by Greg Marquis
Dennis and Lesley Oland had acquired 58 Gondola Point Road from his grandfather’s estate in the late 1990s. In 2009, following his divorce, Dennis became sole owner of the ancestral home, largely because of his father’s financial assistance. Typically, this aid was not altogether altruistic, as Dennis agreed to sign over two parcels of land (from the former Philip Oland estate), totalling twelve acres, to Kingshurst Estates Ltd. This gave Richard control of a valuable parcel of land in the heart of Rothesay located between the property of lawyer Bill Teed and of Jim Irving (son of J. K. Irving), head of J. D. Irving, the forestry arm of the Irving empire. In 2011, Irving, according to a report in the Globe and Mail, was building a 6,100-square-foot mansion in this secluded area. Google Maps indicates that Irving’s heavily wooded property is accessible via Gondola Point Road. There are rumours that in 2011 Richard was seeking real-estate advice on how to maximize the value of the newly acquired land.65
Classic family business empires are not built by patriarchs who are soft or fair with their children. Richard’s assistance to Dennis has been described as a loan, an advance on his inheritance, even an informal mortgage, but it forced Dennis to pay monthly interest to his father and turn over part of his land. There were other conditions, which many would find intrusive or humiliating. As would be suggested through the murder investigation, despite Richard’s intervention, his son’s financial situation was far from certain. He did not have a regular, predictable income; as a financial adviser, he was paid fees and commissions on stock trades. In addition to acquiring a new wife and stepson, Dennis shared custody of his own three children and that placed burdens on his time and resources. As of early 2016, their ages were as follows: stepson, Andru, twenty-two; Emily, nineteen; Hannah, seventeen; Henry, fifteen. In 2010, Dennis and Lisa took out a collateral mortgage for $75,000. In March 2011, just over three months prior to Richard Oland’s death, a second collateral mortgage was placed on the property, for $163,000. In the case of a default, the CIBC, and not Richard Oland, now had a legal claim against the grandfather’s home.66 Dennis’s financial situation in 2011, combined with his father’s personality and lifestyle and the strained father-son relationship, would conspire to produce dramatic consequences.
* * *
1Gordon Pitts, “Derek Oland: Raising a glass to 50 years with the family brewery,” Globe and Mail, Sept, 7, 2012.
2Canadian Press, “Moosehead president says Canadian beer industry disappearing,” Cape Breton Post, May 14, 2007; “Moosehead to lay off 70 workers in New Brunswick,” CTV News, Oct. 2, 2014.
3Paul Brent, “Band of Brothers,” CPA Magazine, March 3, 2014.
4Bruce Livesey, “What have the Irvings done to New Brunswick?” National Observer, June 6, 2016, http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/06/06/news/what-have-irvings-done-new-brunswick.
5Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Oct. 24, 1914.
6Saint John Standard, June 15, 1918.
7Saint John Globe, Dec. 12, 1917.
8Gord McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.” The Financial Post, Aug, 1, 1992, 31.
9“Same Increase in Beer Prices Just Coincidence, Says Brewer,” Globe and Mail, Oct. 28, 1959, 29.
10McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.”
11Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 59.
12McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.”
13Ibid.
14Ibid.
15Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 39–40.
16McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.”
17Ibid.
18Ibid.
19Michael Tutton, “Brewing Brotherhood,” Telegraph-Journal, Dec. 28, 1999.
20David Stonehouse, “Moosehead buys Niagara microbrewery; Saint John company gains ground in Ontario,” Telegraph-Journal, June 22, 2004.
21Ibid.
22Mac Trueman, “Brewery Ups Ante,” Telegraph-Journal, Nov. 18, 2005, A1, A8.
23Rod Allen, “Brewers concerned about rising costs,” Telegraph-Journal, April 25, 2007, B1.
24Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 100.
25Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 6; Canadian Press (CP), “Moosehead beer stays in family,” Red Deer Advocate, Feb. 15, 2008, B7.
26n. a. “Three to be honoured at UNBSJ convocation May 24,” Telegraph-Journal, May 14, 2002.
27Constance Oland to Justice John Walsh, Jan. 16, 2016.
28Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 58.
29McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.”
30Jennifer Pritchett and April Cunningham, “Nightmare for Dennis, family says,” Telegraph-Journal, Nov. 14, 2013, A1.
31Gord McLaughlin. “Life in a Dynasty.”
32David Young, “Brewery woes led brother to court,” Telegraph-Journal, Aug, 27, 1998.
33Sawler, Last Canadian Beer, 145.
34Brent, “Band of Brothers.”
35McLaughlin, “Life in a Dynasty.”
36Deborah Jones, “McCain foresees higher costs,” The Financial Post, Nov. 19, 1992, 5.
37Ibid.
38Meagan Campbell, “The murder trial that took New Brunswick by storm,” Maclean’s, c. December 30, 2015.
39Bob Klager, “Saint John Games generated money and goodwill,” Telegraph-Journal, Jan. 26, 2002; Nathan White, “Economic downturn hits Games Foundation,” Telegraph-Journal, June 25, 2009, B10.
40David Young, “Fear and Loathing at the New Brunswick Museum,” Telegraph-Journal, July 10, 1998.
41Stuart Allen Smith, “Museum board, director must go,” Telegraph-Journal, July 18, 1998.
42Maggie Estey-Smith, “Businessman honoured for volunteer service: YMCA-YWCA salutes Richard Oland,” Telegraph-Journal, May 17, 2006, B1–2.
43Bertrand Marotte, “Irvings at crossroads: Maritime market not enough, tough global market is next step,” Calgary Herald, June 30, 1996, D12.
44John Fogan, “Irving replies to ‘bashers’,” Evening Times–Globe, May 4, 1990, C1.
45Richardson, “Battle lines drawn over natural gas,” Telegraph-Journal, March 11, 1998; “New Brunswickers invest in natural gas consortium,” Daily Gleaner, March 11, 1998.
46David Young, “Beware energy monopoly-Oland,” Telegraph-Journal, Sept. 3, 1998.
47David Young, “City Backs Irving Bid,” Telegraph-Journal, Sept. 15, 1998; “A squandered vote on natural gas,” Telegraph-Journal, Sept. 16, 1998.
48Alan White, “Local investors in Gas NB can pocket twice the cash,” Telegraph-Journal, Sept. 8, 1999.
49Rebecca Penty, “The making of a franchise,” Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 19, 2010, B1.
50Poitras, Irving vs. Irving, 158–62.
51Nicholas Köhler, “Murder and a maritime dynasty,” Macleans.ca, July 28, 2011, http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/murder-and-a-maritime-dynasty/.
52“Burchell’s Yacht—The Aloma,” Cape Breton News, posted Aug. 10, 2010; CP, “Dennis Oland Recalls Good Old Days,” Moncton Time and Transcript, Nov. 13, 2013, C1.
53Lonay Habib, “RORC Caribbean 600–A Race Comes of Age,” Antiguanice.com. March 8, 2011.
54“Key West 2011 presented by Nautica,” Sailing World, http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/key-west-2011-friday-video.
55Jon MacNeil, “It all comes down to managing well: local businessman wins prestigious American regatta by 13/100ths of a second,” Telegraph-Journal, Aug. 3, 2010, C1.
56Donna Paxton, “Vela Veloce claims title, The Daily Sail, July 24, 2010, http://www.thedailysail.com/inshore/10/56138/new-york-yacht-club-race-week-report.
57Interview of Dennis Oland, July 7, 2011, http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=732471.
58Harvey Enchin, “Foot loose, Czech free,” The Globe and Mail, May 9, 1991. B6.
59Paul Koring, “Czechoslovakia hopeful return of Bata is first step to economic vitality,” Globe and Mail, Dec. 14, 1989, A2; Harvey Enchin, “Footloose, Czech free”; “Backward Glances: A Conversation with Former Bata Executive Jiri Sedlacek,” Bata World News, Feb. 24, 2014. The Sedlaceks appear to have lived at 160 Meadow Drive on Darlings Island, New Brunswick.
60“Brockville: horse dead after accident,” Ottawa Citizen, July 5, 1988, E2.
61CP, “Cops search son’s home in Oland slaying,” Halifax Chronicle-Herald, July 15, 2011, A1.
62Constance Oland to Justice John Walsh, Jan. 16, 2016.
63The Canadian Establishment: Volume One: The Old Order (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975), 490.
64Constance Oland to Justice John Walsh, Jan. 16, 2016; Pre-Sentence Report for the Court of Queen’s Bench, R v. Dennis James Oland, prepared by Jim Peters, Feb. 2, 2016.
65Transfer, Land Titles Act, S.N.B, 1981, c.L-1.1, s. 21, Dennis James Oland to Kingshurst Estates Ltd., 2010-01-06, Registration number 28230879; Gordon Pitts, “Warship contract burnishes Irving legacy,” Globe and Mail, Oct. 20, 2011.
66Collateral mortgage, Land Titles Act, S.N.B, 1981, c.L-1.1, s. 21, Dennis James Oland and Lisa Ferguson, 2011-03-29, Registration number 29936474.
Chapter 3
The First Week
July 8–14, 2011
The headline of New Brunswick’s Telegraph-Journal for July 8, 2011, was “Dick Oland Dead.” It was accompanied by a colour photo of SJPF officers and two employees of Brenan’s Funeral Home pushing the victim’s remains, shielded from prying eyes by a body bag and cover, on a stretcher for transport to the morgue at the Saint John Regional Hospital. While the Oland family prepared for the funeral, politicians, business leaders, and friends expressed their shock and sadness. Within a few days, judging by documents called an “information to obtain” (ITO) which were filed with the provincial court, the police had formulated their basic theory of the case. Despite this, the evidence was almost entirely circumstantial and it would be more than two years before an arrest would be made. This delay was, in hindsight, perfectly reasonable, as one of the top tips for homicide investigators is to not give in to media and political pressure and rush an investigation. In the meantime the SJPF, under Chief Bill Reid, was under tremendous media and public scrutiny.1
The last time a member of a prominent local family had been the victim of a major crime was back in 1982 when John E. “Jack” Irving, third son of renowned industrialist K. C. Irving, had been kidnapped from his residence. Jack, fifty years old, was in charge of the steel fabrication, construction, and engineering components of the Irving group of companies. During his career, he also owned newspapers in Fredericton and Moncton. As noted by Jacques Poitras in Irving vs. Irving, Jack had spearheaded the effort to cover the Maritimes with Irving gas stations. He was appointed vice-president of Irving Oil in 1972 after his father moved his assets out of Canada to avoid federal and provincial taxes and relocated to Bermuda. In May 1982, Jack was with his wife, Suzanne, when Stephen Gerald Childs, a young, unemployed security guard, entered their residence with an imitation pistol. Childs wanted to abduct Suzanne, but Jack volunteered to take her place. Irving was gagged and bound, placed in a van, and driven to another location. Over the next few hours, the kidnapper, who was seeking a $600,000 ransom to open up a health club, placed several calls to the Irving residence from pay phones. After installing a tap on the Irving phone, the police traced a call to the uptown area, resulting in the arrest of the kidnapper. Jack was returned unharmed. Childs pleaded guilty to the kidnapping as well as the earlier extortion of Saint John developer Pat Rocca and two armed robberies. Rocca’s wife and two employees had been held at gunpoint until $15,000 was handed over. Childs was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Despite the positive outcome for the Irvings, the experience supposedly adversely affected Jack, who became a less dominant player in the family business empire. He passed away in 2010.2
In criminal matters, lack of information feeds public gossip, and the Oland case became the subject of countless coffee-shop, barroom and kitchen-table conversations. Saint John is technically a city of sixty-five thousand, but in many ways it feels like a small town where many people know and are related to one another and like to know each other’s business. Everyone from taxi drivers to members of university boards of governors had an opinion or theory about Richard Oland’s death. In the days and months that followed the discovery of the crime, rumours continued to swirl about the motive, the guilty party, and the cause of death. The case was unique not only because of the social status of the victim, but also because of that of the possible suspect. The elite was in the spotlight and, in a sense, on trial in the court of public opinion. In July 2011, for example, the National Post reported that when traffic was tied up on Saint John’s Harbour Bridge, a rumour spread that Dennis had jumped to his death from the structure.3 Other rumours included that the killer was an irate investor, someone to whom Richard owed money, or a hit man, possibly working for the Russian mafia. The eventual revelation of Oland’s affair spurred talk of womanizing and the theory that the culprit was a jealous husband. Although outside reporters were frustrated by the unwillingness of political and business leaders to be interviewed about the story, the murder and ongoing investigation attracted the attention of national media. Globe and Mail reporter Josh O’Kane, for example, wrote that Oland had spent the decade prior to his murder enjoying life and “winding down.”4
Public figures issued statements and friends of the family posted messages of sympathy and praise for the victim. John Ainsworth, owner of Printing Plus and Richard’s landlord, remembered “exhilarating conversations” and Oland’s “zest and vitality.”5 Pat Darrah, the retired head of the Saint John Construction Association who would deliver Oland’s eulogy, refused to be interviewed by the National Post, stating: “Everyone’s having a difficult time given the circumstances.”6 Don Cullinan, a lawyer whose office was in the building next to Oland’s, viewed the death as “a real shame.” The head of Enterprise Saint John, described as a family friend, spoke about Oland’s business acumen and devotion to promoting Saint John.7 Businessman Clark Sancton, a frequent lunch companion of the victim at the Union Club, called Richard “intense and brilliant.” Members of the Rothesay Yacht Club, where Oland was well known, also felt sadness and shock. Bruce Tennant recalled how Richard and his future wife, Connie, used to sail to his camp on nearby Long Island in the Kennebecasis River.8 Saint John common councillor Bill Farren, a former Moosehead employee, stated: “You don’t usually see this happening to classy people. You usually see it happening to guys like me. There’s a lot of attention because of that, I think.”9
The public naturally speculated about a motive for the killing. In crime movies and television shows such as Forensic Files, the usual suspects in the deaths of a prominent businessperson include business partners, rivals, and former associates, or anyone who bore a grudge against the victim. Crime novels and television dramas often point to economic motives such as insurance payouts when wealthy individuals are murdered, but criminology literature indicates that homicides can stem from relatively trivial disputes, a situation made worse by the presence of alcohol or weapons. According to veteran defence lawyer David Lutz, the typical murder in New Brunswick involves one or more of three factors: alcohol, drug debts, or sexual jealousy.10 In the period 2010–14, none of the seven other murder or manslaughter cases in Saint John (one of which went to trial with a finding of not guilty, another of which was changed from manslaughter to criminal negligence causing death) was unrelated to drugs, personal disputes, or domestic violence. In keeping with standard procedure in t
hese types of cases, the SJPF remained guarded in terms of information released to the public. Initially, it announced that the death was “suspicious” but that the crime was isolated; in other words, the public had nothing to fear from the uncaught killer or killers. On July 11, 2011, Chief Reid confirmed both that the death was a homicide and the victim probably knew his attacker. The announcement that residents had nothing to fear from the killer “alleviated a lot of concern,” according to Mayor Ivan Court. Spokespersons for the Saint John Board of Trade and Fusion, a business networking group, confirmed that uptown business types were not worried about their personal safety. Oland’s family remained silent and nothing was said about a reward.11