Man heard ‘stomps’ after Oland left office
Timing would exclude Dennis Oland as suspect in killing
A man who worked in Richard Oland’s small office building told police he heard five or six “loud stomps” on the night the multimillionaire was bludgeoned to death - but the timing would exclude Dennis Oland as a suspect in the killing.
More Saint John police officers took the stand on Tuesday as Dennis Oland’s retrial for the second-degree murder of his father moves into its second week.
The officers questioned so far were all early responders on July 7, 2011, when Richard Oland’s body was found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his uptown Saint John office.
Const. Don Shannon, one of the first officers on the scene, told the court about the steps he followed in securing the building, searching the grounds and interviewing potential witnesses.
Shannon said he spoke to John Ainsworth and Anthony Shaw, who were working in the printing office directly below Richard Oland’s second-floor office.
They said they were there from roughly 6 p.m. until 9:20 p.m. on July 6, 2011 - the night Oland was killed. Shannon recorded in his notes that “Mr. Shaw said he heard something at 8 p.m. when he heard five or six loud stomps coming from the second floor.”
Defence lawyer Michael Lacy pressed Shannon to confirm whether that was clearly what Shaw said to him. “Yes,” the officer replied.
It is key information for the defence case, since Dennis Oland was caught on security video at around 7:40 p.m. shopping with his wife, Lisa, first at a pharmacy and then at a vegetable and fruit store in Rothesay, a bedroom community of Saint John.
Dennis had been alone with his father in the office from about 5:45 p.m. to a little after 6:30 p.m. He has always maintained his father was alive when he left.
Crown prosecutors contend Oland, an investment adviser who was deeply in debt, committed the murder when he was alone with his father “in a rage” over money.
Prosecutor Jill Knee said in her opening statement that while both Ainsworth and Shaw said they heard thumping noises, they “did not note the time.” Ainsworth said it could have been any time between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
But the defence has seized on the noises, especially Shaw’s contention that they occurred around 8 p.m.
“Could these sounds have been anything other than the horrible beating of Richard Oland, sounds that were being heard while Dennis and Lisa were in Rothesay picking up medicine and groceries?” defence lawyer Alan Gold said in his opening statement at the trial.
The defence is saying Saint John police did not give sufficient credence to these witness statements.
Defence lawyers contend there was a rush to judgement by police who decided within hours of finding Richard Oland’s body that he had been killed by his son.
Oland, 50, was convicted of the second-degree murder in December, 2015, but the jury verdict was set aside on appeal and the new trial ordered. He has been free on bail since the appeal court decision.