Dennis Oland's defence grills lead investigator in Richard Oland murder

The lead investigator in Richard Oland's murder was grilled by Dennis Oland's defence lawyer Tuesday about his actions at the crime scene and his work on the case.

Const. Stephen Davidson previously testified that he had checked the back door at Richard Oland's Saint John office on July 7, 2011 — the morning the prominent businessman's bludgeoned body was discovered.

But during cross-examination, Gary Miller told the second-degree murder trial there's no official record to confirm Davidson's account, and even suggested the officer had made the story up.

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Miller said the first time Davidson even mentioned checking the back door was during Dennis Oland's preliminary inquiry on June 9, 2014 - nearly three years after Richard Oland was killed.

"You were under oath and telling the truth?" Miller asked in a booming voice.

"I was telling the truth," Davidson replied in a steady voice.

The body of Richard Oland was discovered lying face down on his office floor in a pool of blood. The 69-year-old 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 Canterbury Street office the night before, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in his death.

​The back door has been central to the defence team's efforts to convince the jury that someone other than Dennis Oland killed his father.

They have suggested it would have been the "preferred exit route" of the killer or killers because it was the most "surreptitious."

The door, located in the foyer outside Richard Oland's second-floor office, leads to an alleyway out back, almost at ground level because the building is on a hill.

Davidson, who was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene that morning, around 9:35 a.m., previously testified that he had unlocked the door, looked outside and then locked it again.

He also said he went out the door to look around, but could not recall if that was on July 7, or two days later when he returned to the scene.

On Tuesday, Miller pointed out that Davidson never mentioned checking the door in his notes from that day, or in his more detailed "narrative" report.

Davidson said he didn't mention checking the third floor in his notes either, but said he did check.

It seems Davidson is a sparse note-taker. He has only penned 26 pages of notes on the Oland case between July 7, 2011 and March 4, 2015, the court heard.

Miller went on to say that no other officer has testified about Davidson checking the door, including Const. Duane Squires, who kept a log of officers' comings and goings that day, or Const. Tony Gilbert, whom Davidson told the preliminary inquiry he was with when he checked the door.

"We checked to see if it was locked," and went outside "to see what we could find," Davidson had testified, according to the transcript of the preliminary inquiry Miller read aloud for the court.

The door was never tested for fingerprints because by the time the head of forensics got to it, it had already been touched and therefore contaminated by officers, the court has heard.

Miller also challenged Davidson's description of the back alleyway. During the preliminary inquiry, on Aug. 21, 2014, Davidson said he remembered there being about a three-foot drop out the back door. He said he had to "jump down" and then "boost" himself back up to get back in.

But Miller showed the court photos of the back door and the three steps that are there. The building owner has testified the stairs have been there since he bought the building around 2000.

Davidson maintained that he doesn't remember there being any stairs.

No evidence accused owned drywall hammer

Davidson also faced intense questioning about the Saint John Police Force's efforts to identify and locate a murder weapon in the case.

Last week, Davidson said police believed Richard Oland may have been killed with a drywall hammer or "hammer-type" instrument.

It was the first time the suspected weapon was revealed since Oland's body was discovered more than four years ago.

"That was the idea that was passed around," following the autopsy, Davidson said on Tuesday.

The pathologist who conducted the autopsy previously testified Oland's injuries were inflicted by two separate surfaces — one that cause round wounds about three centimetres in diameter with a faint cross hatching patter in them, and one with a sharp edge, strong enough to "chop" through bone without breaking apart and leaving pieces in the wounds.

Drywall hammers, also known as drywall hatchets, are hand tools that typically have a bevelled hammer head with a waffle design on one side to nail up gypsum board, and a sharp axe on the other side to score the drywall.

Davidson said he searched online to see what drywall hammers looked like.

Asked whether he ever looked into the availability of drywall hammers at local hardware stores, he said he did. "Nothing formal," he said.

Davidson said he never bought one and never showed one to the pathologist who conducted the autopsy for his opinion on whether it could have been a possible weapon.

Miller then asked Davidson if he had any evidence that Dennis Oland ever owned or was in possession of a drywall hammer.

"No," he replied.

No weapon was ever found.

Suggests videos corroborate police statement

Miller also suggested to the jury Tuesday that a series of security videos taken on July 6, 2011, corroborate what Dennis Oland told police about his actions that night.

The accused said he went to his father's Canterbury Street office twice. The first time was around 5:15 p.m., after he finished work at CIBC Wood Gundy.

Oland said he parked in the lot at the corner of Princess Street, went up the stairs to the Far End Corporation, but then realized he forgot something at work.

He went back to his car, turned the wrong way up Princess Street, got turned around and returned to his father's office without the document he had left to get, parking this time on Canterbury Street, by the Thandi's restaurant parking lot.

Videos submitted into evidence show Oland leaving the Brunswick House office tower at 5:08 p.m. and a silver car, resembling his Volkswagen Golf driving up King Street at 5:16 p.m., 5:18 p.m. and 5:22 p.m.

Miller suggested the multiple trips were due to difficulty finding parking, but did not explain whether they were all related to the first visit, the second or both.

There is no video of Oland actually entering or exiting 52 Canterbury St., which Miller blamed on the limited range of the Thandi's security cameras. He introduced an aerial photograph showing the coverage areas of the cameras marked in black.

There is a video of Oland walking north on Canterbury Street, across the street from his father's office, at 6:12 p.m., around the time he said he left. But then he appears to cross the street, back toward his father's office.

Oland told police he initially went left out of his father's building, thinking his car was where he had left it the first time, in the lot at the corner of Princess Street. He headed the other way, toward where his car was actually parked, then thought about going to the drug store at Brunswick Square, but changed his mind and went to his car.

A light-coloured car is seen driving past Thandi's restaurant at about 6:14 p.m. and then again around 6:21 p.m.

Suggests video serves as alibi

Miller went one step further and suggested some of the videos serve as his client's alibi.

But Court of Queen's Bench Justice John Walsh quickly admonished Miller, describing his comments as improper.

Some of the videos are taken at Kennebecasis Drugs and Cochran's Country Market in Rothesay, which is at least a 15-minute drive away from Canterbury Street, according to Google Maps, and they are time stamped at 7:38 p.m.

"If John Ainsworth and Anthony Shaw heard noises [coming from Richard Oland's Saint John office between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and the noises were the killing of Richard Oland, then Dennis Oland could not have done it?" Miller put to Davidson.

Lead Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniot promptly objected.

"Sustained," said Walsh. It will be up to the jury to decide, within the context of all of the other evidence, he stressed.

Last week, the court heard that John Ainsworth, who owns the building Richard Oland's investment firm office was located in, was working downstairs at his Printing Plus business with his friend Anthony Shaw on the night of July 6 when they heard "thumping" noises coming from the second floor.

Both men testified they now believe the noises were related to Oland's bludgeoning death.

Ainsworth testified the noises occurred sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., but Shaw said they were around 7:30 p.m. or 7:45 p.m.

​On Monday, forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks testified about the limitations of what can be deduced from security videos, which are often compressed to save memory space and consequently, lose detail.

The court has also heard that the time stamps on some of the videos are not accurate. One camera on Canterbury Street, across from Richard Oland's office, for example, is behind by about 58 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Kennebecasis Drugs and Cochran's Country Market videos are both time stamped at 7:38 p.m., but both show Dennis Oland shopping with his wife, Lisa.

The judge formally instructed the jurors Tuesday that it's up to them to decide what person, place or thing is, or is not portrayed in the videos and how much weight to give the videos in their deliberations.

The trial resumes on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. It is scheduled to run until Dec. 18.