Seizure of Dennis Oland's brown jacket 'could have been done better'

The forensics officer who handled theseizure ofDennisOland'sblood-stainedbrown sports jacket from his home in 2011 says "it could have been done better."

Saint John Police ForceConst. David MacDonald made the statement on Monday during cross-examination by defence lawyer Alan Goldat Oland's second-degree murder trial.

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MacDonald previously testified that heplaced the jacket into a paper bag that measured about 30 centimetres by 30 centimetres.

"It barely fit in there, so I just folded it up as best as I could and put it into it," he had said.

Gold asked MacDonald whether it had occurred to him that foldingthe jacketup would cause different areas of the jacket to touch andmight cause evidence to migrate from one area to another.

MacDonald, who now works in patrol, said it did not occur to him at the time. But henoted it was a "dry exhibit."

RCMP bloodstain expert Sgt. Brian Wentzell previously testified thatblood has to be in "wet, liquid state" in order to be transferred.

Still, MacDonald said ifhe had to do it again, he would probably put the jacket in a larger bag.

The jacket is a key piece of evidence in the Crown's case against Oland in the death of his father, prominent businessman Richard Oland.

Lead Crown prosecutor P.J.Veniottold the jury during his opening statement that the jacket had four areas of blood on it that matched the victim's DNA profile.

The bludgeoned body of Richard Oland, 69,was discovered lying face down in a pool of blood in his investment firm office on July 7, 2011. Hehad 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.

The accused told police during avoluntary statementon July 7 thathe was wearing a navy blazer when he visited his father, but video surveillance of him earlier thatday shows he was wearing a brown jacket.

The brown sports jacket was among 57 items seized by police during a search of Oland's Rothesay home a week later. It was foundhanging in his bedroom closet.

MacDonaldpreviously revealed the former lead investigator, retired constable Rick Russell, hadtouched the sleeveof the jacket without wearing any protective gloves.

"You got upset with him?" asked Gold.MacDonaldsaid he's not sure if hevoiced it or not, but agreed he was upset because he was trying to protect evidence from any contamination.

Gold asked whetherMacDonaldhad circled the area Russell had touched. He did not, he replied.

Stored for 4 months

The Hugo Bossjacket remained stored in the paper bag for about four months, untilMacDonaldexamined it. A photo of the wrinkled jacket was shown to the jury.

MacDonaldsaid he spent a total of about five hoursexamining the jacket four hours on Nov. 9 and another hour on Nov. 17.

He identified five areas of staining for further testing by the RCMP lab. The stains were located in the upper left chest area, on both sleeves and inside both cuffs. They ranged in sizefrom "sub-millimetre" to about two centimetres.

MacDonaldconfirmed there was no way to say how long the stains had been on the jacket.

The jacketspent nearly a yearin the hands of the RCMP, the court heard. MacDonald dropped the jacket off in Halifax on Nov. 30 and picked it upon July 30, 2012. It was sent to theRCMPlab again on Oct. 26, 2012, and waspicked up on Feb. 14, 2013, he said.

Gold went over the test results ofseveral other items seized from Oland's home, including clothing and shoes, the lint trap from his dryer and garbage bags found in the basement, which came back negative for blood.

Similarly, there was no trace evidence found inOland's Volkswagen Golf that "in any way advanced any case against" him,orin or on a red reusableSobeysCompliments grocery bagbag seized from the trunk "that in any way connected Dennis Oland to this homicide," said Gold. MacDonald agreed.

Tests of a sailboat at the yacht club in Millidgeville,a camp log book police believe was at the crime scene,swabs of the crime scene, and hairs and fibre samples taken during the autopsyalso failed to produce "fruitful" results, said Gold.

Dry cleaner didn't notice stains

The court also heard Monday from the man who dry cleaned Oland's brownjacket on July 8the day afterpolice told Olandhe was a suspect in his father'sdeath.

Yang Hwan Nam, who co-owns VIP Dry Cleaners in Rothesaywith his wife, testified with the help of aKorean interpreter that it's up to customers to tell them if there are any stains on the items being dropped off, buthe normally checks too, in case customers forget.

If he finds any stains, he marks them with red tape and then pre-treats them, he said.

VIP advertises that it offers a gentler service because ituses a mild detergent, so Namusually checks items after they've been cleaned for any stains as well.

Nam said as far as he can remember, he told police in July 2011he didn't notice any stains on the 19items Oland'swife, Lisa, had dropped off, including the brown sports jacket.

He wasn't formally interviewed by police untilFebruary 2015 about 3 years later, he said.

Nam confirmed VIP's normal turnaround time is two business days, but Oland's receipt shows next day service was requested.

VIP also offers same day service, if requested,he said.

Justice John Walsh told the jury on Monday morning the Crown expects to finish presenting its case next week.

The defence will then present its case.

The trial is currently scheduled to run until Dec. 18.

It resumes on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. when the Crown will call a witness to testify about Richard Oland'scellphone.

His iPhone4 was the only item that went missing from the crime scene.