A publication ban has been lifted in the Richard Oland murder investigation, revealing that police have named his son as a prime suspect in the case.

Police believe Dennis Oland was the last person to see his father before he was found dead in his uptown Saint John office on July 7, 2011.

The court documents also reveal that Dennis’ property in Rothesay was the subject of search warrants after his father’s murder. Police seized 57 items in the search of his property.

Until today, a publication ban prevented the media from reporting that information.

“For the public, it means they’re now in a position to assess the activities of the police and assess the activities of the judicial officials who issued these warrants in the first place, and the public can take comfort in it being a transparent justice system as it’s supposed to,” says David Coles, a media lawyer in Dartmouth, N.S.

The search warrants used by police indicate much of the investigation has focused on Dennis as the prime suspect in the case.

In a sworn statement, a Saint John police officer says she believes Dennis Oland was the last person to see his father alive on July 6, 2011.

Much of the information, including Dennis Oland’s name, had already been reported by media outlets in the days following the murder, before the publication ban was imposed on the search warrants.

“The media observed and broadcast who was searched for a year prior to that decision, so you had the anomalous situation of no problem knowing the details, but now you can’t know what you knew before,” says Coles.

Today, Justice William Grant lifted the publication ban, saying there was no threat to the administration of justice in the case that would support the ban.

Charges have not been laid in the death of the 69-year-old businessman, though Saint John Police Chief Bill Reid recently indicated that the investigation is nearing an end.

There is still one publication ban in place that no one is contesting which covers the evidence about the crime scene and details only the killer could know.

That information will remain confidential to prevent false confessions.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron