Another thing that I found perturbing, is the info the jury heard regarding the way in which DO and LO were living above their means. (Perhaps always had?) Did he have to put up a good front to keep convincing her that he was a wealthy guy, when in fact it was only his father, and not himself who had any money? If DO didn't keep up that front, what would that have meant to the DO/LO relationship at that time? (Come to think of it, how long would RO's gf have stuck around if RO had not been a wealthy guy?) Did RO/LO have a thing where '
his money is
their money, but
her money is
her own money'? Kind of sounds like it, from the way some articles were written. (Noting also that Lisa and 'her friend' owned the family's sailboat?) If I was suffering financial hardships in my marriage and numerous things were in overdraft, I can guarantee I wouldn't have been taking any 'expensive international trips' until things turned around and got straightened out.
I personally don't believe that DO murdered his father, or that the financial situation he was experiencing at that time was particularly bad enough to even consider it (as the Crown has proposed was his motive), however it would have been interesting to hear more of the financial aspects of DO's life, even further back. It seems that DO was paying both child support and alimony to his first wife, making interest-only payments on the family home, and keeping up with 'the Joneses' in his life with LO, but at the same time, wouldn't LO have been *receiving* child support payments from her ex, and perhaps alimony as well, which may have presumably eased that pressure? Just rambling thoughts.. not liking what I've read. It seems that LO was fully aware that their way of living was WAY above their means and yet it seems she too was a willing participant. It doesn't seem like it was DO merely pulling wool over her eyes.
"“The ongoing accumulation of debt, was it a concern for you?” Mr. Lacy asked after going over several, expensive international trips Dennis and Lisa took in the months prior to the killing.
“No,” Mr. Oland answered, adding it was the way he and his wife lived. “It’s stuff we always did and it was a continuation of that.”
....
Dennis Oland had recently returned from a lengthy trip to England ...."
Dennis Oland testifies about money problems, waives qualms about debts
The below excerpt is from the first trial reporting:
""I had a good pay of $8,000 but I need a bit more to cover expenses so that they do not bounce," Oland wrote to Lisa Andrik-Oland on June 16.
"Would I be able to get $1,000 from you?"
.....
By July 6, 2011, the day police believe his father, Richard Oland, was beaten to death, the accused was spending about $14,000 more a month than he was earning, according to a forensic accountant.
.....
Johnson found Oland had only earned $34,124 during that period and his spending had exceeded his income by $86,848.
Oland's $163,000 line of credit and $27,000-limit Visa were maxed out, and his investments and RRSPs had been cleared out.
.....
"Hi, there is no money on my Visa card anymore so don't bother trying to use it," Oland told his wife in an email on May 31, 2011.
On June 1, the same day Oland had requested a pay advance, he and his wife were exchanging emails about their credit cards being overlimit and discussing strategies to get enough money deposited on one of the Visas to make it work.
"I should not have answered my phone earlier when u called, I cannot come across as pleasant cause I am not in a good place. Hannah [probably] has flu, and I am very off today!" his wife wrote.
"Deadline for Concordia registration is today. I have no money on my Visa and I had to wait til today to make a payment. If u add something to your card today will it work?" she asked.
"Well I'd like to at least try something to make you feel a bit better. As for Visa card. Mine is overdrawn by $650 so I'd need to put more than that on the card just to get it to work. How much is your card over drawn?" Oland replied.
"I am $200 over limit and it won't reach them within 48 hours. Internet does not work," she wrote.
"OK well I'll go to bank and deposit what I have and move funds to my Visa. I looked to see why my Visa was so bad and I had not realized the extent of the money that was spent for Montreal, it was $1,350," said Oland.
"Wait now, I can't afford to put the rent [cheque] on your card, that's got mortgage etc.," his wife replied.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/oland-trial-finances-wife-accountant-1.3307173
""When I became ill in 2012, the respondent told me that I did not have to worry about my employment and that I would never have to work again in my life because he has significant means."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-...ll-house-rothesay-lisa-andrik-oland-1.5612725