BY CASSIDY FOULDS 
The Dellen Millard case has kept Ontarians on their toes for years. The case has been just as gripping as the Robert Pickton or Paul Bernardo cases, and is shrouded in mystery and confusion. New trials, new information and new developments seem to crop up every few months, keeping the story front and centre, and keeping the Bosma family in our hearts and prayers.
Tim Bosma of Ancaster was murdered in 2013 by Millard and his accomplice, Mark Smich, after taking the two of them on a test drive of a truck he was trying to sell.
November marked the beginning of Millard’s girlfriend’s trial. Christina Noudga had been arrested almost a year after Bosma’s murder, but she walked away with nothing but a stern lecture and a criminal record. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of obstructing justice by destroying evidence. (Noudga had helped Millard strip Bosma’s vehicle of evidence, including fingerprints and a DVR containing incriminating footage of Millard and Smich. She maintained that she didn’t know there had been a murder when she did it.)
Noudga was credited with time served prior to the trial: the four months in jail before she received bail, and the two years she spent under house arrest. So, even though her trial occurred last month, and she received a sentence of a year and one day in jail, the judge decided she’s already served her time.
Is this enough punishment?
At first glance it appears not. But, the Bosma family fully supported the sentence, as they avoided reliving tragedy and grief during a possible three-week trial.
According to a Nov. 21 CBC News article, the judge, Superior Court Justice Toni Skarica, said Noudga’s guilty plea was a “significant mitigating factor” in his sentencing. According to the court testimony, Noudga was dragged into the Bosma case without even realizing it, and she has suffered for the last four years because of it.
Noudga is getting a fresh start. From the evidence, this appears to be a fair and just sentence. Hopefully she has latched onto this chance, appreciates the extreme empathy displayed by Skarica, and heeds the advice he gave her: Good things happen in the company of good people. Keep company with good people, and avoid the bad.
The views herein represent the position of the newspaper, not necessarily the author.
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