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Again today more grisly forensic evidence was shown in court in the trial of the two men accused of killing Tim Bosma. In an example of the level of compassion so many feel for Bosma’s family, even a seasoned professional scientist who has often testified in court lost her composure for a moment during her testimony.

Doctor Tracy Rogers is the director of forensic anthropology at the University of Toronto and often consults with law enforcement when they need an expert on bones, she has testified in many cases. Late at night on May 11, 2013 she got a call from an officer who had found bones in the incinerator on Dellen Millard’s farm. She was able to tell from the photos they were human, part of an arm bone and part of a finger bone and she could tell they had been exposed to high heat.

Then she went to the farm herself and spent days cleaning bone fragments out of the incinerator, at first leaning over to scoop, upside down and then getting fully inside. A forensic officer helped catalogue and protect the evidence for transport. She eventually mapped where all the bone fragments belonged on a body and because they came from all parts of a man’s body, she concluded the incinerator had been cleaned out at some point after the body had burned.

After several days, she told the court there were still bits she couldn’t get with her broom, so she got a vacuum to make sure all the bone pieces were collected. Her voice broke on the stand as she remembered; “I felt it was important to the family’s peace of mind that they have all the remains back.”

After her testimony, Tim Bosma’s father Hank followed her out of court and gave her a grateful hug.

We also heard from farmers and hunters who spent time in and around Dellen Millard’s farm. One who had seen evidence of a bonfire, another who had seen flashlights bobbing around, all shortly after Tim Bosma’s disappearance.

Jury is not back until Monday.