The trial of Dennis Oland for the alleged murder of his father Richard Oland is set to continue on Wednesday following a day of gruesome testimony from a Saint John pathologist.
Dr. Ather Naseemuddin, who conducted the autopsy of 69-year-old Richard Oland, found that the multi-millionare businessman did not have time to put up much of a defence when he was attacked in his office and killed by multiple blows that caved in his skull.
Dennis Oland, 50, is on trial for the second-degree murder of his father, whose body was found lying in a pool of blood on July 7, 2011.
On Tuesday, Naseemuddin carefully chronicled each blow inflicted on the 69-year-old former executive of Moosehead Breweries Ltd., counting 45 in total.
The court was warned in advance that the autopsy photos would be difficult to view. Dennis Oland appeared to rarely, if ever, look at them, as did most members of his family who are in court every day, supporting him.
Oland has steadfastly maintained his innocence. He was charged in 2013 and tried and convicted by a jury in 2015. That verdict was set aside on appeal in 2016 and the new trial ordered.
The Crown has contended that that Dennis Oland was deeply in debt and on the edge financially when he killed his very rich father “in a rage” over money.
The defence insists that the case against Dennis is circumstantial, comparing it in their opening statement to a jigsaw puzzle that the prosecution is missing pieces to, with the ones it does have not being able to fit.
With files from The Canadian Press