Saturday 25 May 2013

Kijiji Killers

I have been avoiding writing this but I would feel remiss if I neglected mentioning one of the biggest murder cases in Canada. I feel I need to write about this since what I write about is Hamilton and sadly this case took place in and around the city. It is such a disgusting, weird, twisted case. Everybody in this city is talking about it and I have to admit I'm somewhat over hearing all the theories. From here on out I only want to hear the real facts. I'm intrigued (and I wish I wasn't) as to the real reasons that Dellen Millard and Mark Smich (allegedly) felt that Tim Bosma deserved to lose his life.

You have probably heard about this case. The suspects contacted Bosma about a truck that he was selling on Kijiji. They made plans to test drive the truck, Bosma accompanied them and was never seen again. His truck was missing and a nation-wide search began. His truck was found a week later at the home of Millard's mother. Although the hope was that Bosma would be found alive, his burnt remains were found a couple days later on one of Millard's rural properties. One of the most interesting things about this case was the role social media and the community played in the search. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case all the time.

The poster seen across Canada.

 Since Bosma's death another man has gone missing in Hamilton and there has barely been anything heard about that. I had briefly seen one post about it on Facebook but when trying to find information about it for this post I couldn't find anything about it. It makes me sad that the community doesn't rise up about all of the other missing persons out there. Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad for the sake of the Bosma family that everything (although not the outcome that was wanted) was discovered pretty quickly.

I really hope that everything is found out that needs to be found out and that justice is delivered. At this point I think the Bosma family and even the entire city needs for this to wrap up. This particular murder has left a big grey cloud over the city.

Smich has already pleaded not guilty and it appears that Millard will also be entering a not guilty plea. Only time will tell what brought these two to (allegedly) commit such a monstrous act.  Until then that's all from me on this matter.

Dellen Millard, Suspect #1 (His wrist tattoo with the word Ambition lead to his arrest)
Mark Smich, Suspect #2.

The only thing I have left to say is that I wish we didn't live in a world where these stories were so common. It has reminded me that life is fleeting so to hold those you love close and never forget those who have been taken.






4 comments:

  1. I think the difference between the 2 men missing is the family and friends plastered the social media......gave it a face....and a lead up story "test drive".

    They also gave it a face with the wife doing a press release and people connected to that. A team of his family and friends Everyday they posted posters and posted all over FB and Twitter from day one. Then the more they did the more joined it and so on and so forth.

    How a case is opened up to the community/mainstream/media seems to be directly factored on the friend and family and their role in setting up the social media campaign.

    Good to know for us, in case God forbid any of us find ourselves in a similar situation.

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  2. Hi, thanks for commenting!

    I agree the family and friends definitely spearheaded the search and social media but the way the community flocked to it is what was most interesting.

    I have to say though that I doubt that the other missing people's families are sitting around doing nothing, I'm sure they're trying to get the word out. For some reason this case in particular really struck a chord with people and that is why it went so mainstream.

    Hopefully we'll never have to be in that situation.

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  3. Hi Tamara,

    On behalf of Kijiji, I want to let you know that, like you and many other Canadians, we are also saddened by this tragic news. We also wanted to ensure you were aware of the details as it relates to Kijiji: We confirmed to the police that the ad posted by Mr. Bosma on Kijiji did not feature personal contact information, nor did it receive any replies, which determines the incident did not occur as result of his ad posting on Kijiji. A number of early media articles inaccurately referenced Kijiji in their stories, many have been updated since. There is additional information available in Kijiji’s statement: http://kijijiblog.ca/online-safety/. Feel free to respond in the comments if anything is unclear or if you would like to connect directly.

    Thanks

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  4. Thank you for clearing that up Derick.

    ReplyDelete