Dennis Oland has once again denied killing his father during his second-degree murder retrial in Saint John, N.B.
The Crown finished its cross-examination of Oland at the Saint John Law Courts on Friday afternoon.
Oland is accused of killing Richard Oland, whose body was found in his uptown Saint John office on July 7, 2011.
Crown prosecutor Jill Knee began her cross-examination by focusing on Dennis’ “strained” relationship with his father.
Dennis agreed his father set high expectations and they did not have the healthiest father-son relationship.
Knee: At the time of his death, you'd still get into phone arguments with him? Yes.
You'd agree you had a ton of small fights with him? Yes.— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) March 8, 2019
“He was a good dad,” Oland told the court. “He wasn’t the best dad, but he was a good dad.”
Knee suggested Dennis was the person who “wasn’t going to put up with” Richard anymore, but he disagreed.
Financial Situation
The Crown also focused on Dennis’ finances in the months leading up to Richard’s death, including the $500,000 interest-only loan he received from his father after his 2009 divorce so he could keep his home.
Knee told the court Dennis was spending four times his income between January and July of 2011 and was shuffling debt around; Dennis agreed he was spending well beyond his means.
She suggests Dennis was at risk of losing his home on July 6, 2011, after missing a payment on the collateral line of credit. "That's an exaggeration," Dennis replies.
He agrees the bank has the right to take the home for missing a mortgage payment.— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) March 8, 2019
Dennis was at risk of losing the family home again after missing a mortgage payment in July of 2011, Knee suggested, but he called it an exaggeration.
Knee suggested Dennis was in “real financial trouble” when he stopped by Richard’s office on July 6 — the night of his death — and it led to a “big disagreement,” which he denied.
By this point, Dennis had missed three monthly payments of $1,666.67 on the loan his father had given him.
‘That Is Wrong’
Dennis went to his father’s office three times that evening but only told police about the first two trips.
Knee suggested it was because he killed his father on the third trip, which Dennis replied, “absolutely not.”
“That is wrong. I did not kill my father,” he said.
"That is wrong. I did not kill my father. I did not purposely deceive Constable Davidson," Dennis says.
Knee says she has no further questions. Defence requests a 10-minute recess.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) March 8, 2019
Knee asked about the brown sports jacket Dennis was wearing when visiting Richard’s office on the night of July 6.
She suggested Dennis was lying by telling police he was wearing a navy blazer instead of a bloodstained brown sports jacket, but Dennis maintained it was a mistake.
The jacket — which had four small bloodstains and Richard’s DNA on it — was taken to the dry cleaners the day after Dennis was interviewed by police.
Knee suggested Dennis washed the jacket and took it to the dry cleaners himself to remove any evidence, which he denied.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday morning.
