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Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)
Documenting Reality Police, Fire, & Government Real Police Interrogations & Confessions Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)

Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)

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Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)

Dennis James Oland was found not guilty of second-degree murder in Saint John, New Brunswick, on July 19, 2019, after an earlier jury conviction in the killing of his father, Richard Henry Oland, was set aside. Richard Oland was a 69-year-old businessman and former vice-president of Moosehead Breweries, the family brewing company. By 2011, he worked from a second-floor office at 52 Canterbury Street. His only son was an investment adviser who lived in the suburb of Rothesay. Their relationship was described in court as difficult, and the Crown argued that Dennis Oland was under financial strain, but the trial judge later found no proof of a financial tipping point that would have driven him to desperation.

Richard Oland was attacked in his office on the evening of July 6, 2011. His office assistant found him the next morning, lying face down in a pool of blood. An autopsy recorded roughly 45 sharp force and blunt force wounds to his head, neck and hands. A pathologist testified that he would have survived only five to ten minutes after the attack began. No murder weapon was ever recovered, and Richard Oland's iPhone was never found. Dennis Oland, who visited the office that evening, was the last person known to have seen his father alive.

Saint John police focused on Dennis Oland and never named another suspect. On July 7, 2011, he went to police headquarters and gave a videotaped statement to Constable Stephen Davidson. He spoke at length about his father and the previous evening's office visit, denied involvement and told Davidson, "I have no reason to want my father dead, to kill him." He was not arrested that day.

Dennis Oland told Davidson that he had worn a navy blazer during the visit, but security video showed a brown sports jacket. The jacket was dry-cleaned the day after the body was found, and forensic testing later identified four small bloodstains containing DNA matching Richard Oland. The Crown also relied on a text message that reached the missing iPhone and pinged a cell tower in Rothesay at 6:44 p.m. on July 6 to fix the time of death. At the retrial, Oland's lawyers argued that the police statement should be excluded on Charter grounds, but Justice Terrence Morrison allowed it into evidence.

Dennis Oland was charged with second-degree murder in November 2013. His first trial began on September 16, 2015, and a jury convicted him on December 19, 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 10 years. On October 24, 2016, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal set aside the conviction, holding that the trial judge had erred in his instructions to the jury, and ordered a new trial. Oland was released after about eight months in custody.

The retrial began before a jury in November 2018, but the jury was dismissed after a Saint John police officer improperly used a police database to check prospective jurors. The case continued before Justice Terrence Morrison of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench sitting alone. Morrison found that the Crown had not proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, citing too many missing pieces: no murder weapon, very little physical evidence given how bloody the scene was, inconclusive evidence of the time of death, and no established motive. His 146-page written reasons are cited as R v Oland, 2019 NBQB 151.

The Crown did not appeal the acquittal. On August 14, 2019, Saint John Police Chief Bruce Connell said the homicide investigation was no longer active, though police would consider any new information. Richard Oland's killing remains unsolved, and no one else has been charged. The New Brunswick Police Commission later reviewed the force's handling of the investigation.

The video is a narrated analysis using police interview-room footage and runs about 72 minutes. It covers Dennis Oland's interview with Constable Stephen Davidson described above.
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Documenting Reality Police, Fire, & Government Real Police Interrogations & Confessions Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)
Documenting Reality Police, Fire, & Government Real Police Interrogations & Confessions Dennis Oland Acquitted in Father's Killing (Matt Orchard)


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