Blog Posts by Matthew Coutts

On the surface, two suspects charged in the murder of Tim Bosma seem to have few similarities. One is the heir of an aviation dynasty with a clean, although suspect, history. The other, a young man from a broken home with five minor convictions under his youthful belt.

Yet Dellen Millard and 25-year-old Mark Smich now sit in the same seat: in custody, facing charges in the death of Bosma, who disappeared after leaving his family to take two young men on a test drive in his truck.

Bosma’s body was discovered burned beyond recognition on Millard’s property last week – more than six days after the father of one disappeared. Millard was arrested and has been charged with first-degree murder, forcible confinement and the theft of Bosma’s truck. It would be another week before Smich was picked up by officers on the street of his family’s Oakville, Ont., neighbourhood.

Police allege that is was Millard and Smich who took that test drive with Bosma. A third suspect is outstanding.

[ Related: 2nd

Read More »from Who is Tim Bosma murder suspect Mark Smich?

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford leaves city hall in Toronto on Thursday May 23, 2013.

Those watching the collapse of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and waiting for the release of a video allegedly showing him smoking from a crack pipe may never get to see that piece of the puzzle, but it appears those closest to the mayor are fed up and want a resolution.

The U.S. gossip site Gawker, which originally broke the news of the video, has been collecting donations from the public in order to pay the alleged drug dealers that possess the video. The site says, however, that tracking down their sources has become tricky and it fears they may have disappeared.

Regardless of the veracity of the video, this appears to be good news for Ford, who has taken the tactic of ignoring the problem until it goes away. But it’s not going away, with many of his closest allies and advisers becoming increasingly concerned about a possible drug addiction.

A letter signed by six members of Ford's executive committee has been released asking the mayor to "definitively address the allegations before him.

"The

Read More »from Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's inner circle releases statement asking he address crack allegations

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has reportedly fired his chief of staff on Thursday, one week after reports emerged that Ford was videotaped smoking from a crack pipe.

The Mayor's Office released a statement announcing the decision:

Effective immediately, Mark Towhey is no longer working in the Office of the Mayor. Mr. Towhey has been an intricate part of the Mayor's Office and has made many valuable contributions. The Mayor thanks Mr. Towhey for his valuable service and wishes him the very best in his future endeavors. Earl Provost, Deputy Chief of Staff, will assume the role of Acting Chief of Staff until further notice.

Mark Towhey left Toronto City Hall after speaking with the mayor Thursday afternoon. CBC News reporter Jamie Strashin says Towhey confirmed it was not his decision to leave.

Mayor's Chief of Staff Mark Towhey has been fired according him. He just left city hall.#sl

— Jamie Strashin (@StrashinCBC) May 23, 2013

“My advice for the mayor is confidential,” Towhey told reporters and

Read More »from Rob Ford fires chief of staff Mark Towhey as crack allegations persist

It was about the time that two Canadian correspondents on a U.S. late-night comedy news program proudly declared crack smoking a cherished “Canadian tradition” that the true extent of damage done by suggestions that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoked crack cocaine came into focus.

Folks in Toronto have become accustomed to embarrassing scandals and gaffes at the hands of the mighty Ford. Stumbles, literal and political, stream online and on television. His legal issues make headlines as often as any attempt at political progress.

His brusque approach to municipal politics has made enemies out of allies and turned the majority of a once-friendly council against him, ensuring every issue is a contentious Waterloo.

For the most part, Toronto has suffered in private. Well, save for the attention the rest of our fair country is forced to suffer under. But now? Now that our mayor has been accused of being videotaped smoking from a crack pipe, and now that he has refused to address this issue for

Read More »from Rob Ford leaving cracks in Toronto’s international reputation

Two men that hacked a British soldier to death in the streets of London claimed it was a message that the Western world should remove their soldiers from Muslim countries. It was a single horrific assault on the average citizens of England and its allies.

The gruesome death of an unknown soldier came at the hands of two men, believed to be Londoners of Nigerian decent, who set on him with hatchets, machetes and a collection of other instruments.

As the shocked public watched on in horror, before a brave few approached the men unarmed, the men spoke. Video captured one of the men begging citizens to abandon their government, to change their ways, lest more attacks strike city streets.

One woman, a 48-year-old mother of two, stood toe-to-toe with one of the men, a man who was still gripping a cleaver and hovering near a body he had just finished hacking and mutilating. “We won’t stop fighting,” he told her. “You are going to lose,” she said back.

This attack, on a man simply walking down the

Read More »from ‘You are going to lose,’ British mother tells machete-wielding terror suspect

In the midst of a bizarre media appearance on Wednesday, the brother of embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford turned the city’s attention to a crowdsourced attempt to buy a video purportedly showing his brother smoking from a crack pipe.

The bid was launched by U.S. gossip site Gawker after it broke the story that a video existed of Ford smoking from a crack pipe and that a man claiming to be his drug dealer was looking for a “six digit” payday for the recording.

"To the folks at Gawker: What you are doing is disgusting and horribly wrong,” Coun. Doug Ford told reporters on Wednesday. “Giving away prizes to try to raise money for drug dealers and extortionists is disgraceful."

Doug Ford’s decision to address the bid to buy and publish the video likely did not have the effect he intended. After raising $108,000 of its $200,000 target, donations had begun to lag.

In the hours after Doug Ford attacked the campaign, the public poured in $10,000 in further donations, raising the total donation to

Read More »from Are there ethical questions about buying the alleged Rob Ford crack video?

[ Story Updated at 3:30 p..m. ET to include information about Rob Ford's fate as a high school football coach. ]

Six days after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was accused of being captured on video smoking from a crack pipe, his brother executed what one public relations expert called "one of the worst” attempts at damage control he has seen in the past forty years.

Councillor Doug Ford stepped up to the plate in what was to be the first comment of any substance from the Ford family since Gawker and the Toronto Star dropped the bombshell allegations last week.

Instead of offering anything of substance on the issue, Doug Ford whispered a soft denial before attempting to paint his brother as a victim, accusing Toronto media of being pawns of a conspiratorial puppet master and accusing Gawker of extortion over its attempt to purchase a tape purporting to show the incident.

"I'm not speaking for the mayor. The mayor is my brother. I love him and he will speak for himself," Ford began. "Rob is telling

Read More »from Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s brother makes ‘one of the worst’ attempts at damage control

Tim Bosma is seen in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Hamilton Police, FacebookHamilton police have made a second arrest in the Timothy Bosma murder investigation, naming 25-year-old Mark Smich as the second person to be charged in the death of the Ontario father.

Hamilton police announced the arrest on Wednesday, shortly after the end of a public funeral in Hamilton.

"We continue to seek out a third person and continue to go where the evidence leads us," Hamilton police Supt. Dan Kinsella told reporters. "We encourage that individual to turn himself in."

Kinsella went on to say that Smich, of Oakville, Ont., and Dellen Millard, arrested last week, knew each other and that Smich had previous interactions with police.

He alleged that Smich and Millard visited Bosma on the evening on May 6 under the auspices of taking a test drive in a truck Bosma had put up for sale. Bosma did not return from that test drive and police said his body was later found on Millard's property, burned beyond recognition.

[ Related: Widow speaks at Timothy Bosma memorial ]

Millard faces charges

Read More »from Mark Smich named as second suspect arrested in Timothy Bosma murder investigation