, 2013:

Police confirm Bosma’s burned remains were found on Millard’s farm.
Millard is charged with first-degree murder.

May 21, 2013: Police announce they are reopening the cases of Babcock’s disappearance and Wayne Millard’s death.

May 22, 2013: Mark Smich is arrested for the murder of Tim Bosma

May 23, 2013: Mark Smich is charged with first-degree murder in Bosma’s death.

Dec. 2013: Police find Babcock’s red duffel bag in Smich’s Oakville home.

April 9, 2014:

Millard and Smich are charged with first-degree murder in Babcock’s death.
Millard is charged with first-degree murder in his father’s death.

April 10, 2014: Christina Noudga is charged with accessory after the fact to murder in connection with Bosma’s death.

April 2014: During a search of Noudga’s home in Etobicoke, police find 65 letters from Millard with incriminating statements in them, like “the night Laura disappeared, I told you Laura was over doing coke with Mark in the basement… Later when she’s reported missing, I told you that Mark told me that she OD’d” and “that stuff I wrote before… that was just brainstorming. Forget it.” He asks Noudga to destroy the letter.

Feb. 1, 2016: Dellen and Smich’s trial for the murder of Tim Bosma begins.

April 21, 2016: Smich’s former girlfriend, Marlena Meneses, testified that Millard shot and killed Bosma.

May 11, 2016: Smich testifies that Millard shot and killed Bosma, disposing of his body in the animal incinerator on Millard’s farm.

May 18, 2016: The Crown point to a botched truck robbery, motivated by the financial desperation, led to Bosma’s murder.

June 17, 2016: Millard and Smich found guilty of first-degree murder.

The Victims

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8364816-dellen-millard-argues-life-sentence-in-laura-babcock-murder-is-too-harsh/

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/canada/dellen-millard-and-mark-smich-to-be-sentenced-for-laura-babcocks-murder/wcm/0d4547ff-6bd4-495f-9fef-edd0483488c6

https://www.toronto.com/opinion-story/8001529-his-letters-to-a-girlfriend-were-the-undoing-of-dellen-millard/

http://www.iheartradio.ca/610cktb/news/witness-testifies-about-bad-blood-between-dellen-millard-and-laura-babcock-1.3455789

http://www.intelligencer.ca/2016/04/14/parties-with-drugs-women-and-bacon-the-millionaire-lifestyle-of-tim-bosmas-accused-killer-dellen-millard

https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/dellen-millard

March 13, 2018May 19, 2018

Sousa, Leah

Unsolved: The Murder of Leah Sousa

$50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Leah’s killer
Call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS)

Leah was about to enter high school after the Labour Day long weekend when she was viciously sexually assaulted and beaten to death.

Map of Cumberland Beach

On Sept. 1, 1990, 13-year-old Leah Sousa, her 9-month-old brother, Michael, and mother Lora, 36, returned to their Cumberland Beach, Ontario, home from an extended vacation. Exhausted from their trip, they all fell asleep, Lora in the bedroom with the baby and Leah on the living room couch.

Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., an intruder(s) broke the glass of the back door, entered the home and beat Lora into unconsciousness. She was found on the living room floor with a smashed portable phone nearby. Michael was left unharmed in the bedroom.

The assailant(s) then sexually assaulted Leah, dragged her into the backyard where she was brutally beaten to death with a blunt object, possibly a crowbar or tire iron.

Her body was found around 10:30 a.m.by a school friend.

Although Lora survived, she suffered memory loss from the attack, making it difficult to identify a suspect(s) and the only evidence left at the scene was a bloody footprint made by a man’s size 9 or 10 all-leather Nike court or tennis shoe.

Here is what police think:

The assailant(s) either lived in the area or were very familiar with the Cumberland Beach
The assailant(s) targeted the Sousas knowing they were vulnerable; a single-mother with a baby and teenage daughter
The murder weapon has never been recovered
The assailant(s) would have been covered in blood after the assault, so someone would have noticed or he/they changed clothes and washed up directly afterwards
The attack occurred during the long-weekend and Cumberland Beach is located near tourist areas along Lake Couchiching

Help bring Leah’s killer to justice!!

Cumberland Beach is a small community about an hour’s drive north of Toronto. It is situated on Lake Couchiching in Simcoe County. The closest large city is Orillia.

The Sousa’s cottage (3421 Beachview Ave.) was situated about halfway between Cumberland Rd.and Lakeside Dr. on the north-east side of the street. The neighbours are both sides are very close to the home, but the backyard is shaded by a thicket of trees that leads to an empty lot on Coronation Ave. The nighttime and trees would cover the killer as he approached the back door.

The lot the house sits on is about 132×50 feet.

Highway 11, which connects Cumberland Beach to Orillia and Severn, is about 350 metres from the Sousa’s front door, while Bayou Beach (a public beach) is just over 400 metres. On either side of Bayou Beach are plenty of cottages with private docks.

The Sousa home as it looked in 1990

Possible Suspects

The OPP conducted over 1,800 interviews and followed-up on all tips, but no one has ever been arrested for the murder of Leah Sousa.

Investigators describe Leah’s killing as one of Ontario’s most brutal homicides ever, yet the was very little forensic evidence left behind. They believe that someone still living in Cumberland has information that could help them crack the case.

Following are some official and some completely speculative persons of interest.

Brian Timothy Elson

Brian Elson was interviewed multiple times by investigators after Leah’s murder. Police believe he was in Cumberland Beach on Sept. 1, 1990, and his grandmother lived on Beachfront Dr., down the street from the Sousas, at the time.

A mere four months after Leah’s death, Elson stabbed 17-year-old Sandra Bannister to death at a party. He was convicted of manslaughter and spent six years in prison. He was considered such a threat to society that police monitored his movements for three years after his release.

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In his book, “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case”, retired OPP officer Barry Ruhl believes a serial killer he calls Larry Talbot could be responsible for the death of Leah Sousa, as well as many other girls and women in southwestern Ontario.

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

Later, he attended a community policing meeting about Leah Sousa’s murder where he learned that the intruder gained entrance to the home by smashing out the back door window. This was also how Talbot broke into Ruhl’s cottage 21 years earlier.

A traveling salesman, Talbot frequented the highways of southwestern Ontario and a “rape kit” was found in his car, but he died before he was thoroughly investigated for any unsolved murders, including:

Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
Pauline Ivy Dudley, 17, from Oakville, was killed in 1973. Halton Regional Police informed Ruhl that Talbot was the prime suspect in her case.
Christine Prince, from Toronto, was killed in 1982. Her body was found floating in Toronto’s Rouge River.
Delia Adriano, 25, from Oakville, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in rural Oakville west of Campbellville.
Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.

Possible Drug Vendetta

In her book, “Poetic Justice: The Search for Leah’s Killers”, Leah’s mother Lora reveals that her brother was a drug dealer who was living with them at the time of the murder. She says it is possible that the assault was drug-related and that the killers were actually looking for him.

Michael Wayne Mcgray

A Sept. 23, 2012, a user named Chrisdiane posted the following on unsolvedcanada.ca:

“I was in prison with a serial killer named Mike Wayne Mcgray. He described in great detail to me this murder….maybe because I am an ex-con or there is a 50 thousand dollar reward my credibility is questioned. Noone seems to take me seriously but I am telling you I interviewed the devil. I was a career criminal who thought I was a bad person until I met Wayne. I have never reoffended since my release from prison and I have turned my life around. I truly believe with all my heart this man did this crime which he described in great detail to me. I am ashamed to admitt I befriended him while in prison but sometimes you keep your enemies closer than your friends as the saying goes. I grew up on a small town on Vancouver Island and had no wayof ever knowingabout this crime. I dont care about the reward money allthough I would not refuse it. I have looked into this crime and i think the family deserves closure…..Mcgray told me if he was ever questioned about this crime he would not deny his guilt. Please someone hear this”

Sources

OPP continues search for killer 25 years after Leah Sousa murdered, CTV News Barrie

Murder Most Forgotten: A cold case the victim can’t remember, CTV News, Jan. 30, 2010, updated December 13, 2012

COLD CASE: Search for child killer continues 27 years after Leah Sousa murder, Gravenhurst Banner, June 4, 2017

‘Viable suspect’ explored in murder that saw Steven Truscott wrongfully convicted, TheRecord.com, Nov. 25, 2014

Ruhl, Barry. “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case,” Oct. 21, 2014, p. 141

March 8, 2018June 3, 2018

McDougall, Neil James

Missing: Neil McDougall

Circumstances

Neil McDougall left Three-Way Demolition in Durham on Friday, October 11, 1985 with a co-worker and went home. He had an argument with his wife and the friend left. After supper Mr. McDougall went to Ayton, to the Commercial Hotel. He left the hotel with someone else and they met up elsewhere with the co-worker. Mr. McDougall returned to the hotel and left at closing time, between 1:30 – 1:40 am. He was last reported leaving a residence on Edmund Street, Ayton at 2 a.m. October 12, 1985. His pickup truck was discovered near Ayton later that day. The ashtray was filled with different brands of cigarette butts. He has been described as meticulous, habitual, responsible and hardworking. When he went missing, Neil was planning to adopt his wife's children. Foul play is suspected. Mr. McDougall was declared legally dead in 1996. In 2007, the case was reopened and OPP Det.-Const. Dan Linkenheld told the media that police believe they knew what happened and they needed someone to finally talk about what they would only call "an event" attended by "many people" after bar-closing time the night McDougall disappeared.

Map

Click on icons to see important places

Audrey Desjardins disappeared on her way home from St. Davids canning factory
Website hoped to link Welland woman missing since 1996

(Archived) Sun Media, Nov 18, 2009

The case of Audrey Desjardins, one of those highlighted on the site, has stumped investigators and relatives for years.

NRP Det. Const. Deb Smith said the then 43-year-old woman was last seen 13 years ago after she dropped off a friend in Welland following a night shift at Nabisco.

As usual, the two women told each other they’d see each other again that night for work.

“No one ever saw (Audrey) again,” Smith said.

The burgundy 1985 Ford Crown Victoria she had been driving – a Mother’s Day present from her husband – has never been spotted, either.

Police carried out 35 dives in the Welland Canal and water bodies across the region over the course of five years looking for the missing woman without success.

The case remains fresh on the minds of dive unit members and others who’ve searched for Audrey, regardless of the time that’s passed, Smith said.

“It impacts everyone when someone goes missing. It’s not just the family that loses. It’s the community that loses,” she said.

“I think that’s what makes this project so special – we care.”

Gaetan Desjardins said he hopes the online database will help bring the family some answers about what happened to his wife.

“We may get some closure,” he said. “It’s almost 13 years ago. They didn’t find a car. They didn’t find clues. Nothing. There’s no trace. If you have a trace, you have something to go on.”

General Information

Missing Date: October 12, 1985

Location: West Grey, ON

Age at Disappearance: 40

Date of Birth: 1945

Alias/Nickname:

Sex: Male

Disappeared while: N/A

Foul Play Suspected: Yes

Person of Interest:

Physical Description

Ethnicity: ["European Descent"]

Complexion: Light/Fair

Hair: Blonde curly

Eyes: Blue

Height: 6'

Weight: 174 lbs.

Build: Thin/Slender

Scars:

Tattoos:

Piercings:

Clothing: Blue work pants, blue work jacket with his name on it

Jewelry:

Possible Contributing Factors

Medical Condition: No

Description of Medical Condition:

Mental Illness: No

Description of Mental Illness:

Potential Domestic: No

Details on Potential Domestic:

First Nations: No

Substance Addiction: No

Sex Worker: No

Disabled: No

Other:

Suspect Description (all approximate)

Number of Suspects:

Composite of Suspect:

Age:

Sex: Unknown

Ethnicity: Unknown

Complexion: N/A

Hair:

Eyes:

Scars:

Tattoos:

Height:

Weight:

Build: N/A

Clothing:

Other Identifiers:

Description of Car or Truck:

Investigating Agencies

NCMPUR Case reference: 2009004799

Email: canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

West Grey Police Service: 519-369-3046
Reference Case#: RM06000075

Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477) or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/webtipsstart.aspx

Links

$50,000 reward heats up Durham cold case, Sun Times, Owen Sound, July 3, 2016

March 8, 2018June 9, 2018

Desjardins, Audrey