Richard Oland's affair revealed at Dennis Oland's murder trial

Details about an extramarital affair RichardOlandwas having and a trip he was planning with his mistress just before he was killedwere revealed at his son's second-degreemurder trial in Saint Johnon Tuesday.

DennisOland, 46, is accused of killing the prominent businessman more than four years ago.

Neil Walker, a computer forensic specialist with the RCMPin Halifax, testified about chat log data extracted from Richard Oland's iPhone.

• Live Blog:Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial: Sept. 29

The iPhone itself was the only item that went missing from Richard Oland's investment firm office and was never recovered, but the data on it had been backed up on his office computer on July 6, 2011.

Text messages between Richard Oland and Diana Sedlacek during his last 48 hours of lifesuggest an intimate relationship and indicate the pair was planning a trip to Portland, Me., together in the coming days.

The two pages of text messages submitted into evidence by the Crown start onJuly 5, 2011 at 7:08 p.m., when Sedlacekasks: "Are U OK????"

Walker read the messages aloud to the courtroom as Dennis Oland and his mother, Connie, looked on.

Sedlacek sent another text about 30 minutes later, when she hadn't received a reply: "I'm here Ucall me."

Then at 10:02 p.m., she messagesagain: "Had 2 shower Kisses. Snuggle me up I need your body."

Less than 20 minutes later, Richard Oland replies: "Snuggle up kkkin bed."

On July 6, Sedlacekasks whether he "found note? -reOur Trip."

He replies promptly: "Have in [office]," but sayshe has a meeting.

The final correspondence was at 1:57 p.m., when Sedlacektexts: "Let's leave atnoonon Fri15thcome back on 19th. Kisses."

The next morning, Richard Oland's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood. He suffered 40 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and neck and six defensive wounds to his hands.

It's unclear whether heever read that final text message, the courtroom heard.

Walker testified that as of 4:44 p.m., he had not. That's whenthe iPhone was disconnected fromRichard Oland's computer and there's no log of what happened after that, he said.

About an hourafter the iPhone was disconnected, Dennis Oland stopped by the Far End Corporationoffice at 52 Canterbury St., for a visit, making him the last know person to see his father alive.

Richard Oland's secretary Maureen Adamson previously testified that she left for the day a few minutes later, leaving the two men alone together.

Dennis upset about affair

Lead Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniottold the juryat the beginning of the trial, during his opening remarks, that Dennis Oland was upset about his father'saffair.

"Dennis did not approve," and had once described it as a "family concern," said Veniot.

Word about the affair had started to seep out andDennis had asked his father's friend, Robert McFadden, to talk to him about it. "You need to tell Dick people know," Veniot recounted of the conversation.

On Tuesday, defence lawyer Alan Gold introduced additional information aboutcorrespondence and phone callsbetween Richard Olandand Sedlacek, including a text she sent on July 4 at 11:20 a.m.

"Richard Richard!!!!! It's 2 long now Hate this waste of time!!!! You're always wasting OUR time OUR life."

Two seconds later: "Where are U???? Are u not coming back 2day????"

Then at 3:03 p.m.: "What's happening now? Are U here? Want 2C you."

They had two brief chats, each lasting less than two minutes. Then Sedlacek started texting again at 5:56 p.m., sending three more texts before Richard Oland responded with a call at 9:10 p.m.

So two days before the date we're all focussed on [when RichardOlandwas killed] it tookhim over four hours from her first message to respond.- Alan Gold, defence lawyer

"So two days before the date we're all focussed on [when Richard Oland was killed] it tookhim over four hours from her first message to respond," said Gold.

The next day, "It's essentially eight or nine hours before Richard Oland gets back to her after she starts messaging him," he said.

Walker agreed Olandwas "not prompt" in responding during that 48-hour period, based on the extracteddata, but suggested it's possible Oland may have deleted some of his messages so they would not be seen "at home."

Gold argued, however, that there were otherintimate messages still there that would have been good candidates to delete and Walker agreed.

It appears Richard Oland did attempt to conceal the affair though, said Gold. He noted that Sedlacek'snumber was listed under three different names inOland's iPhonecontacts list Office Jones, Office One Dr Jones andDiana Sedlacek.

Her photo was not associated with any of them, said Gold,suggesting that was no surprise. If you're a married man having an affair, you wouldn't want your mistress' picture popping up, he said.

Last computer activity unclear

Walker said he first got involved with the case in March 2012. His supervisor had asked him to assist the Saint John Police Force in determining when Richard Oland'siPhone had been disconnected from his computer and when his email had been closed down.

His analysis showed that Adobe Reader, software used to read PDF documents, had been launched at 5:28 p.m. on July 6, and Firefox web browser was launched at 5:38 p.m.

There was no other activity untilmidnight, when what appears to be pre-programmed automatic updates were done, said Walker.

So the last known user interaction was at5:38 p.m., he said.

But under cross-examination by Gold, Walker conceded that there was no way to know how long Oland continued to use the programs orwhen they were closed because those actions don't leave any traces. "Not that I'm aware of," said Walker.

Gold also argued there was no way to know whether the times were unusual or significant because Walker did not analyze Oland's usage times for any other days. Walker agreed.

Asked about the second hard drive in Oland's computer, which the court heard on Monday was not connected, Walker said it hadn't been used since July 16, 2010.

Gold suggested Oland had simply updated his computer with a newer, larger hard drive."Nothing unusual about that?" he asked."I would say you're right," repliedWalker.

Accused's computers also analyzed

Another RCMPtechnological crime forensic analyst, Payman Hakimian, who is based in Fredericton, testified about his examination of three computers seized from Dennis Oland's home.

Hakimian said he was asked by the Saint John Police Force to look atemails, web history, last usage andpersonal files, including pictures, butnot music.

He started his analysis on Nov. 9, 2012 about 16 months after Richard Oland's death. He said heput all of theextracted data onto a DVD, which he handed over to Const. Ray Coleman, of the SJPF, who was working in his tech crime unit.

Gold described it as being"a lot of ore" for the Saint John policeto "mine."

Hakimian said Coleman prepared the final report, butit was done under his supervision and he supports the findings "100 per cent." No details about that report were revealed in court on Tuesday.

Trial delayed by 'unexpected issue'

The trial was scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning, but Justice John Walsh told the jury an "unexpected issue" had arisen and court would not sit again until Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Walsh did not reveal any informationand the reason for the delay, but told the jurors not to speculate.

"You have enough on your plate without speculating about anything you have no control over," he said.

Walsh said he understands it "can be frustrated for those not used to the pace of legal proceedings. But it's necessary. It has to be done."

It's unclear what, if any, impact the adjournment will have on the overall scheduleof the trial, which is expected to run until Dec. 18.