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Two men accused in Bosma murder going to trial by Susan Clairmont Hamilton Spectator 3 | Thursday, July 24, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com The hope is a trial date will be set in September for the two men accused in the first-degree murder of Tim Bosma. The reality is it will likely be a year or more before that trial actually happens. The direct indictment of the case against accused killers Dellen Millard and Mark Smich was officially lodged with the Superior Court of Justice Friday -- an important but bland court proceeding -- with both men appearing briefly by video as they have done many times previously. Unlike earlier video appearances, which were held in the Ontario Court of Justice, this time the lawyers were wearing robes and a judge presided, rather than a justice of the peace. The Bosma family was there, as always, seated in the first and second rows waiting for what amounts to brief glimpses of the men charged with abducting and murdering Tim. Millard is looking heavier than when he was first arrested a little more than a year ago. He now has a beard and shaggy hair. As usual, he stood in an orange jumpsuit at the HamiltonWentworth Detention Centre, hands folded in front of himself, speaking confidently when spoken to. Smich, beamed in from Toronto East Detention Centre and also in orange, has not changed much during his months behind bars. Like always, he said little. Tim, 32, left his wife and small daughter at their Ancaster home on May 6, 2013 to take two strangers for a test drive of the truck he was selling. He never returned. Hamilton homicide investigators believe he was killed within hours, his body incinerated. Smich and Millard are also charged with the first-degree murMark Smich der of Laura Babcock, 23, of Toronto who has been missing since June 2012. Millard, who may be proved a serial killer, is further charged with the first-degree murder of his father, Wayne Millard, whose death in November 2012 was initially ruled a suicide. Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur made the rare and controversial decision Monday to skip the usual preliminary hearing scheduled for September on the charges related to Tim. The Hamilton Spectator has learned both defence lawyers -- Deepak Paradkar for Millard and Thomas Dungey for Smich ­ made submissions opposing the direct indictment, yet Meilleur sent the case "straight to trial" as it is often phrased. However, that doesn't mean the next step is the actual trial. There is a great deal of legal and procedural work that must be done first. On Sept. 9, lawyers for both accused will meet with the Crown attorneys and a judge (not the eventual trial judge) to have a judicial pretrial. This is their first chance to discuss the mechanics of the trial: How long will it take? How many witnesses? Will there be a change of venue application? What will be the legal challenges that will have to be dealt with? Is disclosure complete? It could take months -- or longer -- to work through those details. On Sept. 19, Millard and Smich will appear again by video in assignment court. Justice James Turnbull, who presided over Friday's court appearance, suggested a trial date might be discussed at that time. So more than one year in, with dozens of court appearances by Smich, Millard and their co-accused Christina Noudga (Millard's girlfriend who is charged with accessory after the fact to murder) and no evidence has been heard. Once the proceedings get to a point where evidence is entered -- a bail hearing for Noudga could happen at some point -- Sharlene Bosma will likely no longer be able to sit in court. It is almost certain she will be called as a witness at trial because she saw the men Tim left with the night he vanished. As a witness, she would be excluded from the courtroom until after she has testified. But for now, she is there. Every single time. INJURED? I Can Help! 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