By Canadian Press

Officer had to order other cops away from Oland crime scene, trial hears

Nov 30, 2018 | 12:06 PM

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — The battered body of multi-millionaire Richard Oland attracted unwanted attention from several Saint John police officers who visited the scene just to get a look, the Dennis Oland murder trial was told Friday.

“I sternly ordered them to get out of my crime scene,” Sgt. Mark Smith said as he described finding two unauthorized officers near the body on the day it was discovered, July 7, 2011.

Smith was the officer in charge of collecting forensic evidence at the grisly murder scene in the uptown Saint John offices of Richard Oland, the 69-year-old businessman and former executive at Moosehead Breweries Ltd. who was beaten to death on July 6, 2011.

Photos show Oland lying by his desk, his skull shattered by repeated blows from a weapon that was never found. There is a large pool of blood radiating around the upper half of the body.

Oland’s only son, Dennis, 50, is on trial for second-degree murder. This is Oland’s second trial – the jury conviction in his first trial in 2015 was set aside on appeal.

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Prosecutors have told the court this was a “rage” killing triggered by Dennis Oland’s serious financial problems. The defence says Dennis, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, is the victim of shoddy police investigation and a rush to judgement.

The two officers who drew Smith’s ire were Inspector Glen McCloskey, later deputy chief of the Saint John police force and now retired, and Const. Greg Oram. It was McCloskey’s second visit to the scene that day and he admitted during the first trial that he was there on the second occasion simply out of “curiosity.”

McCloskey’s conduct was the subject of an initial investigation by the New Brunswick Police Commission after another officer said the deputy chief wanted him to not tell the trial about his presence at the crime scene. However, a more detailed inquiry did not proceed because McCloskey retired.

Smith said the two officers left when he ordered them out.

Court heard earlier that at least 19 Saint John officers entered the office on July 7 — a parade defence lawyer Alan Gold likened to a sightseeing tour. Many of the officers did not wear protective coverings, especially on their feet, despite the bloody scene.

The defence is asking pointed questions of police officers testifying at the trial, suggesting there was a failure of due diligence in terms of preventing contamination of the crime scene, and a failure to properly examine such areas as a possible back door escape route and an office washroom.

Smith was not cross-examined by defence lawyers on Friday. He will take the stand again later.

The prosecution called several other police officers to testify on Friday, including Const. Chris McCutcheon, who worked on scene security at the Oland office in the days following the murder.

McCutcheon said on two occasions, on July 10 and 12, he worked long shifts guarding the crime scene. He said on cross-examination by defence lawyer Michael Lacy that he used the washroom in the foyer directly outside the Oland office.

“I understood that washroom was outside the scene and using it would not compromise the crime scene,” McCutcheon said.

Lacy said that since whoever killed Oland had to exit through the foyer, it should have been considered part of the crime scene. McCutcheon said he was given no instructions from other officers about using or not using the washroom.

It turns out, police officers used the washroom before it was forensically examined.

Two other police officers on the stand Friday, Const. Rob Carlisle and Const. Don Weber, described the work they did during the Oland investigation under questioning by Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniot.

Both were tasked with searching for possible evidence, including anything that could have been a murder weapon, and they also gathered video surveillance footage from nearby businesses.

Carlisle said he was told to look for video from an uptown pedway from July 6, 2011, specifically footage showing any individuals wearing beige pants, about 5 feet 10 inches in height and wearing a dark blazer.

“There was no name mentioned,” Carlisle told the court.

Dennis Oland was caught on camera on July 6, 2011, wearing being pants and a brown jacket. He visited his father at the office late that day and is the last known person to have seen Richard Oland alive.

Chris Morris, The Canadian Press