Saint John residents surprised with verdict in Oland case

Some residents of Saint John say they are shocked and surprised with the guilty verdict in the Dennis Oland case.

Dennis Oland was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2011 bludgeoning death of his father, Richard Oland. The 12 member jury reached the verdict on Saturday, after deliberating for 30 hours over four days.

"I was actually surprised by it because they only had, I do believe one stain of blood that they had found on anything and they didn't find anything in his car," said Michael Bailey.

Marge Green said she was also surprised at the verdict. "I didn't think there was enough evidence to charge him."

John Jolie said he hadn't expected to hear a guilty verdict either.

"Shock, beyond shock cause I figured from what they put into it, he was going to get off. But, when you think about it, I think they made the right choice," said Jolie.

"I imagine they brought in a lot of stuff to review and they came out with the verdict they all agreed on so we have to live with it."

Derrick Brien says the way the trial was being reported in the media, it seemed to him like Dennis Oland was innocent.

"The police investigation, the way the evidence was presented, we really thought Dennis was going to be found not guilty.

The way the defence presented everything, the way we looked and understood the evidence, we thought he was innocent."

Brien added it was nice to see that Dennis Oland'sfamily was still supporting him.

Most believedthere wouldbe an appeal filed.

"I think they have grounds for an appeal," said Chantal Brien.

As for the investigation into the murder by the Saint John Police Force and how it was handled, some, like Brien, said they had full confidence in the police force.

Bailey said he hoped there would be a full investigation into the handling of the case.

"There wasn't very much evidence on anything."

Green says she believes the police did their jobs to the best of their abilities.

"This doesn't happen in Saint John every day so I don't hold that against them."