A forensic identification officer with the Saint John Police Force was back on the stand Wednesday at Dennis Oland’s second-degree murder trial.
Sgt. Mark Smith started by outlining his day on July 8, 2011 — the day after Richard Oland’s body was found.
Smith said he went to the morgue and, along with other officers, examined Oland’s body.
Once the body was removed from the cooler, Smith says he and another constable began examining the body using an alternate light source for any trace hair or fibres.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) December 5, 2018
During the examination, Smith said noticed hairs between Oland’s fingers, which were removed using a taping method.
Smith said a total of 31 tapings were taken from Oland’s body, after which they swabbed and clipped his fingernails and swabbed the palms of his hands.
Once police were finished, surgical pathologist Dr. Ather Naseemuddin was brought in to complete the autopsy.
The sergeant says the autopsy process continued until around 9:10 p.m.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) December 5, 2018
The next day, Smith said he searched Oland’s BMW but “nothing of any value” was found related to the investigation.
He then met with members of the Major Crime Unit at Oland’s office, where he acted as an exhibit officer.
Smith said among the items seized was a paper towel from the office washroom with a stain on it, which tested positive for blood during a presumptive test.
Smith is now going over some of the items seized from Oland’s office. They include data sticks, a MacBook Air, a CD case, a pencil case with 10 memory cards, and paper with to-do list dated July 4.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) December 5, 2018
The officer was supposed to return to the stand Wednesday afternoon but was too ill to continue testimony.
Smith will be recalled in the new year and the trial will resume on Thursday morning.