Dennis Oland trial hears about 'thumping' sounds coming from victim's office

Two menwho believe theyheard Richard Oland being killed, testified Tuesday at Dennis Oland's second-degree murder trial.

But John Ainsworth's recollection of when he heard the "thumping" noises coming from Richard Oland'soffice supports the Crown's case, while Anthony Shaw's time estimatesupports the defence.

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Ainsworthsays it wassometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on July 6, 2011.

Shaw says it was around 7:30 p.m., or 7:45 p.m.

Earlier in the trial, the jury was shown a time stamped securityvideo of DennisOlandshopping at Cochran's Country Marketat 7:38 p.m. that night.

Cochran's is locatedinRothesay, which is atleast a 15-minute drive away from RichardOland'sinvestment firmoffice at 52Canterbury St., according toGoogleMaps.

RAW: Dennis Oland at Cochran's

9 years ago

Duration 4:14

RAW: Dennis Oland at Cochran's

Oland'sbody was found in his officethe next morning, lying facedown in a large pool of blood.

Theprominent businessmanhad suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands.

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

Ainsworth, who owns the building where Oland's Far End Corporation office was located on the second-floor, also operated the Printing Plus business on the ground level.

He said Shaw arrived around 6 p.m. on the night in question and was helping him with a computer project when they heard the noises.

Ainsworth said there wasan initial thump, then a slight lag, then eight or 10 thumps like "rapid fire."

The sounds were"stationary," and seemed to be coming from Richard Oland's desk area,said Ainsworth.

He and Shaw looked at each other, but once the noisesstopped, they kept working.

"It may seem like it should be a concerning noise," but he said hedidn't hear any yelling or any indication of an argument.

He wasalso used to hearing sounds come from upstairs, he said.Aformer tenant, Net Difference,had an employee whose children would run around, "thundering back and forth, full tilt" for 10 to 15 minutes, he said.

The noises on July 6lastedonly about 10 seconds. Itwasn't "outstanding in the sense that it wasn't prolonged," saidAinsworth.

"Comparatively, it's not disconcerting," he said, adding that he was pre-occupied withthe project he was working on.

He had "tunnel vision to the issue at hand," he said.

Ainsworth

Defence laywer Alan Gold suggested Ainsworth told police on the scene the next morning that it was around 8 p.m.

Ainsworthsaid he doesn't remember what he told the officer, but expectshe probably said, "I think it was 8 p.m."

"Were you not trying to be as truthful and accurate as possible?" asked Gold.

"I put a time out there, but the certainty was pretty negligible,"Ainsworthsaid.

During his statement to police on July 8, Ainsworth put the time as being about 30 to 45 minutes before a customer came in to have a document emailed. The email was timestamped at 8:11 p.m.

"I wasn't paying a lot of attention to anything," he testified.

Gold persisted."It could be between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. You're just not 100 per cent sure?"

Ainsworth repeated it was sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. "After that, I'm not sure."

'It was swift. Quick'

Shaw described the noises as "loud and unusual."

"I heard a loud crash and then many thumping sounds thereafter," he said.

Shaw told the court he believes the noises occurred before 8 p.m., when the customercame in sometime around 7:30 p.m., or 7:45 p.m.

"You felt from the beginning [RichardOland's death] was related to the noise you heard the night before?" asked defence lawyer GaryMiller.

"Yes. It made sense," repliedShaw.

In a videotaped statement to police on July 8, 2011, Shaw had said:"Now that we think about it, something was going on there out of the ordinary," Miller said, reading aloud from a transcript of that statement.

Shaw said he did not hear any voices arguing, yelling or screaming,just the "loud crash" and then"maybe eightor 10 repeated sounds."

"It was swift. Quick," he said,estimating the noiseonly lasted about 10 to 15 seconds.

Shaw said he and Ainsworth stopped working, "looked at each other, waited, it [the noise] passed, and continued" working.

Lead Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniot asked Shaw why hedidn't do anything when he heard the noises. "I'm not blaming you sir," he said.

Shaw said he owns a similar brick building and when he investigated a noise complaint from a tenant one day, he found another tenant putting togetherfurniture. He figured it was something similar someone "maybe arranging furniture, hanging a picture," he said.

Those were the only noises heheard from the time he arrived at Printing Plus, around 6 p.m., until he and Ainsworth left together around9 p.m.

He had never heard such unusual noises coming from Oland's office before during the numerous other occasions he spent time at Printing Plus, he said.

He didn't notice anything unusual going on outside in front of the building during several cigarette breaks he took on the night in questioneither, he added.

The trial resumes Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.