Oland dry cleaning done day after father's body found, trial hears

A dry cleaning receipt seized from Dennis Oland's home was dated July 8, 2011 just hours after Saint John police toldhim he was considered a suspect in the bludgeoning death of his father, his second-degree murder trial heard on Thursday.

Saint John Police ForceSgt. Jay Hendersontestified the receipt was for 19 items, including two sports jackets, a pair of pants and 16 shirts.

A brown sports jacket seized from Dennis Oland's closet during the July 14 searchis a key piece of evidence in the Crown's case against him.

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Lead Crownprosecutor P.J.Veniothassaidthat the jackethad four areas of blood on it that matched his father's DNA profile.

The jury has not yet heardif thejacket in question was one of the twosportsjacketslisted on the VIP Dry Cleaners'receipt Henderson found on a chest ofdrawers in DennisOland'sbedroom.

But the receiptwas time stamped 9:08 a.m. about 10 hours after Oland was questioned by police about what he was wearing when he visited his father at his investment firm officeon July 6, 2011.

Richard Oland'sbody wasfound lying face down in a pool of blood in his office the following morning. The 69-year-old prominent businessmanhad suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands.

Oland, who was the last known person to see his father alive, told police during a voluntary statement that he was wearing a navy blazer when he visited the Canterbury Street office, but video surveillance of him earlier that day shows he was wearing a brown jacket.

By the end of his 2-hourstatement, Oland went from being considered a witness to being deemed a suspect and informed that search warrants would be executed against him, the court has heard.

The receipt, which was under the name of Oland's wife, Lisa, indicated the items would be ready for pickup within three days. But that was crossed out and "SAT" was written instead, referring to Saturday, the following day, said Henderson.

He was one of about30 officers who participated in executing search warrants at Oland's home on Gondola Point Road, the court heard.

A city transit bus was used to transport the search team, confirmedretired constableRick Russell, who was the lead investigator at the time.

Police spent most of the day carefully examining the estimated 20 rooms, basement and attic, as well as the out buildings in teams of two, said Russell.

He was not askedto detail what items were seized and subsequently became evidence in the court case.

Did not enter crime scene

Russell was on vacation theday Richard Oland's body was found, but was called at home around 11 a.m. and asked to come in. He attended Oland's officeat 52 Canterbury St., around 1 p.m.

"I didn't go in," said Russell.

"I didn't want to contaminate" the bloodycrime scene, he said.

"At that time, there's no value in me going in."

He just wanted to "have a contextual grasp" of the area and only stayed for 10 to 15 minutes,he said.

Then he headed back to the police station tostart "prepping for the wave of information that was going to start coming in" and for first team briefing.

As lead investigator, his role was to handle the "speed, flow and direction" of the investigation, he said.

The 31-year veteran, whohad previously led "six to eight" homicide investigations, said one of the first tasks was to interview family members and "get a family history."

"We didn't know a lot" about the case, he said. "It's important to start from Square 1."

Dennis Oland was among the family members who voluntarily agreed to give police a statement. At that point, he was justconsidered a witness someone who might have information that could assist with the investigation.

The interviews were "dragging on," so Russelltold Dennis and his wife they could leave for a while,grab a coffee,and come back, the courtroom heard.

Oland was interviewed around 6 p.m.byConst. Stephen Davidson, a 12-year veteran,who was new to the major crime unit. Davidson ended up taking over the file three months later, when Russell retired.

'Extensive' search efforts

Russell played a key role in the search of Dennis Oland's home.

He served the warrant on Oland and his wife, he said. They were given the option to stay, but chose to leave.

Russell was in charge of the search inside of the house while another officer was in charge of the property search, he said.

Defence lawyer Alan Gold noted policespent only one day searching, althoughthe search warrant was valid for four days.

"You were satisfied every conceivable effort had been made to locate evidence [in] the house and on the property?" asked Gold.

"Correct," replied Russell.

Search warrants were also obtained forDennisOland'scar,cellphone, homecomputers,work computers,a camp log book,RichardOland'scellphonerecords, and asail boat calledLoki, at the RoyalKennebecasisYacht Club, the court heard.

Gold stressed the "extensive efforts" by police.

"The bottom line is ... you did everything you could" to find evidence related towho might have killed RichardOland? heasked. Russell agreed.