Multimillionaire businessman Richard Oland was killed “in a rage” and his only son Dennis committed the crime, a prosecutor said in her opening statement Wednesday.
Crown prosecutor Jill Knee said in court “the evidence will support beyond reasonable doubt that Dennis Oland killed his father” on July 6, 2011.
Oland was re-arraigned Wednesday and, for the third time in his life, he said he was not guilty of second-degree murder.
A mistrial was declared in the case on Tuesday and the jury dismissed before any evidence had been presented.
Justice Terrence Morrison, the presiding judge at the Court of Queen’s Bench trial, cited improprieties in the way a police officer vetted prospective jurors and decided the best way to proceed was by judge alone.
Knee briefly outlined the prosecution case Wednesday, stating that Dennis Oland was living beyond his means and was deeply in debt when he visited his dad on July 6, 2011.
He is the last known person to have seen Richard Oland alive.
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Knee said the perpetrator of the crime flew into a rage and pummelled Richard Oland 45 times, mostly in the head, with a weapon that has never been found.
The prominent businessman’s body was found lying face down in a pool of blood in his office the next morning.
The only thing taken from his office was his cell phone, which pinged off a cell tower in Rothesay shortly after Dennis Oland said he left his dad’s office.
Oland left to return to his home in Rothesay.
It is the second time Oland will face trial for the second-degree murder — his 2015 conviction was overturned on appeal and the new trial ordered.
The Canadian Press
