OLAND FOUND NOT GUILTY.
Was previously convicted in beer tycoon’s death
SAINT JOHN, N.B. • Six years after he was arrested for bludgeoning his multi-millionaire father to death, Dennis Oland has been found not guilty following a second trial.
In the courtroom, there were tears of joy from Oland’s supporters and the 51-year-old former financial adviser hugged his defence team after the verdict was read.
His reaction was in stark contrast to his response after his first trial in 2015 when a jury found him guilty of second degree murder. At that time, he collapsed in the courtroom and sobbed uncontrollably into the robes of one of his defence lawyers.
But following a second trial before a judge only, Justice Terrence Morrison of the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench said there were too many missing pieces of the puzzle to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“More than suspicion is needed to convict a person of murder,” he said.
His acquittal leaves many questions about what comes next for the member of one of Atlantic Canada’s most prominent families.
Oland quickly departed the courthouse without talking to reporters. It was left to his Toronto-based defence lawyer, Alan Gold, to speak to Oland’s state of mind after what he called “a very punishing eight years” for his client and his family.
Gold said Oland’s immediate plans are simply to “mentally regroup” and spend quality time with his family.
“Right now he is entitled to as much private time with his family, where he can just lie there and convince himself that it’s finally over. That is going to be his big psychic task — he’s going to wake up and not believe it’s finally over, because it’s gone on for so long.”
Oland was washing his car when he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in 2013, two years after his father, prominent businessman Richard Oland was bludgeoned to death in his uptown Saint John office.
Gold recounted the roller-coaster legal journey that ensued, including Oland’s conviction by a jury at the end of his first trial in 2015, his incarceration and release following several appeals, and then ultimately a second trial that resulted in his acquittal by judge alone.
Members of Oland’s family have been unwavering in their support since his arrest, including his mother Connie, his wife Lisa, his four children, and his uncle Derrick Oland, the executive chairman of Moosehead Breweries Ltd. — Canada’s oldest independent brewery and the longtime family business.
“We wish to restate our steadfast support for Dennis and our faith that the judicial process will prove his innocence,” the family said in a statement issued last November.
Richard Oland was a former vice-president with Moosehead Breweries until he lost out in a succession dispute and left to run his own enterprises.
It was in one of those companies, the investment firm Far End Corp., that the 69-year-old was bludgeoned to death sometime during the night of July 6, 2011. His body was found by his assistant the next morning. He had been beaten to death with a weapon that was never found.
From the start, Dennis Oland insisted he had nothing to do with his father’s death. But he was the one and only suspect for the Saint John Police Department from the day the body was found.
He is the last known person to have seen his father alive. The trial heard he went up and down to his father’s office three times in the space of about an hour on July 6, 2011, between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. He said his father was fine when he left him after a pleasant chat about the genealogy of the Oland family.
The police and prosecution theory was that during his third and final visit to the office, Oland used something like a drywall hammer with both a sharp edge and a blunt end to beat his father to death, striking 45 blows, mostly to the head.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” Oland said when prosecutors accused him on the stand in March. “I’m not that kind of monster.”
The prosecution theory of the crime was that Oland attacked his father in a rage following an argument over money. Dennis Oland was deeply in debt; Richard Oland had amassed a fortune worth an estimated $36 million and was living the high life, racing yachts and travelling with his mistress.
The retrial was told Dennis Oland, who worked at CIBC Wood Gundy, had reached the limit on most of his personal accounts despite having his credit limits raised by thousands of dollars. He was struggling to meet commitments that included $4,300 per month for child and spousal support and more than $1,650 owed to his father each month for a $500,000 loan made two years earlier.
On the day his father’s body was found, Oland owed $163,939.68 on a line of credit.
The indebtedness was a big part of the prosecution’s theory.
The defence team downplayed the importance of money. Oland himself told the court that while things were a bit tight he could always borrow more money when he needed it.