Weapon used to kill Richard Oland undetermined, murder trial hears

The pathologist who performed the autopsy on Richard Oland's body could not determine what weapon or weapons wereused to kill him.

Dr. AtherNaseemuddintestified Thursday at Dennis Oland'ssecond-degree murder trial in Saint Johnthat the injuries were inflicted by two separate surfaces.

Whether they were both on the same weapon, however, he could not say.

• Live blog:Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial: Oct. 8

RichardOlandsuffered 40 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, and six defensive wounds to his hands.

Theprominent businessman'sbludgeoned body was discovered lying face down in a large pool of blood in his investment firmoffice on Canterbury Street on July 7, 2011.

DennisOland, 47, who is the last known person to see his father alive during a meeting the office the night before, has pleaded not guilty in his death.

No weapon was ever found.

Naseemuddinperformed the autopsy on July 8, 2011, with two Saint John police officers, the coroner and a morgue attendant present.

He said he had to wait several hours for the officers to finish searching Oland's body for evidence before he could begin his work, carefully examining and documenting each wound.

He methodically disclosed his findings to the jury, showingcloseupphotographs of each woundand providing their measurements length, width and depth.

Justice John Walsh had warned people in the courtroom about the graphic photographs, saying some people may wish to leave, or avoid looking at the display monitors.

Naseemuddintestified that the six blunt force injuries toOland'sheadwere round and had a "faint cross hatching pattern in them," although his post-mortem report noted five such injuries.

The sharp force injuries could have been made by anything that's sharp with the capacity to deliver such force, enough to break through bone,he said.

Oland suffered "multiple displaced fractures of the skull bones with extension disruption of the brain tissue," Nassemudinnoted in his 12-pagepost-mortem report.

"Death, in my opinion, resulted from multiple sharp and blunt force injuries to the head," he wrote.

Sgt. Mark Smith, the head of the Saint John Police Force's forensic identification unit, had previously testified that the blunt force wounds measured about three centimetres in diameterandappeared to have been caused by a hammer-type instrument.

He estimated the incised wounds were made by a sharp instrument about six or seven centimetres in length.

Naseemuddin's testimony continues on Friday at 9:30 a.m., when the trial resumes.

Accused's blood, DNA not found on victim

Earlier Thursday, the forensics officertold the jury that no blood or DNA identified as being DennisOland'swas found on RichardOland'sbody, or in the office where he was killed.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Gary Miller asked Smith to confirmthat henever received "any information whatsoever, reports or otherwise," that any blood or DNA identified asbeing DennisOland'swas found on Richard Oland's body, or at the crime scene the Far End Corporation office on the second floor of52 Canterbury St.

"Yes, none was located,"Smith said.

Miller alsoasked Smith to confirm that had no information about the victim's blood or DNA being found on Dennis Oland's Volkswagen Golf City,the redCompliments reusablegrocery bag he reportedly had with him the night he visited his father, the bag's contents, or alog book that was in the office that night, which Dennis was supposed to deliver to his mother.

"Correct," said Smith, who had previouslydescribed the murder scene as "one of the bloodiest" he had seen in his 27-year career, with"hundreds" of blood spatter stains radiating aroundOland'sbody.

Similarly, Smith confirmedhe had noinformation aboutany blood or DNA identified as being Richard Oland's being found in or on a list of itemsseized from Dennis Oland'shomea week after his father's death, includingshoes, pants, shirts, blue shorts, bathroom garbage can, and hiscell phone.

Brown jacket not mentioned

Miller did not ask Smith about the brown sports jacket seized from Dennis Oland'sbedroom closet, however.

The Crown has previously said the jacket, which still a dry cleaning tag attached, hadfour areas of blood on it that matched RichardOland'sDNA profile.

DennisOlandhad told police he was wearing a navy blazer when he went to visit his father on the night in question.

ButRichardOland'ssecretary,MaureenAdamson, has testified that he was wearing a brown jacket when he arrived, around 5:30 p.m.The accused was also captured on video surveillance earlier in the day wearing a brown jacket.

'Junior' lead investigator

Miller also continued to challenge Smith about the police investigation, including the fact that the office who was put in charge of the file when the lead investigator retired had only been with the major crime unit for about three months.

The court heard earlier that Const. Stephen Davidson had only been with the major crimeunitfor three days whenOland'sbody was found and then put in charge threemonths later.

He was not new to the force, however. He had been an officer for about 12 years at that pointeight of which were spent in uniform patrol and the other four in the RCMP's integrated proceeds of crime unit.

Still, Miller asked if Smith was "surprised" about Davidson being handed the file.

"Maybe somewhat," he replied.

Asked whether hehad ever worked on any other homicides where the lead investigator was so junior, Smithsaid he didn't believe so.