Dennis Oland trial hears about 'thumping' sounds coming from victim's office
John Ainsworth and Anthony Shaw believe they heard Richard Oland being murdered, but time unclear
Two men who believe they heard Richard Oland being killed, testified Tuesday at Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial.
But John Ainsworth's recollection of when he heard the "thumping" noises coming from Richard Oland's office supports the Crown's case, while Anthony Shaw's time estimate supports the defence.
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Ainsworth says it was sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on July 6, 2011.
Shaw says it was around 7:30 p.m., or 7:45 p.m.
Earlier in the trial, the jury was shown a time stamped security video of Dennis Oland shopping at Cochran's Country Market at 7:38 p.m. that night.
Cochran's is located in Rothesay, which is at least a 15-minute drive away from Richard Oland's investment firm office at 52 Canterbury St., according to Google Maps.
Oland's body was found in his office the next morning, lying face down in a large pool of blood.
The prominent businessman had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands.
Dennis Oland, 47, who was the last known person to see his father alive during a meeting at his office the night before, had pleaded not guilty in his death.
He said Shaw arrived around 6 p.m. on the night in question and was helping him with a computer project when they heard the noises.
Ainsworth said there was an initial thump, then a slight lag, then eight or 10 thumps like "rapid fire."
The sounds were "stationary," and seemed to be coming from Richard Oland's desk area, said Ainsworth.
He and Shaw looked at each other, but once the noises stopped, they kept working.
He was also used to hearing sounds come from upstairs, he said. A former tenant, Net Difference, had an employee whose children would run around, "thundering back and forth, full tilt" for 10 to 15 minutes, he said.
The noises on July 6 lasted only about 10 seconds. It wasn't "outstanding in the sense that it wasn't prolonged," said Ainsworth.
"Comparatively, it's not disconcerting," he said, adding that he was pre-occupied with the project he was working on.
He had "tunnel vision to the issue at hand," he said.
Ainsworth
Defence laywer Alan Gold suggested Ainsworth told police on the scene the next morning that it was around 8 p.m.
Ainsworth said he doesn't remember what he told the officer, but expects he probably said, "I think it was 8 p.m."
"Were you not trying to be as truthful and accurate as possible?" asked Gold.
"I put a time out there, but the certainty was pretty negligible," Ainsworth said.
During his statement to police on July 8, Ainsworth put the time as being about 30 to 45 minutes before a customer came in to have a document emailed. The email was time stamped at 8:11 p.m.
"I wasn't paying a lot of attention to anything," he testified.
Gold persisted. "It could be between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. You're just not 100 per cent sure?"
Ainsworth repeated it was sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. "After that, I'm not sure."
'It was swift. Quick'
Shaw described the noises as "loud and unusual."
"I heard a loud crash and then many thumping sounds thereafter," he said.
Shaw told the court he believes the noises occurred before 8 p.m., when the customer came in — sometime around 7:30 p.m., or 7:45 p.m.
"Yes. It made sense," replied Shaw.
In a videotaped statement to police on July 8, 2011, Shaw had said: "Now that we think about it, something was going on there out of the ordinary," Miller said, reading aloud from a transcript of that statement.
Shaw said he did not hear any voices arguing, yelling or screaming, just the "loud crash" and then "maybe eight or 10 repeated sounds."
"It was swift. Quick," he said, estimating the noise only lasted about 10 to 15 seconds.
Shaw said he and Ainsworth stopped working, "looked at each other, waited, it [the noise] passed, and continued" working.
Lead Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniot asked Shaw why he didn't do anything when he heard the noises. "I'm not blaming you sir," he said.
Shaw said he owns a similar brick building and when he investigated a noise complaint from a tenant one day, he found another tenant putting together furniture. He figured it was something similar — someone "maybe arranging furniture, hanging a picture," he said.
Those were the only noises he heard from the time he arrived at Printing Plus, around 6 p.m., until he and Ainsworth left together around 9 p.m.
He had never heard such unusual noises coming from Oland's office before during the numerous other occasions he spent time at Printing Plus, he said.
He didn't notice anything unusual going on outside in front of the building during several cigarette breaks he took on the night in question either, he added.
The trial resumes Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.