SAINT JOHN, N.B. — During an interview with police the day Richard Oland's body was found, Dennis Oland said he wasn't involved in the murder and had no reason to kill his father.
The jury in the younger Oland's murder trial is being shown video of the interview conducted by officers with the Saint John Police Force on July 7, 2011, the day Richard Oland's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood in his Canterbury Street office.
Dennis Oland, 47, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.
In the video, Oland said his father would often argue with him and say hurtful things.
But when Const. Stephen Davidson of the Saint John Police Force asked whether he had any involvement in his father's death, Oland replied, "No."
"I have no reason to want my father dead."
Oland said his father had "pissed off a lot of people," but he couldn't think of anyone who would want him dead.
Asked to describe his movements the day before Richard Oland's body was found, Dennis said he first arrived at his father's office around 5:15 p.m. on July 6, 2011, but realized he had forgotten some genealogy documents at his own office.
He left, but realized that he didn't have the pass to get back into his office building and decided he had enough documents for his meeting with his father.
He said he arrived again at his father's office at about 5:30 p.m., where his father's secretary, Maureen Adamson, was finishing up for the day. She left 10 to 15 minutes later.
Oland said he left about an hour later, making one stop at a local wharf, and then went home.
Asked if he could suggest who might have killed his father, Oland told Davidson perhaps a vindictive ex-girlfriend or a crack-head looking for money.
Davidson asked Oland what he had been wearing that day. Oland said tan pants, dress shirt and navy blazer.
The jury also heard Crown attorney P.J. Veniot read an agreed statement of facts into the record, telling them that by 8:22 p.m. on the day of the police interview Oland became a suspect in the murder. After becoming a suspect, Oland was told that search warrants would be issued for his home.
Court has heard that Richard Oland, who was 69, was struck more than 40 times in the head with a hammer-type instrument and a blade-like weapon.