Two men accused of killing a young Toronto woman and burning her body have been found guilty of first-degree murder.Dellen Millard and Mark Smich had pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the death of 23-year-old Laura Babcock, whose body has not been found.Babcock’s family and several jurors cried as the verdict was read out, amid quiet cheers from the courtroom. As the courtroom cleared, the family hugged each other, marking the end of a long and taxing trial. Read more: Dellen Millard’s mistrial request dismissed as jury deliberates verdict in Laura Babcock murder caseRosie DiManno: Guns, drugs and murder: What the Laura Babcock jury wasn’t toldRosie DiManno: Dellen Millard’s defence tactics: Stall, whine and divert blameThe Crown alleges Babcock was killed in July 2012 because she had become the odd woman out in a love triangle with Millard and his girlfriend.Prosecutors have said Millard and Smich planned the murder for months and covered up their crime by burning Babcock’s body in an animal incinerator that was later found on Millard’s farm.Millard, 32, of Toronto, and Smich, 30, of Oakville, Ont., have said the Crown failed to prove that Babcock is dead.The two men were convicted last year of killing Tim Bosma, a 32-year-old Ancaster, Ont., man who disappeared in May 2013 while trying to sell his pickup truck, and burning his body in Millard’s incinerator.The pair was automatically sentenced to life imprisonment without a chance of parole for 25 years in Babcock’s death.All 12 jurors recommended consecutive sentences for Millard, while only five recommended that Smich receive the maximum parole ineligibility — the seven others made no recommendation.Justice Michael Code told jurors the consecutive sentencing provision is new to the criminal code and said the final decision on sentencing rests with him, but he will consider their recommendations.A sentencing hearing will likely take place sometim ...
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