New evidence at the Dennis Oland murder trial has today offered fresh insight into police conduct inside the bloody scene where Richard Oland was killed.
It came from a police witness who did not testify at the first Oland trial.
Sgt. Greg Oram is a 30-year police veteran who took the witness stand Tuesday. He was sent to Richard Oland's office on the morning the investigation began.
Inside the office, he saw the victim's body, and the pool of blood, and Oram says he heard inspector Glen McCloskey say that he hoped the situation was a suicide.
Today, Oram told the court:
“I was in a state of shock at the comment and said, ‘no, it wasn't,’” Oram said.
Of McCloskey's suicide remark, defence lawyer Michael Lacy suggested to Oram:
“His theory was completely ridiculous, from your perspective?”
Oram says McCloskey was sitting on a table inside the crime scene. From there, he says McCloskey moved to two other locations in the office area.
Lacy concluded: “It's fair to say, he basically traipsed through the whole office.”
This comes just one day after retired police Sgt. Mike King told the trial that he felt pressure from McCloskey not to testify that McCloskey had visited the crime scene.
The former head of the major crime unit also took the stand today.
David Brooker confirmed that a criminal record check was done on Dennis Oland, just a few hours after his father's body was found.
Defence lawyers are trying to suggest that Dennis Oland was not just a suspect, but the prime suspect very early on in the investigation.
Later the same day, after a videotaped interview, police seemed to zero-in even further.
“As a result of Dennis Oland's interview, it was decided to put surveillance on Dennis Oland starting that evening,” Brooker testified.
That surveillance continued for a week, until Oland's Rothesay property was searched by police, and evidence was seized from Oland’s home and from his car.
Oram told the court Tuesday that he was supposed to testify at the preliminary inquiry, but he didn't, and he was never called to testify at the first murder trial either.
No explanation was offered from the Crown today, as to why Oram was only making his first appearance today.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.