Richard Oland's missing cellphone's final ping was off Rothesay tower

The last communication received by Richard Oland's missing cellphone was a text message from his mistress at 6:44 p.m. on the night police believe he was killed in his Saint John office, and it pinged off a cell tower in Rothesay, Dennis Oland's murder trial heard on Tuesday.

Richard Oland's body was discovered the next morning, lying face down in a pool of blood in his Canterbury Street office.

• ​Live blog: Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial Nov. 17
• On mobile? Get live coverage here

The prominent businessman's iPhone 4 had been connected to his office computer up until 4:44 p.m. on the night in question, July 6, 2011, the Court of Queen's Bench has heard.

Up until then, it had been pinging off the nearby cell tower at 1 Germain St., in Saint John, Sylvie Gill, an investigator with Rogers Communications, testified.

The iPhone was the only item that went missing from the crime scene, while the multimillionaire's wallet, Rolex watch and the keys to his BMW were left untouched.

Dennis Oland, 47, who was the last known person to see his father alive during a meeting at his investment firm office that night, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Oland told police he went to visit his father around 5:30 p.m. to discuss family history and left around 6:30 p.m. — although there is a time stamped security video of him walking across the street from his father's office at 6:12 p.m.

Oland said he drove home to Rothesay, stopping briefly at Renforth Wharf on his way to see if his children were there swimming.

The wharf is located near the Rothesay tower his father's cellphone pinged off.

Two witnesses have described seeing Oland stopping near the wharf to pick something up off the ground, walking to the end of the wharf, sitting down, putting the item he had picked up in a reusable grocery bag he was carrying and then walking briskly back to his car and driving away.

'U there??'

Richard Oland's cellphone activity on July 6-7, 2011, was the focus of testimony at the jury trial on Tuesday.

Rogers received a court order on July 9 to provide the records for Oland, and another court order on July 15 for the records of his long-time mistress, Diana Sedlacek.

The spreadsheets, which were entered into evidence by the Crown, show the date and time of calls and text messages, the calling number and called number, as well as which cell towers picked up the signals.

Oland's cell used the tower in Rothesay on the morning of July 6, while he was still at his home on Almon Lane, switched to the one near his Saint John office during the day, then switched back to the Rothesay tower before going silent, said Gill.

The final communication was a text from Sedlacek at 6:44 p.m., asking "U there??"

The court has not yet heard whether the fact that message was delivered to Oland's cellphone from the Rothesay tower means his cell was in the Rothesay area at that time, or if there is another explanation.

Gill was not cross-examined by the defence on Tuesday because much of the day was spent dealing with legal issues between them and the Crown. Those discussions occurred without the jury present and cannot be reported.

Gill is expected to be cross-examined on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., when the trial resumes.

Rogers has three towers closer to Oland's Saint John office than the Rothesay one. Two of them are on the roof of the Brunswick Square Business Tower at 1 Germain St., and the third is on the city's east side, at 292 Westmorland Rd., Gill said. 

The records show Sedlacek tried to reach Oland several other times that evening, with her cell pinging off a tower in Quispamsis, near her Darlings Island home, where she has testified she was with her husband.

She called six times, starting at 6:46 p.m., sent two text messages at 7:19 p.m., followed by another six calls, and then two final text messages at 11:12 p.m.

But Oland's cell had stopped receiving calls and texts.

'Attached' to his cell

Oland was "generally attached to" his cellphone, according to his business associate, Robert McFadden. Oland carried his iPhone in his pant pocket, jacket pocket or put it on table beside him, McFadden has told the court.

Two men who believe they heard Oland being killed have testified about hearing "thumping" noises coming from his second-storey office on the night of July 6, 2011.

But John Ainsworth's recollection of the timing appears to support the Crown's case, while Anthony Shaw's time estimate seems to support the defence.

Ainsworth said it was sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., while Shaw said it was around 7:30 p.m. or 7:45 p.m.

There is a time stamped security video of Dennis Oland shopping at Cochran's Country Market in Rothesay at 7:38 p.m.