A forensic identification officer with the Saint John police agreeing with the defence on day 13 of the second-degree murder trial of Dennis Oland that the number of blows dealt to Richard Oland was the most he’d ever seen while attending an autopsy.
On Tuesday – day 12 – during cross-examination by defence lawyer Gary Miller, Sergeant Mark Smith, who has been in charge of the forensic identification unit since 2006, agreed that this was an exceptionally bloody crime scene.
During today’s testimony Smith was also asked about Richard Oland’s glasses with Miller stating that it might be possible the killer or killers could have knocked the glasses off Richard Oland’s head during a scuffle and that they might be a fruitful source for DNA analysis.
Smith responding that he did not feel that was the case because the glasses were covered in Richard Oland’s blood and he wouldn’t expect to find anything other than that.
Miller showing the jury a surveillance video from Thandi’s restaurant on Canterbury Street that’s timestamped at 6:12pm on July 6, 2011. In the video a man is shown walking with a red bag.
Miller asking Smith if the man in the video appears to be Dennis Oland – he responds “it could be.” He’s asked if the bag the man is carrying is the same as the red reusable grocery bag that he seized from Dennis Oland’s vehicle – Smith responds, “it is similar, yes.”
Richard Oland’s secretary Maureen Adamson testified that Dennis Oland arrived at the office that day at 5:30pm and she says she left the office that day around 5:45pm.
Reporter Laura Lyall is covering the trial and is live-tweeting the proceedings. You can follow along on her Twitter page, on the CHSJ News Twitter page or on the Wave News Twitter page.
