Canada - Richard Oland, 69, brutally murdered, St John, NB, 7 July 2011

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They contend, for example, that forensic evidence obtained from Oland's blood-stained brown sports jacket — a key piece of evidence in the Crown's case — should not have been allowed because the search warrant did not authorize the forensic testing.

They had a warrant , they seized the jacket , and much later did the DNA testing on it and now the defense lawyer is unhappy

Good luck with that Mr lawyer ..... how about DNA testing done on clothing seized 60 years ago in some of those cold cases ..... it happens all the time and our courts accept it.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/dennis-oland-reward-police-1.3412616

Dennis Oland's family offered to post reward to find father's killer
Reward revealed in court documents filed in appeal of Oland's murder conviction in death of Richard Oland

By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon, CBC News Posted: Jan 20, 2016 8:14 PM AT Last Updated: Jan 20, 2016 8:50 PM AT

Dennis Oland's family offered to post a reward for information leading to the arrest of his father's killer, but Saint John police turned down the offer, according to documents filed with the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick on Wednesday.

Oland, 47, was found guilty by a jury last month of second-degree murder in the 2011 bludgeoning death of prominent businessman Richard Oland.

He is appealing his conviction and seeking bail, pending the appeal.

Oland mentions the reward in a sworn affidavit filed in support of his request for interim release.

"I am advised by (lawyer) William Teed, and do verily believe, that on September 27, 2011, acting on behalf of my mother and sisters, he met with (then) Police Chief Bill Reid to offer a reward on behalf of my family for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of my father's killer," the affidavit states.
'Chief [Bill] Reid declined the offer …[saying] that it would be unethical for the Saint John Police [Force] to accept it from my family because they believed that I was the person responsible for the death of my father.' :shame:
- Dennis Oland, sworn affidavit
No dollar amount is indicated.

Reid, who retired in April 2015, could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
 
Announced February 11 2016

Dennis Oland has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years for the second-degree murder of his father.

All 12 jurors had recommended that Oland have no chance of parole for 10 years.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...gathers-for-sentencing-in-fathers-murder.html

Looks like he got a bit of a break considering it could have been 25 years

I bet 8 years from now we will see him in a halfway house
 
I find myself thinking about this case again...and wondering about the second degree murder conviction. Why second degree? (I'm too lazy to go back and find the judge's instructions relating to the various possible decisions.) Isn't first degree about intention and planning? So for second degree, does that imply no planning? If so, who goes to their father's office to discuss genealogy with a drywall hammer in a bag? Where did the murder weapon come from?
 
It takes planning to get an axe, it was not spontaneous. This sucks. JMO
 
.

I think there was some planning or an expectation of a showdown of some sort .... thus the "partway there" and "turn back" of his first visit. I wonder if the showdown was about the (stock investment) sale earlier that day that did not go as Richard had expected ... was Richard going to pull his accounts from where Dennis worked ?? ... just a guess. Something must have triggered something after the secretary left

I still say when the prosecution was finished presenting its case it left the jury with plenty of room for doubt .... but when Dennis took the stand he blew it by concocting yet another third trip- to - the - office story .... what the heck was he thinking ????

.
edit to add: I also think the weapon could have been something from around the office itself ,,,, yacht-marine type tool or antique collector item (tool) .
 
.

I think there was some planning or an expectation of a showdown of some sort .... thus the "partway there" and "turn back" of his first visit. I wonder if the showdown was about the (stock investment) sale earlier that day that did not go as Richard had expected ... was Richard going to pull his accounts from where Dennis worked ?? ... just a guess. Something must have triggered something after the secretary left

I still say when the prosecution was finished presenting its case it left the jury with plenty of room for doubt .... but when Dennis took the stand he blew it by concocting yet another third trip- to - the - office story .... what the heck was he thinking ????

.
edit to add: I also think the weapon could have been something from around the office itself ,,,, yacht-marine type tool or antique collector item (tool) .

The fact that he came and went, even before he made it to his father's office, means that he was struggling with what he planned to do. IMO, he had already formulated a plan, but was very timid to go through with it. This would explain Dennis' strange behaviour before the murder.

Again IMO, Dick ended up acting like, well, a dick (as he often apparently did), and Dennis found the 'courage' to go through with his plan.

All my wild personal speculation.
 
This case is on The Fifth Estate on TV right now.
 
"It was called the trial of the century in New Brunswick - - a confluence of celebrity, money and murder. Richard Oland of the Moosehead brewing family -- one of the richest, most powerful men in the region – was dead, bludgeoned in his office. Charged and convicted with the brutal killing, the victim’s son, Dennis Oland. Bob McKeown investigates a tangled family tale that ended in murder – with many questions still unanswered."

Fifth Estate episode on Youtube (45 mins., first aired on CBC February 19, 2016)
[video=youtu;T1xUrvtzX5A]http://youtu.be/T1xUrvtzX5A[/video]

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m/site/

At the 26 minute mark, they clear up the confusion surrounding the sequence of the 3 visits, I think. :scared:


 
It appears that Dennis Oland's conviction has been overturned; he is free on bail and a judge has ordered a new trial due to flaws in the original trial judge's instructions to the jury.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...is-oland-bail-pending-appeal/article32511097/

So at the moment not "guilty" after all.

Yup, "presumed innocent". I'm fine with that. If the legal system has determined that he was found guilty using inappropriately positioned evidence, then, it makes sense to have another trial. I always thought the evidence was flimsy, even though I think Dennis was likely the person who committed the crime.

We have to hold ourselves up to a high standard. I hope that the prosecutors tighten up their case. What if Dennis isn't guilty? The prosecutors have to prove their case.
 
Yup, "presumed innocent". I'm fine with that. If the legal system has determined that he was found guilty using inappropriately positioned evidence, then, it makes sense to have another trial. I always thought the evidence was flimsy, even though I think Dennis was likely the person who committed the crime.

We have to hold ourselves up to a high standard. I hope that the prosecutors tighten up their case. What if Dennis isn't guilty? The prosecutors have to prove their case.

Absolutely. I can still remember how certain we (most of the public, including myself) were that Rob Baltovich was guilty, or that Guy Paul Morin was the killer of Christine Jessop. In both cases the police and prosecution were obsessed with finding evidence to fit their theory, rather than looking for evidence first and developing their hypotheses from that. Though lessons have been learned from those cases (not enough, since TPS still considers the Elizabeth Bain case "solved" even though the courts said NO), the lesson may not have spread with the same force to NB.

Family members are always among the most likely suspects to consider. But statistical probability does not a convincing case make.
 
Judge Walsh was quoted as saying at the sentencing back in Feb, "The only opinion that counts are the ladies and gentlemen that sat in that jury." He was right,.... and so were his instructions as was the verdict. Unfortunately, the jury's verdict now and the judges instructions have been rendered for naught & a murderer walks with impunity.

The judges instructions(scroll down to the bottom of the article) -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/dennis-oland-jury-deliberations-1.3369055
 

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