Serial killer Dellen Millard is appealing his first-degree murder conviction and sentence for the death of his father, arguing the outcome of his case was unreasonable.
Millard was found guilty in September of murdering his dad, Wayne Millard, whose death in 2012 was initially ruled a suicide.
In December, Justice Maureen Forestell sentenced the 33-year-old to his third consecutive life sentence, which means he will serve 75 years in prison before being able to apply for parole.
Two days after being sentenced, Millard filed a notice of appeal disputing Forestell’s conclusions.
“The verdict is unreasonable,” Millard wrote in the document dated Dec. 20. “The sentence is unconstitutional.”
Millard, who had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father, a wealthy aviation executive, is also appealing his first-degree murder convictions and sentences for the deaths of Hamilton’s Tim Bosma, a complete stranger, and Toronto’s Laura Babcock, his one-time lover.
Millard had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father, a wealthy aviation executive. (Court exhibit)
He committed those two murders with his former friend, Mark Smich, who is also appealing the verdicts in those cases.
Forestell, who presided over the Wayne Millard case without a jury, found that Dellen Millard shot his 71-year-old father through the left eye as he slept on Nov. 29, 2012.
She found that Millard took steps to set up a false alibi by leaving his car, a cellphone and his credit card at Smich’s house while he took a taxi to his father’s place in the middle of the night.
Forestell said at sentencing last month that there was faint hope for Millard’s rehabilitation.
“Dellen Millard has repeatedly committed the most serious offence known to our law,” she said.
“He has done so with considerable planning and premeditation. In the murder of his father, he took advantage of the vulnerability of his father and betrayed his father’s trust in him.”
A sketch of Dellen Millard, left, in court. Lawyer Ravin Pillay, centre, represented him and Justice Maureen Forestell presided over the trial. (Pam Davies)
Millard’s lawyer argued the consecutive sentence without parole eligibility was unduly long and harsh but the judge disagreed.
“It is necessary to impose a further penalty in order to express society’s condemnation of each of the murders that he has committed and to acknowledge the harm done to each of the victims,” she said.
“Dellen Millard is capable of gaining the trust of friends, relatives and strangers. Mr. Millard has, however, used his ability to gain such trust as a vehicle for planned and deliberate killings.”
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