HAMILTON – Dellen Millard appeared alert but said little as he heard in court Wednesday morning that he is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tim Bosma.Millard’s appearance lasted about 15 minutes in a courtroom that was packed with spectators.
Millard, 27, who is tall and lanky, was dressed in a wrinkled dress shirt and had a scruffy growth of beard.
He did not appear nervous, but didn’t speak other than to give his name in a clear voice.
Millard was ordered held in custody for his next court appearance, and a publication ban was ordered on evidence presented at Wednesday’s hearing.
*MORE ON THESTAR.COM*:
More questions than answers as community mourns Ancaster father Tim Bosma
Dellen Millard will be charged with murder; a second vehicle involved
Social media erupt with shock, anger, sadness
Bosma was a 32-year-old, churchgoing husband to his wife, Sharlene, father to a 2-year-old daughter and owner of a beloved Great Dane.
He listed his 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck online for sale. A week ago Monday, when two people called and appeared to look at it, he climbed in for a test drive with them and never came home.
Clues were left scattered across the GTA for more than 100 police officers to find in the week since his disappearance, starting with his cellphone in Brantford, his car in Kleinburg and finally his badly burned body in Waterloo.
Many of those bread crumbs led to Millard, police alleged. He is the only suspect in custody after his arrest last week when he was charged with theft and forcible confinement.
Yet the discovery of Bosma’s body has only compounded the already confusing and difficult question: Why him?
Police insist Bosma was the family man he was portrayed as, devoid of a criminal record. They believe he was targeted, his car followed from his Ancaster home by another vehicle when he left for the test drive after 9 p.m. on May 6. But they’ve been unable to decipher a motive.
“It’s very raw,” said Pastor John Veenstra who preaches at Ancaster Christian Reformed Church, a squat brick building with a wrought-iron steeple where Bosma attended mass with his family since he was a little boy. “They’re devastated. Nobody wanted it to end like this.”
After a grassroots search online amassed thousands of followers, making the hashtag #FindTimBosma viral on Twitter, there was an absence of updates on Tuesday, replaced by an outpouring of condolences.
Peter Lowe, who has been speaking on behalf of the family, posted to a Facebook page that drew more than 40,000 to help search for Bosma.
“The agony in this house is indescribable,” he wrote.
The news of Bosma’s death has since reached beyond Hamilton, outside of the GTA and across the country.
The account for Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted to his followers: “My thoughts and prayers go out to Tim Bosma’s family during this difficult time.”
Premier Kathleen Wynne also tweeted: “My heart goes out to Tim Bosma’s family and friends. I can’t begin to understand this tragedy.”
Det.-Sgt. Matt Kavanagh, Hamilton police’s lead homicide investigator on the case, said he visited Bosma’s rural Ancaster home several times, where friends and family had gathered to mobilize the community and help online.
“The garage was full of people tweeting,” Kavanagh said. “It’s quite amazing just how much it’s touched our community.”
He said the online campaign helped in the hunt, with a dedicated officer combing social media responses for tips as they came in.
“I think it’s a terrible crime,” he said. “That’s why there’s so much media attention. Because this affects us all. It affects the entire community. It affects me as well.”
In Bosma’s quiet borough, that shared grief was on display Tuesday evening as flowers piled high at the end of the driveway outside his family home.
“It’s just so deeply saddening,” said neighbour Henry Mostert, who lives with his wife, Nancy, and their kids down the rolling country road flanked by fields and groves of leafy trees.
He described their faith-based neighbourhood as tight-knit. “It’s kind of like one person’s suffering is everybody’s suffering.”
But still, without answers, it’s hard to move on.
“You’re thankful for the closure, I suppose,” Nancy Mostert added. “And now begins the grieving. The whole community will grieve with them, definitely.”
With files from Alex Ballingall and Liam Casey Reported by Toronto Star 4 hours ago.