Dennis Oland breaking into uncontrollable, anguished sobs following the delivery of the verdict from the jury: guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his father, high-profile and wealthy businessman Richard Oland more than four years ago in Saint John, New Brunswick. One of his defence lawyers, Gary Miller, standing over him appearing to try and console Dennis Oland after the verdict came down but he was inconsolable.
The 12-person jury delivering the verdict following around 30 hours of deliberations, which started on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Justice Jack Walsh telling the jurors that they have experienced mental and emotional toil, and in their own way, suffered the anguish of judging another human being,
Richard Oland’s bludgeoned body was discovered face down in a pool of blood on July 7, 2011 in his investment firm Far End Corporation on Canterbury Street in uptown Saint John. There were 45 separate blunt and sharp force blows to Richard Oland’s head, hands and neck administered by two separate surfaces. The pathologist who conducted Richard Oland’s autopsy, Dr. Ather Naseemuddin, testified that the round, blunt-force injuries had a faint cross-hatching pattern on them.
Forensic identification officer Sergeant Mark Smith testified that this was an exceptionally bloody crime scene and that there were hundreds of spatter stains radiating out from the pool of blood his body was laying in, and the trial has heard that blood radiated out 360 degrees from the body. The trial has heard there was no void in the spatter, however, there was less spatter on the south side of the office.
The weapon used to kill Richard Oland was never found and neither was Richard Oland’s iPhone.
In his closing argument on behalf of the Crown, Crown prosecutor PJ Veniot saying that the person who killed Richard Oland is Dennis Oland and it cannot be anyone else. Veniot said that Dennis Oland was the last known person to see Richard Oland and the last known person with the opportunity to commit this crime.
Defence lawyer Alan Gold, meantime, arguing in his closing argument on behalf of the defence that the jury is no closer to knowing who killed Richard Oland than they were when they walked into Harbour Station for jury selection on September 8. Gold said that Dennis Oland’s mistake about what he was wearing on July 6, 2011 and the dry cleaning of clothing including the brown jacket provides absolutely no evidence of an attempt to intentionally lie to police or attempt to hide evidence.
Outside the Law Courts after the verdict, Veniot reading from a statement saying that they thank jurors for their careful and complete consideration of all of the evidence placed before them. He says they have completed their duty as the law requires and as explained to them by Mr. Justice Walsh.
A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence however parole eligibility can be set anywhere from 10 to 25 years. All 12 jurors recommended that Dennis Oland have to serve 10 years before being eligible for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for February 11, 2016 at 9:30am. Dennis Oland has been remanded into custody until that time and Walsh has ordered that a pre-sentence report be prepared.
This trial began on September 16.
