Canadian True Crime - 60 The Murder of Richard Oland - Part 1

Episode Date: February 15, 2020

[PART 1 OF 3]SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK In the summer of 2011, the residents of Saint John would be alerted to a crime and ensuing scandal that would thrust their normally quiet city—and one of ...its most prominent and powerful families—into the spotlight in a way that no one could have anticipated.  I appreciate the support of my sponsors!You can find applicable codes and information here.Find out more about:Podcast Recommendation: Crime Machine Want more Canadian True Crime? Consider becoming a Patreon for just $2 a month or more, and you’ll receive these perks!Credits: Research and writing: Gemma HarrisAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams Disclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True Crime Theme Song: We Talk of Dreams All credits and resources can be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episode, in the days after the episode is released. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 My name's John Weir. You don't know me, but you're gonna. Because I know the people that have been watching you, learning about you. They know you've done well for yourself, that people like you and trust you. Trust you. Now imagine what they're going to do with all that information that you've freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're going to do with all the information you have at it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. This podcast contains course language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature.
Starting point is 00:00:39 Listener discretion is advised. This story takes place in St John in the province of New Brunswick. Finally, a story from New Brunswick. It's one of Canada's smaller provinces and one of four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada, along with Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick shares borders with Quebec and the US state of Maine, and is known for being the only official bilingual province. 33% of the population speaks French.
Starting point is 00:01:14 And if you're wondering what the deal with Quebec is, they declared themselves unilingual. That's French only. But back to New Brunswick. Its port city of St John has 126,000 residents in its greater area, and is the oldest incorporated city in Canada. St John's harborside location made it an ideal base for industries like shipping, shipbuilding and fishing.
Starting point is 00:01:41 Since incorporation in 1785, St John has expanded to become the commercial and manufacturing centre of New Brunswick. Lumber, oil refining, pulp and paper milling, construction and export industries have all thrived and employ many of the province's residents, as well as an increasing presence of financial, insurance and IT sectors. For more than two decades, St John resident Maureen Adamson had worked as a secretary for a well-known and successful local businessman called Richard Oland. Richard ran the Far End Corporation, an investment firm based in the city.
Starting point is 00:02:24 The Oland family were influential in St John, thanks to the company now known throughout Canada as Moosehead Breweries. But it's actually a sixth-generation family brewery business founded in 1867 by matriarch-entrepreneur Susanna Oland. Richard Oland had previously served as vice president at the company, but for reasons we'll get into later, he now ran his own businesses. It was July of 2011. And the location was Richard's office space in Uptown Historic St John,
Starting point is 00:03:05 in a three-storey, 19th century building on Canterbury Street. He often worked late, so his secretary Maureen always arrived first in the mornings to unlock the three different doors needed to access the office. That summer morning, Maureen arrived just before 9am, Maureen arrived just before 9am, carrying her customary tray of coffee for her boss. She noted that the exterior front door to the building was closed, but not locked. This wasn't particularly unusual and had happened before. Sometimes she wasn't the first one there.
Starting point is 00:03:46 Maureen walked up the stairs to the second floor where the second door was, and she found that that door was not only unlocked, but also a jar. Maureen was annoyed, wondering how her usually fastidious boss could have been so careless about after-hours security. Next, she came across the door to her workplace, the Far End Corporation. It was closed, and she couldn't recall if it was locked because she automatically used her keys out of habit. Maureen noticed the room felt cool and realised the air conditioning was still running.
Starting point is 00:04:24 She also noticed the lights were switched on and a foul odour was in the air. Something was not right here. Maureen placed the coffee she had brought with her on a conference table that was in the middle of the office. As she walked to the side of the table, she saw two legs on the floor sticking out. Panicked, Maureen ran downstairs to the printing business located on the first floor of the building, and asked a person there to accompany her back upstairs to the office.
Starting point is 00:04:57 There, they found the body of 69-year-old Richard Oland, lying face down in a pool of blood. He wasn't breathing. What would unfold over the next eight years would shock the province of New Brunswick, and the details of sordid family secrets and strained relationships would ripple across the country along with allegations of police misconduct and compelling court proceedings that would saturate both local and national media coverage. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 60. The Owlans were one of several wealthy and established families in the Greater St John
Starting point is 00:05:54 area who'd called New Brunswick home for generations. Their company, Moosehead Breweries, started out of Nova Scotia, initially trading as Turtle Grove Brewery. The business survived fires, prohibition, the depression, and both world wars, finally being rebranded as Moosehead Breweries in 1947. The company survived the hardships and is proudly the largest and oldest independent brewing company in Canada. In 1941, six years before the rebrand to Moosehead, Richard Henry Oland was born to his parents Philip Warburton Oland, known as PW, and Mary Howard Oland. Richard arrived two years after the birth of his older brother Derek,
Starting point is 00:06:46 and would be affectionately known by close friends and family as Dick. Derek, Richard, and their younger sister Jane grew up in Rossé, an affluent suburb 15 minutes drive east of St John. Despite the small population of just over 11,000, Rossé residents are known to come from old money and are reported to earn some of the highest per capita incomes in the entire country. In 2014, the average annual household income was over $237,000 a year, while the average household net worth was $2.29 million. After Richard's private high school education, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick, and also obtained a certificate of brewing technology, signalling
Starting point is 00:07:42 his intention to continue in the family business. When Richard was in his early 20s, he met and began dating 16-year-old Constance Connell, also known as Connie. It didn't take Connie long before she noticed that her new beau's personality was a bit different, a strong theme that would be woven throughout many of his relationships. She may have put this down to his upbringing, which she later described as being characterised by yelling and put-downs. The pair married in 1965 and went on to have three children, two girls, Elizabeth, who went by Lisa, and Jacqueline, as well as their son Dennis. Sailing has long been a passion of the Oland family for generations. Originally in the early
Starting point is 00:08:37 years, it was to facilitate transportation of beer kegs across the harbour. But over time, sailing became one of several traditional family pastimes. Richard Oland loved being out on the water and sailed competitively in international events. In 2010, the year before his body was found, he won both the US IRC National Championship and the Canadian Sailing Association International Sailor Award. He was also the owner of an elite sailboat worth over a quarter of a million dollars. Richard loved horseback riding and angling, but it was sailing and skiing that allowed him to spend quality time with his children, who he didn't get to see very often because of his hectic work schedule. His son Dennis later told the local Telegraph Journal newspaper,
Starting point is 00:09:34 as a child growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was truly the good old days, the best of times, were with that boat. I didn't get to see him a lot, and when we got on the boat, that all changed. By 1980, Richard was a vice president at Moosehead Breweries. At the same time, his older brother Derek was the company's executive vice president. The family hoped the brothers would have a productive working relationship on the senior leadership team, but the reality was that the two men were fiercely competitive, especially Richard. Soon it disintegrated into an ugly personal battle. Both brothers were vying to be president of the company. The intense sibling rivalry created unwanted conflict and tension at the executive level of the business. Everyone knew that Richard
Starting point is 00:10:37 had a relentless desire to be president. At one stage, Derek felt that things had become so unbearable with his younger brother that he temporarily resigned from his role with Moosehead and seriously considered relocating to New Zealand. Derek was later quoted in the book Last Canadian Beer, The Moosehead Story, by author Harvey Sauler. Dick could argue with anyone, it didn't matter who it was, I couldn't work for Dick because of the nature of the guy. The situation did not sit well with either Derek or the president of the company, their father, P.W. Oland. P.W. was nearing retirement and was concerned about the potential direction of the business. Richard's tenacity was to be admired, but P.W. felt that his youngest son
Starting point is 00:11:31 was too inexperienced to take on the role of president. P.W. eventually chose to appoint Derek to the role of executive vice president with a view to him becoming president. So in 1981, Richard Oland left Moosehead. His fight to become president had gone nowhere and he'd already established his own trucking business in St John named Brookville Transport. Over the years, he worked hard to develop and manage other businesses, including the Far End Corporation, his personal investment holding company, as well as another business that was a woodlock and property rental company called Kingshurst Estates Limited. Despite P.W.'s reservations about his younger son being at the helm of Moosehead, Richard's business savvy saw his own
Starting point is 00:12:30 company's thrive. He gained recognition by sitting on various boards in the local business community. He was well known in St John for serving as president of the board of the Canada Games when New Brunswick hosted the event in 1985. He also received various awards like Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997. He was awarded an honorary degree from the University of New Brunswick and at one stage also served as a counsellor for the town of Rossi and also as president of the New Brunswick Museum. And all this while maintaining an enviable level of financial success. Richard Oland was considered to be an icon in the local business world. He was also known for being community-minded, with his efforts in fundraising and donating
Starting point is 00:13:26 money to various charitable causes, many of which were churches. But despite Richard's generosity regarding some projects, he was also considered to be miserly when it came to others. An unflattering piece in McLean's magazine in 2015 reported that Richard cut off funding to the Rossi Pony Club which his father PW had established as a horseback riding school. And when one of Richard's companies Brookfield Transport eventually declared bankruptcy, money was still owed to mechanics. The same piece in McLean's described how, instead of meeting his financial obligations, Richard unethically acquired clients from other smaller trucking companies. Richard was widely reported as being bright and energetic, but difficult. The mayor of Rossi would
Starting point is 00:14:23 describe him as just an ordinary citizen, but he came in about two or three times a year and he made sure I knew how the town should be run. He's one of those people who gets right in your face to make sure you're listening. Another acquaintance later described Richard to McLean's as a very capable guy, but there would be a few people after he got through with them with footmarks on their backs. Another associate told the Fifth Estate that he had a forceful personality, quote, to know him is to dislike him. His own daughter remarked to the show that her father could make an enemy of anyone. So Richard was a challenging personality both professionally and personally. He had a sensible need to stay on top of income and expenditure,
Starting point is 00:15:18 but it wasn't exclusive to his businesses. He also monitored his own household expenditure closely. His wife Connie had an allowance of $2,000 a month for household expenses, but she had to present receipts for reimbursement. Richard Oland ran his household like a business. In 1996, the president of the company, PW Oland, died. Shares and moosehead breweries were split between Derrick, Richard and their sister Jane. Derrick received 53%. Richard took away 33% and Jane, 14%. This was said to have reflected what their father felt each of his children had contributed to the growth of the company. Two years later, Richard sued both his older brother Derrick and moosehead breweries on the basis that a downturn in business meant
Starting point is 00:16:18 that Richard's dividend payments virtually all stopped. Richard and his sister Jane then went to court in an attempt to wrestle a larger share of moosehead back from Derrick. After a second settlement, Derrick eventually bought out Richard's and Jane's shares of the company in 2007. Richard Oland remained a savvy and often ruthless business person who, at his death, was worth an estimated $37 million and was still living in an exclusive part of Rossé. It didn't take the police long to seriously consider financial gain as being the motive for whatever happened to him. Richard's office space at 52 Canterbury Street was rented from a man called John Ainsworth. John also ran the printing business called Printing Plus on the first floor,
Starting point is 00:17:19 which was situated directly underneath the offices of Richard's company, the Far End Corporation. Printing Plus was where Richard's secretary Maureen had run after discovering her boss's body on the floor. The crime scene that investigators faced was shocking. Richard's blood was left on every wall of the office. Blood spatter covered his desk, chair, computer, a digital camera, paperwork and filing cabinets, even on an empty pizza box in the garbage can. The blood loss was so significant that by the time his body was discovered, it had soaked through several layers of flooring to the ceiling of Printing Plus directly below. Richard was lying face down on the floor. Portions of brain matter were found on his back.
Starting point is 00:18:14 His wallet and Rolex watch were found at the crime scene, along with his laptop, keys to his BMW and an envelope containing cash for his gardener as well as an iPad. Investigators started processing the crime scene, but it was what they didn't find that provided more questions than answers. Richard's iPhone 4 was missing, and there was no evidence of a cleanup, including in the small bathroom attached to Richard's office. Richard Olin's immediate family was notified that he'd passed away, but the police didn't give any information other than that. Later that day, his wife Connie and their adult children, Lisa, Jacqueline and Dennis,
Starting point is 00:19:08 arrived at the police station to give interviews and formal statements. The Telegraph Journal newspaper reported that in the hours between when they were first told about Richard's death and when their initial police interviews happened, his family had already spoken to each other and speculated about what may have happened to the family patriarch. Richard's wife Connie and their daughter Jacqueline were interviewed together. Connie stated that on the morning of Richard's last day, the couple had been at home together. Richard received a call from his secretary Maureen at 9.50am, reminding him of a 10am appointment that he had. Richard left home and headed to the office,
Starting point is 00:19:55 and Connie said she didn't speak with him for the remainder of the day. Obviously, the police were wondering why it was Maureen who found Richard the next morning. Connie said that it wasn't uncommon for her husband not to come home in the evening. When he failed to show up for dinner, she assumed that he may have been attending a meeting in St Stephen, an hours drive west of St John. As the night wore on with no sign of Richard, Connie said that she assumed he had decided to spend the night in St Stephen, rather than drive back late to Rossé. According to Connie, the weeks leading up to Richard's death had been pleasant ones for the
Starting point is 00:20:38 family. On June 25, less than two weeks before Richard's death, he and Connie's side of the family had attended a 100th birthday celebration for Connie's cousin. Richard had been away participating in a sailing event on Rhode Island, but chartered a plane back especially to attend the party. After the birthday festivities were over, the family adjourned to the Olin's house, where Richard talked about a family history research project that he and his son Dennis had been working on together. Father and son both had a keen interest in genealogy, studying their families, the history, and tracing back their lineages. Through speaking with Richard's closest family members, investigators learned more about his
Starting point is 00:21:30 unique personality. Connie described him as verbally and emotionally abusive. She would later say that some years earlier, a family friend who was a clinical psychologist diagnosed Richard as being on the autism spectrum, specifically with Asperger's syndrome, which is on the high functioning end of the spectrum, and is characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication. Connie would say that these difficulties became more severe when he left his VP position at Moosehead Brewery, quote, Dick's personality was the norm for our family, and we all knew how to work around that norm. He just did not always seem to understand how his words might offend someone. His daughter Jacqueline told police that her father was
Starting point is 00:22:24 the type of guy some people got along with and some people did not. He could be very difficult to deal with at times. When police explored the issue of any existing family conflict, Jacqueline offered up that her brother Dennis always tried to gain the respect of his father, but that he'd never been able to live up to his standards. The other daughter, Lisa, was interviewed alone by police. She stated that it was possible for her father to have literally anyone as an enemy. She described him as a hard-nosed businessman, pure business, and if you worked hard you would get his respect. Their mother, Connie, concurred that her husband Richard could be difficult and controlling at times, but she was adamant that
Starting point is 00:23:15 the youngest son Dennis, who she described as gentle and caring, would never hurt his father. She added that he was a good father himself who showed great patience as he taught his kids to ski, sail, and canoe, and it was Dennis who Richard turned to for assistance in planning his grandmother's funeral in 1995. As police spoke with Richard's family, they were gaining a picture of a man who had a very formal relationship with his adult children. Those closest to him openly told police that Richard appeared to be a brilliant and successful businessman, but he was also difficult, uncompromising, and made enemies easily. And from what Connie and her daughters told police, it seemed that Dennis, the youngest child and only son, had things
Starting point is 00:24:11 just a bit tougher than everyone else. Dennis Oland had a similar upbringing to his father, even attending the same private college. When Dennis entered grade 11, he was enrolled in a boarding school in Quebec, but he didn't like being away from home, so he returned to St John to complete grade 12. Dennis went on to enroll at the Fredericton campus of the University of New Brunswick, the Oland family Alma Mater, where Richard and Connie had also studied. While he was enrolled there, his parents covered his living expenses. According to the Telegraph Journal, when Dennis's grades started to slip two years into university, Richard promised to buy him a car if he could
Starting point is 00:25:05 maintain a B average until graduation. It proved to be a useful motivator. Dennis's grades improved, and Richard bought him a Honda Civic SI, the sports model. The Telegraph Journal reported that when Dennis graduated university with a Bachelor of Arts, there was talk of him attending the London School of Economics. But instead, he expressed an interest in moving to Toronto, to find work in the investment sector. So Richard lined up a job for his son through a family friend, as well as accommodation. Dennis later said, my father encouraged me to go for it. That was his mindset, go for it. He let me know that he would be my first client. When Richard visited Toronto, he took Dennis out for dinner, and he
Starting point is 00:25:58 continued to include his son in family vacations, such as skiing trips. Dennis lived in Toronto for a total of four years, returning home to St John in 1995, where he initially lived with his parents in Rossé. Dennis married and had three children, and like his parents, he lived with his family in a spacious, oldland family property, also in affluent Rossé. True to his word, Richard became one of his son's first clients as an investment advisor. But Dennis would later describe how this gradually turned from a professional investment advisor relationship to one of order taker. Richard was demanding as a father and a client. A separate additional phone line was set up in Dennis's office where he worked at CIBC Wood Gundy, specifically for
Starting point is 00:26:56 Richard's incoming calls. He had lots of opinions and lots of directions for his son to action. The Telegraph Journal reported that when Richard called, he wanted Dennis to pick up the phone quickly, and the line was not allowed to ring out. Richard reportedly often called around to his son's house on Sundays too, making unannounced visits. Dennis Oland seemed to have a pretty idyllic life, but things took a sharp downturn when his marriage broke down. He was due to inherit the family property they lived in, but as the couple formally separated, the matter of the division of assets reared its ugly head. The home had been in the Oland family for 70 years, and Dennis didn't want to lose it.
Starting point is 00:27:54 And he was now paying over $4,000 a month in child support for his three kids. He had a serious money situation on his hands. When Richard heard about it, he proactively stepped in to help. He loaned Dennis over half a million dollars that would allow him to keep the house as part of the divorce settlement and also to cover associated court costs. Dennis agreed to repay his father as well as $85,000 in legal fees that his father also footed the bill for. In the end, the repayment agreement with Richard was that Dennis was to make interest only payments of around $1,600 per month, and the principal would be taken from his inheritance later on. This repayment was a very manageable amount, much, much less than he would have been
Starting point is 00:28:50 paying had it not been for his father's help. In 2009, Dennis remarried. His new wife Lisa had a son from a previous relationship, and they both moved in with Dennis in the family home in Rossi. Police were keen to hear what 44-year-old Dennis Oland had to say, especially about his experience and perception of his relationship with his father in light of what his mother and sisters had already explained. Dennis had provided a handwritten statement to police that gave an outline of his whereabouts in the 24 hours leading up to his father's body being discovered, but they wanted to go through it in more detail in person. Constable Stephen Davidson interviewed Dennis, who said on the night before his father's body was discovered,
Starting point is 00:29:45 he arrived at Richard's office at around 5.15pm and parked in the car park on the corner down the street. Dennis told police the visit was related to their genealogy project. He wanted to show his father a family will from 1825, and while he was there, he also wanted to retrieve a family log book that belonged to his uncle on his mother's side. Richard had borrowed the book to photocopy some pages, and Dennis wanted to return it. But he said that as he was climbing the stairs to his father's second floor office, he realized he'd left some things back at work that he needed. But it was okay, his office was just a few blocks away. Dennis said that he used the bathroom in the foyer of the building and then returned to his car. He said that he was second guessing
Starting point is 00:30:40 what to do next, whether to return to his office to collect the documents he'd left behind, just go back to Richard's office with the documents he already had, or just give up, go home, and try another time. He told police that he realized he didn't have an after-hours access pass for his own office, so going back there to get the documents he'd forgotten was no longer an option. But as he drove, he said he was so preoccupied with what to do that he drove the wrong way onto a one-way street. In the end, Dennis said he returned to his father's office for a second time at around 5.30pm, 15 minutes later. He went into the office and exchanged pleasantries with his father's secretary Maureen before she left for the day.
Starting point is 00:31:31 He told police that he met with Richard in the office. They discussed the genealogy material he'd bought, describing the meeting as a great time. He said he left around 6.30pm. As he left, he took a call from his wife Lisa, who wanted to know where he was. She said she wasn't feeling well and just wanted him to come home. But he didn't. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Squarespace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks
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Starting point is 00:33:47 recent episodes on the homepage. Every Squarespace website and online store includes SEO tools to help you maximize your visibility in search engines. And I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools, helping me better understand who's visiting the site, where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial and when you're ready to launch use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. Dennis shared custody of his three children with his ex-wife and they were staying with their
Starting point is 00:34:52 mother for the week but he knew that they often went down to a place called Renforth Wharf later in the day to swim. On the way home Dennis said he drove to the wharf hoping to say a quick hi to his kids but they weren't there that day so he continued home. He told police that he arrived home at seven and thought that Lisa might be upstairs so he went straight up. She wasn't so he got changed and then went back downstairs to find her. She was irritated with him for not coming home straight away when she was sick. Dennis told police that he didn't tell his wife he'd stopped at the wharf on the way home to see his kids only that he'd stopped off at his father's office. The couple then headed out to the drugstore and to the market to get some food. Dennis said that
Starting point is 00:35:45 after dinner at home they watched part of a movie before they discovered they'd run out of milk. Dennis made a trip to get some more. When he arrived home at about 9 p.m. he put his hands away and did some gardening. He said that he and Lisa both went to bed at 11 30 p.m. and read a while before falling asleep. Constable Davidson wanted to get into the nature of Dennis's relationship with his father Richard even further. Please note all clips have been edited slightly for time and clarity. Was he the easiest guy in the world to get along with? No but not to the point where you know someone would you know who knew him and want to do something to him. It's not like that. I mean I think most people would say okay I tried to get along with but he was never you know he was
Starting point is 00:36:39 never violent he was never totally completely unreasonable that you couldn't sort of go okay well you know that didn't entirely make sense but I mean right you know you well knowing as long as we all have you know a person's character you know you want to keep your distance yes you know that kind of thing yeah and look with him it was a lot easier to keep your distance because it just kept the peace right and so how was your relationship with him you know from I guess when you were younger to now and yeah I would say that my relationship with my dad was probably perfect until you know I was a teenager and then you know my teenagers with him were very difficult right I was the only son so I think I took most of the pressure yeah he I think his
Starting point is 00:37:34 upbringing was you know tough with mine he was father was a military guy and you know grew up with that generation and living through the depression and everything his father wasn't easy on him and my father suffered you know when he was younger from dyslexia and and you know we certainly as a family could tell he had some sort of spectrum thing you know going on as he was older and yes that would rear its ugly head at times where you would see somebody who you know was impatient and and did have some you know sort of family social issues I mean my my father and I weren't weren't close son father and son I mean we uh he went on to say that his family had high expectations and likely for that reason he enjoyed going away to camp all summer as a teenager he said
Starting point is 00:38:27 they would still get together for family dinners and formal occasions describing them as not always pleasant things were regimented he said and everyone had to be on their toes around Richard otherwise it wouldn't go over well but then Dennis talked about his father's other quirks with some affectionate nostalgia you know we this guy was somebody who uh he was a bit of a nut in a good way meaning like he if he was ever in a car he could tell you how fast it would go right and you know if he went skiing somewhere he would ski and take us all down the steepest hills you know we had an old 1970s four-wheel-drive truck and that was everywhere we had horses in the family we rode gelt across river in the winter yeah you know so you can imagine how exciting
Starting point is 00:39:21 that was at the same time for sure and uh and you know this is a guy who was recently living his dream I mean this one his one item on his bucket list and that's to go to sale and god the guy was winning races um you know and that was good but you know he yeah he and I didn't have that close father-son relationship I think we would do well just by he had this thing that you can't be friends with your son right you know and I get that he wasn't friends with his father I don't think I wanted to be friends with him but uh and you know he would say and do things that you know could be hurtful but you know if you didn't see a lot of each other particularly in the last few years because he's racing hard at least seeing him at all right so uh none of us did Dennis Goodnaturedly
Starting point is 00:40:12 recounted how he and his father stopped sailing together because Richard just barks and barks and barks it's how the last few years been I know you said you know growing up in the teenage years and that sort of thing have been how they gotten better with with you guys um well I think it's when you're an adult and you have your own kids and you have your own life and you don't really see your father that much it automatically gets better yes um you know there's there's been occasion where we've had you know some phone sort of arguments but there's been nothing there's that overall blanket that this guy is a really difficult person to get along with and I think when you're a teenager you wear it differently like this guy's coming down on me
Starting point is 00:41:01 that's your call the time he's so hard on me when you're my age you actually I can actually look at him and say you know it's not all his fault because he had such a hard upbringing he had you know his dyslexia and you know mom thinks he's had this thing asperger's which is sort of like uh it's almost like autism you know this intensely intensely intensely intelligent person but lacks certain social skills yes you know and that was his thing where he could throw a lot of people off including me and everybody else in the family but you know that worked to his advantage as well right as he had no fear um Dennis went on to explain that his father's shared interest in genealogy was the one thing they could have a conversation about without arguing he then spoke about how
Starting point is 00:41:54 his father helped him to keep his house during his very contentious divorce describing the money that Richard loaned and how it effectively helped Dennis to get out of a hole you can imagine you know when you have this somewhat difficult relationship with your father when the going gets tough he stepped up right you know and I mean that's that's very powerful stuff it showed you that even though your relationship may have been strained on the outside right he's still a father dig down exactly you know and that was fantastic you know and to his credit he never threw it at my face yes like he never said he never let that hang over me right and in our family you know you don't get given stuff I mean you know we've had a very fortunate upbringing okay but
Starting point is 00:42:44 there's there's been nothing you know they don't he doesn't go buy you things doesn't take you on trips and spend the money you want to go on a trip you know you pay your own way and we'll have a good time yes you know he was one of those guys that always said like you know if you ever get sick or one of your kids gets sick we'll send them off somewhere and get the best care and we'll make sure that that everything's good as good as we can do right so I mean you both talked to some people and say he was a ruthless bastard you talked to other people say yeah but you know he had that shining light there well yeah I mean and sometimes it was just quiet you know and maybe you know at the end of the day we were talking about you know a loan of five or six hundred
Starting point is 00:43:26 thousand dollars there's a lot of money and uh yeah I was grateful for it right of course yeah as anybody would be there's anybody that's a lot of money yeah Dennis confirmed to police that he believed his father had high expectations of him that he couldn't meet explaining my father was of the belief that you couldn't be friends with your son Dennis spoke about how his father interacted with his own social circle including other wealthy families in the st. John area I mean he seemed to go through friends yes like we're going up I mean he'd have all these friends and he just seemed to exhaust him I think you know his intensity would just I know what you mean was just exhaust him and they just throw their hands up and you know I mean he want made one mistake yeah yeah well one
Starting point is 00:44:22 thing yeah they couldn't keep up with him but I meant he made one mistake this is a number of years ago with his best friend basically uh you know this guy's son was marrying this this woman this mccain somebody from the mccain family and dad was friends with the mccains and had a mutual lawyer and told the lawyer that this mccain girl was making a big mistake and then marrying this guy his best friend's son right and well that got back and it just you know things weren't the same I mean people like that tend to say inappropriate things they don't realize that you have to filter right information so uh Dennis also spoke about an issue that was a bit of an elephant in the room for the
Starting point is 00:45:10 Oland family for eight years Richard had been having an affair with a st. John real estate agent named Diana coincidentally Diana worked at the same real estate agency as Dennis's ex-wife Dennis and his sisters were aware of the affair their father was having and were extremely unhappy about it they wanted to protect their mother Connie as much as possible and now family friends had begun to find out about the relationship Dennis told police that about 12 months before his father's murder he became so concerned about the intensity of Richard and Diana's affair that he confidentially discussed it with one of Richard's business associates a man called Robert McFadden Dennis asked Robert to speak with his father and urge him to stop the affair
Starting point is 00:46:06 because news was traveling around and it was becoming more public in his interview with police Dennis didn't speak positively about Diana claiming that she was hotheaded and a fatal attraction type of person after this background discussion Constable Davidson got back to the tough questions remember Dennis hasn't been told what has happened to his father only that he's passed away okay uh does i have to ask you this did you have any involvement in your in your father's death no i asked you that because you were the last person there yeah and uh you know it's something that i have to cover yeah uh yeah i have no reason to want my father dead to kill him to uh i mean no i mean we've had our things but no i wouldn't rob someone of the fun that they're
Starting point is 00:47:05 having and you know he's just no do can you think of who would have an interest in that who would benefit from that the most because of a grudge or revenge or any reason do you see who would benefit the most of your from your father's death someone who wanted 20 out of a ball to buy drugs um this is reaching a vindictive ex-girlfriend but i you know i don't know that woman so i don't don't know but no i i think he's pissed a lot of people off but not to that point where someone would you know and want to want to kill somebody you know i just i know no one i know i know when i can think of i mean those of us who are closest to him are probably the most annoyed by him but you know we we have enough distance from him that he
Starting point is 00:48:12 doesn't bother us in that kind of way you know no do you see do you see uh any any other reason why someone would do this any other reason why the type of person that would do it someone who's pretty sick i guess someone who i mean if someone has killed him which you're implying that that's the case um i mean i can't there's no one who has has lost money by him there's no one who he has as far as i know insulted in in any way i mean there's there's no one that he has left out i mean i'm sure there were some of his old sailor buddies that were upset that they weren't included in the the new sort of bold and what was going on there but i mean that's
Starting point is 00:49:09 stuff that everybody in life has to deal with you know not not the point to don't want to harm it denis went on to speculate that the person who killed his father could have been someone that richard oland said something negatively to and that had enough constable davidson told denis that there were some inconsistencies in his story for one his movements were strange the two visits the driving the wrong way up the street he explained that cctv cameras could verify whether denis was telling the truth about his movements that day and his presence at his father's office additionally the constable pointed out that it was odd that denis had apparently stopped at the wharf to see his kids
Starting point is 00:50:03 despite already running late to get home knowing his wife was sick and just wanted him home denis's account of his movements the day he visited richard were confusing to police and his suggestion that what happened to his father could be as simple as someone wanting to steal money from his office to buy drugs wasn't supported by the evidence found at the crime scene richard's iphone was missing but other more valuable items had been left untouched including his wallet and his expensive rolex watch and of course his bmw keys were there and his car was still in the parking lot constable davidson left the room for a while and then took denis through his account of the day again i just want to go back um because uh some some new
Starting point is 00:50:56 information's coming in and i just want to go back and clarify a few things with you um just the times because of course the times are very important to us and and with surveillance cameras in that area there's you know they're all over the place there and i want to make sure you know the times line up so so nothing is off so i'll just get you to go back um you said that you left work the first time uh and what time was that quarter after five that was the first time you went down to the office quarter after five yeah because you mentioned you went down twice yeah so the first time was quarter after five yes yeah and you where did you park the first time in right in the parking lot right where my dad parks his car just on the street a bit on the right yeah yeah okay and then
Starting point is 00:51:46 so quarter after five about yeah okay so you go to the door yeah and and went up the stairs and had my bag of stuff and i forgot my stuff well some of my stuff so i left and drove went to go back to the office and then like oh you know don't need that stuff so i went back and back to the office not my i went to go back to my office and then gave up i might have gone likely would have gone down princess street and up king and back in canapher you drove yeah the constable was surprised because denises office was literally just down the street in brunswick square shopping center within walking distance okay yeah you drove back to your office yeah i think i might have been just thinking well i'm not gonna go mm-hmm you know and then just no no i'll go i've got enough here
Starting point is 00:52:48 because what he wanted was the wheel so you went off the first time and spoke to your dad no oh you didn't no got to the top of the stairs didn't have my stuff mm-hmm so i left okay yeah drove back to brunswick square mm i don't think i got all the way there i think i just went to you know the bottom of princess you know prince William and king mm-hmm and i went up king and back in canapher so you didn't even go back to work yeah okay um that okay so then when you came back the second time what time was that well i don't know exactly but i know that orin was there for about 10 minutes so i'm guessing well i think it was around 5 30 then you get there a second time um why did why did you take your car back around instead of
Starting point is 00:53:40 watch because i wasn't sure i was going to be going back okay i was just probably gonna leave and uh and then said no no i got what i wanted here because i had a bunch of other stuff but what what else did you have oh i have a like a stacks stacks of stuff um i had this stuff from Devin that he wanted and i have this uh green book that somebody wrote back in the early 70s that you know i was going to give him that you know i left that in my office and uh that was the thing that i wanted the most and uh and i wanted to get some pictures from that i had given him what more in three months ago and uh i just a lot of times i'll go there and if it's you know if Lisa calls me or something i might just keep going home so okay so i went back and uh
Starting point is 00:54:38 that went in and said Maureen was there five or ten minutes uh just gonna go back because i the first time when we're when we're speaking you i thought you'd mentioned that you went back to the office but it was locked no he means denises office i didn't go back to the office i was going back to the office i realized it didn't have the past okay so i was like i'm not bothering with this okay and then uh the stuff you brought up what just i guess we didn't cover that but did you bring a bag or a bag yeah a bag okay and so bear with me we're just covering it again i just want to be sure with it and uh so the second time it's 5 30 yeah around that time okay i mean it would more yeah i mean i don't know exactly what time but but i would say 5 30 that seems about right
Starting point is 00:55:25 and and again did you did you take the bag up look at the second time yeah okay and uh what were you wearing because we i just want to make sure who's coming in who's going out when we look at the surveillance i can say yes denis um these pants the shoes a dress shirt and a navy blazer you were wearing those pants those shoes those shoes a dress shirt not this you know a color dress shirt yeah and a navy blazer and navy blazer yeah okay denis went on to say that after his father's visit he left at about 6 30 because that's when his wife lisa called he said when he exited the building he walked the wrong way at first before realizing that he'd parked in a different spot to where he'd parked the first time throughout this questioning denis
Starting point is 00:56:15 appeared relaxed he sat with his legs crossed his elbow on the table leaning his head against his hand the conversation was then turned to the strange wharf stop off to see his kids did you know they're at their moms did i know my kids are at their moms oh yeah i didn't but you went to the wharf to see if they're there yes okay i knew that they're weak with their mom okay so but they do these activities during the day so i didn't know where they were i just knew they were either at their mom's house or at the wharf or somewhere in lisa yeah okay and when you when you first came home uh was lisa there waiting for me she was in the sun room okay but i mean i went upstairs and got changed and uh then i think i went outside looking for her in the garden and she called me
Starting point is 00:57:04 like where the hell are you i've been waiting for you yeah and uh then she was in the sun room all wrapped up cold and um just kind of things are curious to me but you know i know if it's me i'm coming home my wife's mad i'm gonna go right there and say hey i'm home just going upstairs is there any reason why you switched the the sequence of that and didn't say hey i'm home to her first and then went out and well i did i went around the house and i walked in through the living room and our house is quite an open concept so when you walk in you can actually see every single room and so i looked around saw her room and went upstairs assumed she was upstairs and she wasn't and so i got changed and then okay well assuming she's not in the house i went out
Starting point is 00:57:48 to the vegetable garden uh and she wasn't there so then i go and go humming back in the house and she's like what the hell am i okay and that's why i have to clarify because in my mind i have to get everything straight and sometimes i go okay well yeah you know so oh and she was she was quite angry yeah after a bit more conversation the constable left the room and came back in with a renewed focus he asked denis to go through his movements again starting off with his first visit to his father's office as he described it again he started sounding a little confused and unsure of himself constable davidson asked him to continue explaining things that he seemed confused about and corrected himself several times he asked denis if there was anything else that happened
Starting point is 00:58:39 that he didn't tell him about denis said no followed by i'm good finally they went over it yet another time denis again tried to trace back and explain his various movements thinking about where he parked each time and what streets he took to get there he continued to be confused as he tried hard to remember tell me what happened you've got me all confused now it's just not your fault no it's not your fault um yeah and i i don't remember because i i know i was parked on canterbury street i know i was the parking lot there and i know i was parked beside my father and i can't remember if it was well i know that the first time i went in where i was parked and after that i'm having difficulty getting it straight okay i want you to think hard i want you it's really
Starting point is 00:59:48 important like i said i want you to think take your time thinking and just play it through and let me know what took place you have me intimidated now so now i'm getting a mental block okay i think you're you know i'm just i'm trying to do it yeah i'm sorry because i'm just i'm getting it focused and i didn't know i know trying to pay attention and i'm trying to focus and i'm trying so hard to just give me one second constable davidson then left the interview room denis spent a few minutes thinking out loud muttering to himself clearly trying to jog his memory by retracing his movements on the desk
Starting point is 01:00:40 in front of him with his finger when constable davidson returned to the room the tone of the interview shifted he informed denis for the first time that he had now become the primary suspect in his father's murder but as yet no charges were laid denis shocked was read his rights and chose to contact his lawyer who immediately instructed him to stop talking to the police when the interview resumed this time as an interrogation constable davidson told denis there is absolutely no question in my mind that you did this and i want to know why denis stated that he would not be answering any further questions and repeated that he did not murder his father for the next 15 minutes constable
Starting point is 01:01:59 davidson continued to ask denis questions but denis remained silent it was clear that he wasn't budging and the constable left the room denis's interrogation was heading into its fourth hour when the door opened again it was a different police officer constable keith copeland introduced himself and it was clear from his manner and line of questioning that he was pulling no punches bad cop good cop constable copeland challenged denis on his version of events denis responded he might have gotten confused about his movements denis was told that everything he said would be able to be verified from cc tv footage and reminded him that they have cameras everywhere from that point on constable copeland used the tactic of assuming that denis had most
Starting point is 01:03:00 definitely been lying although he didn't mention whether or not they actually had reviewed any of the footage yet as the interview progressed denis remained silent but he was clearly uncomfortable he was no longer relaxed and facing the officer speaking with him instead he appeared to be hunching his shoulders as he sat turned away from constable copeland who had pulled his chair close to denis and was leaning forward aggressively denis kept his head down arms folded protectively across his chest his head at times in his hands so the question is why did this happen not did it happen we know that the question is why and denis we can disprove what you've already told us and where does that leave you once you don't have that once you have the lie
Starting point is 01:03:58 that you've told us the only thing left after the lie denis for an honest person who made an honest mistake is the truth and the truth is your father was a mean son of a bitch he controlled every penny that walked through that house he disrespected your mother didn't give her money argued with her about where how much she spent on groceries made you pay your own way to go away with him oh that's business son that's the way business people do it you earn your own way or you don't go isn't that right but yet he went wherever the hell he wanted yeah i'll be gone i'll be back maybe sometime whenever denis remained silent it's hard denis it is hard and it's brutal we need to decide is this a planned thing no you didn't plan this denis because if you
Starting point is 01:04:54 had planned this you'd have planned this a much better way than you did you would have had a better plan than this because the truth is denis you didn't have a plan did you just go there and get into an argument with him about money because you know what everything you've told me denis is about money and if i grew up in your circumstances with money all around you at this stage of my life i would expect to be sharing in some of that not battling with that son of a bitch every single day and having him control every aspect of my life because he wouldn't give up any of his goddamn money you didn't plan this denis he brought this on pushed you pushed you pushed you squeezed you rubbed your face in the fact that he controls it all disrespected you disrespected your mother
Starting point is 01:05:51 yeah i've got this one this little sweetie and i'm taking her away i'm doing this i'm doing that where's my 1600 bucks denis you owe me 1600 bucks because i bailed you out still denis said nothing constable copeland tried for another two hours to get him to talk trying various tactics and stopping to get him water several times after a while he realized the attempts were futile and put an end to the interview denis was not under arrest so he was free to go he left the police station just after 11 p.m. despite the seriousness of the accusation police let him go wearing the pants and shoes he was wearing the items he said he'd also worn to his father's office the day before he was however placed under surveillance for the next week from
Starting point is 01:06:48 the moment that he left the station he was not observed to have done anything concerning during that time police also interviewed denis's wife lisa to get her perspective she corroborated her husband's story that when he arrived home on the night of july the 6th he went straight up stairs and got changed lisa also told police the same night she and denis talked about the meeting that he'd had with his father about the genealogy lisa added they talked about the family history and he said the meeting was really nice in the meantime saint john police had been working to obtain cc tv footage from the street that richards office was on and other areas once they had it it revealed a few inconsistencies with denis's story footage of denis leaving his office at
Starting point is 01:07:51 cibc wood gundy revealed that he was wearing a brown jacket and beige pants not the navy blazer he said he'd been wearing and denis said that he visited his father's office twice the first time he said he turned back when he realized he'd forgotten something at his office and then when he realized he didn't have his pass to get back in he drove back to his father's office he said that he left at 6 30 p.m but the footage showed something different it showed denis with a reusable grocery bag leaving his father's office at 6 12 p.m that's almost 20 minutes earlier than he said he left and footage from a nearby restaurant showed that his car came back past his father's office at 6 21 p.m nine minutes before he said that he left his father's office what was going on here
Starting point is 01:08:54 the autopsy results of richard oland's body were in the forensic pathologist counted 45 wounds to richards hands neck and head the attack continued after he fell to the floor defenseless several of the wounds were caused by blunt force trauma resulting in 14 skull fractures five of the head wounds were round and measured three centimeters in diameter and these wounds had a distinct cross hatching pattern the other head and neck wounds each six or seven centimeters long were inflicted by a sharp instrument the force of the blows was so strong and sharp that the instrument used to inflict them cut through the bone without the instrument breaking apart the 69 year old skull had been caved in to such an extent that a distinct concave area spanned
Starting point is 01:09:55 about the size of a lemon six of the total 45 wounds were found on richards hands which had some broken bones it was thought that these were likely defensive wounds sustained by richard as he tried to protect himself from the frenzied blows inflicted by his attacker richards orbital plates which are the bones of the eye sockets were described as being like a cracked eggshell this injury may have been sustained by richard falling face first onto the floor causing some degree of frontal impact further examination of the wounds to richards hands yielded over 30 hair and fiber samples this included three hairs found inside richards hands as well as tissue samples from underneath his fingernails however the hairs found in richards
Starting point is 01:10:52 hands were lacking a root which meant they couldn't be tested for DNA there was DNA material found under his fingernails but they were later found to be his own the toxicology report noted no evidence of prescription drugs or drugs of abuse in richards system the forensic pathologist stated that no alcohol was found in richards blood however a low amount of 2.3 milligrams of alcohol was found in his urine indicating that richard had consumed alcohol in the hours before his death as is often the case the police would keep this information private until the trial that same day as news of richard's death was breaking to the public media outlets were gathering statements from those who knew the man the best the CEO of enterprise st john spoke to cbc news
Starting point is 01:11:56 about his memories of his late friend saying he was very passionate and very intense and he had a really phenomenal way of connecting with people so that combination of knowledge of the community and his passion for business was something that was very genuine and he was a great salesperson for the community richard siblings derrick and jane released a statement saying in part we are saddened by the sudden loss of our brother richard and on behalf of our families richard is being remembered kindly by many in the community like our father and mother richard gave a great deal of himself and his resources for the betterment of st john and the larger new brunswick community we are grateful for these and his many other contributions as yet no one knew exactly what
Starting point is 01:12:53 had happened to richard as news reports started to come out all the public were told was that richard oland's body had been discovered at his office the police continued to interview the circles of people around richard oland they questioned diana the woman that he'd been having an affair with she told them that she and richard met several times a week sometimes at his office they even traveled together and at the time of richard's murder they'd been in the process of planning a trip to main she stated that they'd even discussed marriage and that it was her understanding that richard had arranged to seek legal advice to pursue it further diana told police that she and richard had an ongoing arrangement to speak on the phone every night at 6 30 p.m when diana's
Starting point is 01:13:50 calls to richard on the evening of july 6 repeatedly went through to voicemail she sent him text messages one message said you've turned your phone off why you're not at the office and don't tell me you have a business meeting because you don't so tell the fucking truth because i'm sitting here not doing suspicious things and i have a lot of men who would love to be with me do stop this fucking around and answer the damn phone i will call at your house the next morning diana said that she had a hair appointment in uptown st john and she decided to stop by richard's office she saw uniformed police officers outside she texted him again asking why police were there and then true to her word she called richard's house and confronted his wife connie demanding to know where he was
Starting point is 01:14:46 and advising that there were police cars outside his office connie only knew of diana as a friend of richard's so this would have been a distressing interaction on several levels and would turn out to be the first of several unexpected and devastating blows to connie diana had an alibi for the night of the murder telling police that she was at home with her then husband on darlings island around 30 minutes away from richard's office but she told police that richard had often complained to her about his lack of respect for denis and his perception that his son had a poor work ethic police interviewed richard secretary maureen she stated that she last saw her boss the night before when she left the office shortly after denis arrived to discuss their genealogy
Starting point is 01:15:43 project she said denis was greeted by his father with a very friendly reception it came up in conversation that richard was adamant about alcohol not being kept or consumed on the premises as you'll recall printing plus was the business situated directly under richard's office on the evening of july the sixth the business owner and owner of the building john ainsworth was there with a friend called anthony shore anthony told police that around 7 30 or 7 45 he heard six or seven exceptionally loud quick pounding thumps from above he said it sounded as if someone were banging on a wall followed by noises that sounded like shuffling john estimated the noises to be around the same time as anthony and told police that the sound seemed to be coming from
Starting point is 01:16:46 one particular area of richard's office as you'll recall denis oland said he left his father's office at 6 30 and these noises weren't heard until an hour later both men left the premises of printing plus at around 9 p.m one of the meetings richard oland had on july the sixth his last day was with his business associate robert mcfadden and his son galen the two older men had known each other for almost 30 years he was also the man mentioned earlier that denis had asked to have a word with his father about the affair with diana as it turns out robert couldn't ever find an appropriate opportunity to bring up the subject in his interview with police robert stated that he and his son met with richard late in the afternoon and they both
Starting point is 01:17:47 left the office at around 5 30 p.m which was just before denis arrived robert was assisting richard to manage his finances and had been tasked with establishing a trust fund that richard wanted set up for his family according to cbc news robert said later that for the previous five years richard had quote for all intents and purposes consumed all of my available time after richard's death robert took over running two of his three companies richard oland's funeral was held at our lady of perpetual help in ross a a church that he had helped pay to build over 450 people filled the church including new brunswick dignitaries like premier david elwood richard's son denis read a scripture passage during the service and at the conclusion of the proceedings mourners
Starting point is 01:18:53 filed out of the church to frank sanatra singing my way ross a mayor william bishop later spoke to mclean's magazine about richard's funeral saying i don't know how to put this the church was packed but there wasn't a tear shed people weren't disturbed emotionally in the days after the funeral the st john chief of police issued a statement to the media it said preliminary results of the autopsy coupled with the evidence at the scene clearly indicate that richard oland was a victim of foul play he went on to add that there was no evidence to suggest that it was a robbery or a random act no further details were given including about the state of richard's body or the injuries he'd sustained police received an interesting phone call it was
Starting point is 01:20:00 from a woman who saw a tv news story of the funeral and recognized denis oland as one of the paul bearers and she had some information she told police that on the evening of july the sixth soon after denis said he was visiting with his father she and her husband were parked in her van at the ross a riverside country club she saw a well-dressed man she later identified as denis wearing a sports jacket and pants the man walked quickly toward renforth wharf carrying a reusable grocery bag she said he walked past her van toward the wharf stopped to pick something up off the ground and looked over toward the lighthouse and playground he continued to walk to the end of the wharf where he sat down and placed the object he picked up and put it in the reusable grocery bag
Starting point is 01:20:59 then he walked briskly back down the wharf to the parking lot the woman said something seemed off quote there was a purpose to what he was doing a real purpose when questioned the woman said neither she nor her husband saw the man discard any items or leave anything behind at the wharf they reported that he drove off in a silver volkswagen golf this was confirmed as being the make and model of the car that denis oland drove unbeknownst to the public a team of police divers conducted a scuba diving search around the wharf for any sign of a murder weapon or richards missing iphone nothing was found the police obtained a search warrant to search denis oland's house after an eight hour search
Starting point is 01:22:02 more than 50 items were seized to keep his evidence including lint from a clothes dryer legal documents bank statements a purple purse with a note inside bedding and clothing also seized in the search was a brown hugo boss jacket with a dry cleaning tag attached which was found hanging in a bedroom closet on a chest of drawers in the master bedroom police found a dry cleaning receipt in denis's wife lisa's name dated july the eighth the day after richards body had been found 19 items had been dry cleaned including two sports jackets a pair of pants and 16 shirts the time stamp on the receipt was 9 0 8 a.m the morning after denis's interview with police had ended other dry cleaning tags were also seized during the search which were found
Starting point is 01:23:02 in the garbage can in the en suite bathroom of the master bedroom the hugo boss jacket was identified as looking the same as the one denis was wearing as he left his office that evening as captured on cctv footage the neighbors had noticed the concentrated police presence at denis oland's house and before long news was starting to travel around no one from law enforcement gave any information on what was happening behind the scenes though search warrants were also obtained for denis's car cell phone home and work computers a logbook richard cell phone records and a 25 foot sailboat owned by denis's wife lisa and a friend that was docked at a local yacht club months went by denis oland continued about his business his family's public and unwavering
Starting point is 01:24:05 support of him was clear he was named co-executor of richards will and also co-director of all three of his companies his debt to his father was erased with the principal repayment to be reflected in his eventual inheritance for now he was given $150,000 $100,000 of this was payment for serving as co-executor of his father's will and $50,000 was payment for him to be a trustee for a fund set up for his mother connie despite the spectacle of the police search of denis's house no further developments to the case were announced richard oland's murder was a massive topic of conversation but for all the residents of st john knew the case had stalled and was going cold but what they did know was that the person responsible for richard's death however it occurred
Starting point is 01:25:05 was still walking free and that's where we'll leave it for part one part two will be available on patreon early and without any of the ads for just two dollars a month and then they'll also be a part three which will be released partially early you'll also unlock access to two bonus episodes that i've released just visit patreon.com slash canadian true crime or you can download the episodes and wait until they're all released and listen to them together i wanted to shout out the work of bobby gene mckinnon from cbc new brunswick who's reporting on the case was a major source for the research and writing of these episodes bobby gene went on to write a national best-selling book on the case which i'll tell you about later because spoiler alert this book is the definitive
Starting point is 01:26:06 report of what happened in this case so after the episodes are done if you wanted to dig in even deeper i will definitely include a link to purchase it my podcast recommendation is crime machine which is the new offering from my good friend jack luna who you'll remember from dark topic dark topic has kind of been retired but crime machine is something completely new and a bit of an audio experience take a listen hello my name is jack luna and i'd like to invite you over for uh listen to my new show crime machine crime machine is a new breed of true crime podcast designed to transport the listener to very specific moments in crime i think domers last meal or maybe bundy's first miss it's heavy material done in a way that is meant to pull you in sweep you away that
Starting point is 01:26:54 having safely returned with some fresh perspective on a case you likely thought you knew crime machine is available now wherever you listen to podcast i hope to have you along for the next ride this episode of canadian true crime was researched and written by jemma harris edited by me an audio production was by we talk of dreams who also composed the theme song the host of the beyond bizarre true crime podcast voiced the disclaimer i'll be back soon ish with part two see you then you my name is john weir you don't know me but you're gonna because i know the people that have been watching you learning about you they know you've done well for yourself that people like you and
Starting point is 01:28:09 trust you trust you now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you freely shared with the whole world now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it yeah i'll be in touch radical starring keeper sutherland new series now streaming exclusively on marabout plus

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