Dark Ambition by Ann Brocklehurst

Author:Ann Brocklehurst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

TEN

THE BROS

Dellen Millard acquired his burner cell phone in March 2013. Even though the Toronto Police had inexplicably failed to follow up with him about Laura Babcock’s last calls to his regular cell, Millard knew he might not get that lucky again. He realized that his own phone could connect him to people he didn’t want to be connected to. What he failed to understand was that the pings from his cell phone also told an important story. Early in the trial, the prosecution introduced a PowerPoint exhibit tracking the movement of Millard’s and Smich’s cell phones, as well as the new burner phone registered in the name of Lucas Bate.

The presentation began with a display of calls made from the Bate phone on the evening of Friday, May 3. Two were to men selling Dodge Ram trucks: Dennis Araujo, at 8:33 P.M., followed by Omar Palmili, at 8:36. Less than half an hour later, at 9:01, a call was made on Millard’s phone. All three of these calls bounced off cell towers near Millard’s Maple Gate home. The same pattern occurred on Saturday, May 4, as the burner phone was used to contact truck sellers while Millard made and received calls to friends on his personal phone. Once again, the cell tower information suggested the two phones were together at Millard’s home.

Andrew Michalski, Millard’s worshipful Baja companion, who was living at Maple Gate at the time, tells the court that he recalls his friend looking for a truck that weekend. Millard showed him a Kijiji ad for a black Dodge Ram 3500 pickup on his computer. “He asked me if he should steal it from the asshole or the nice guy,” Michalski says. “I told him to fuck off.”

“Why was that the response you gave?” asks prosecutor Craig Fraser.

“I didn’t think he needed to steal a truck.”

“ ‘Asshole’ or ‘nice guy.’ Did you know who he was referring to?”

“No.”

That May 4 afternoon, the burner phone had been used to call Omar Palmili, Igor Tumanenko, and Tim Bosma, and test drives were set up for the next day with Palmili and Tumanenko. Most likely, Tumanenko, the Russian who had served in the Israeli army, was the seller Millard referred to as “the asshole.” The nice guy could have been either Palmili or Bosma, but in the courtroom a lot of people automatically assume Millard was referring to Tim Bosma. It’s an uncomfortable moment in Michalski’s testimony, which is overall very damning for both accused.

Michalski makes a far better impression in real life than he does on Facebook. He is big and tall, with chin-length hair pulled back in a partial ponytail. On his first day of testimony, he wears a light-blue sports jacket, white shirt, and black pants. For the three days he is on the witness stand, he is accompanied in the courtroom by his mother, brother, and aunt. He is respectful of court procedures, and he and his brother allow the media to photograph them as they arrive at and leave the courthouse.

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