Dennis Oland to serve at least 10 years for ‘Shakespearean tragedy’.
No chance of parole for 10 years
• 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.
Oland’s lawyer pleaded Thursday that the judge consider his client’s children in setting the sentence.
Defence lawyer Gary Miller provided Justice John Walsh with character references from Oland’s family saying he was needed and loved and is a good caregiver. He said the case doesn’t require more than the minimum of 10 years before parole eligibility.
“I beg your lordship, give him the kind of sentence that allows him to get home to his family as soon as possible,” said Miller during the hear- ing in the Saint John courtroom.
Oland declined an offer from the judge to speak for himself earlier in the day.
Before handing down the sentence, Walsh said a presentence report described Oland as a well- educated, 47- year- old man with no previous criminal record. He also said Oland told a parole officer that he can’t feel remorse because he is innocent.
“This was a family tragedy of Shakespearean proportions,” Walsh said.
A jury found Oland guilty of Richard Oland’s murder in December following a trial that lasted four months and captured widespread public attention.
A conviction on seconddegree murder carries a life sentence with a range of parole eligibility set between 10 and 25 years. All 12 jurors recommended that Oland have no chance of parole for 10 years.
But Crown lawyer Patrick Wilbur said the brutal nature of the elder Oland’s death called for a sentence of more than the minimum 10 years required under the law. He called for between 12 and 15 years in jail before parole eligibility.
Richard Oland’s body was found face down in a pool of blood in his Saint John office on July 7, 2011. He had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force blows to his head, neck and hands, although no weapon was ever found.
After his c onviction, Oland’s mother, Connie, said in a statement that the family was shocked by the outcome.
An appeal of the conviction has since been filed but no date has been set. A bail hearing will be held Friday in Fredericton as Oland’s lawyers seek his release pending the hearing of the appeal.
The Olands are an establishment family in the history of the Maritimes, havi ng f ounded Moosehead Breweries, although Richard Oland left the family business in 1981.
During the trial, the Crown focused on possible issues of motive including Dennis Oland’s financial difficulties and the knowledge his father was having an affair.
The key piece of evidence for the Crown was a brown jacket worn by Dennis Oland that had a number of small blood stains and also DNA that matched the profile of Richard Oland.
Oland has repeatedly denied any involvement in his father’s death.