Accused in Tim Bosma slaying says gun not buried in ‘magical forest’
Posted May 16, 2016 5:46 am.
Last Updated May 16, 2016 2:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A man accused of killing Tim Bosma – who vanished three years ago after going on a test drive with two strangers – told court Monday he didn’t bury a gun he believes was used to kill the Hamilton father in a “magical forest.”
Under hours of cross-examination by the lawyer for co-accused Dellen Millard, Mark Smich said remembers taping the gun, putting it in a bag and cycling to a forest to bury it.
But Smich said he couldn’t remember a single detail about the ride, why he taped the gun, or even if he passed any landmarks along the way.
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“Is this a gun burial induced amnesia?” asked Nadir Sachak of Smich’s memory lapses. “You’ve forgotten every detail except that it’s in a magical forest.”
“I was under a lot of shock and stress, I don’t know where (the gun) is,” Smich said. It was a line he repeated dozens of times Monday, unable to recollect much from the two weeks after Bosma died.
Smich and Millard have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Bosma’s death.
Last week, Smich told court Millard fatally shot Bosma during the May 6, 2013, test drive and later burned his body in an animal incinerator. He said he received the gun from a mutual friend and then buried it.
Sachak focused of much of his questioning Monday on the missing gun. By process of elimination, Smich agreed he buried the gun in a forest somewhere in Oakville.
Court saw several videos of Smich being interviewed by Hamilton police detectives the night he was arrested, on May 22, 2013. In the interview, Smich is seated, holding a blanket tightly and avoiding looking at the detective.
“Where is the gun son? Where’s the gun?” Staff Sgt. Matt Kavanagh asks in the video, his voice rising. “Bring some peace to this family.”
“I don’t know,” Smich responds in the video, sniffling into his arm.
Smich told court Monday he was under advice from his lawyer of his right to remain silent, which is why he didn’t talk much to police.
“That very gun may have 100 per cent proof as to who held it when it was fired,” Sachak said.
“Correct,” Smich said.
“And the jury will never have the benefit to see that gun?” Sachak said.
“Correct,” Smich said.
Smich admitted he held the gun he said Millard used to kill Bosma after Sachak put up a photo of a partially hidden man holding a gun with two fingers. The photo was taken about 10 months before Bosma vanished.
“That DNA (on the gun) can exonerate you or totally implicate you, you knew that?” Sachak asked.
“I knew I had handled the gun before and I knew that Dellen Millard used the gun to kill Mr. Bosma, so I wrapped it up,” Smich said.
Smich also alleged that several other witnesses in the case, including his girlfriend, a close friend and Millard’s girlfriend, lied at times during their testimony.
