Preliminary inquiry begins for son charged in Richard Oland's death

CTV Atlantic: Publication ban in Oland murder case Dennis Oland was in court on Monday to face charges of second-degree murder in the death of his father, Richard Oland.

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- A publication ban has been ordered on evidence presented in the preliminary hearing for Dennis Oland, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father.

Richard Oland was found dead in his Saint John office on July 7, 2011.

The 69-year-old was a prominent businessman, a member of the Order of Canada, and part of the well-known Maritime family that owns Moosehead Breweries.

He left the company in the 1980s and went on to work in the trucking business and at the Saint John Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.

His son Dennis, who was arrested in November and granted bail, arrived at provincial court today in Saint John accompanied by his mother Constance.

Six weeks have been set aside for the preliminary hearing.

Dennis Oland was first identified as a suspect in his father's death in court documents released last May. Since then, pieces of the police investigation have been released by a provincial court judge after two media organizations argued that search warrants and affidavits to support them should be made public.

Among the assertions that have been released in those documents was a sworn police affidavit that says blood on a sports jacket found in Dennis Oland's home in Rothesay matched the DNA profile of his father. Search warrants also say that Dennis Oland was "experiencing financial hardships" and owed his father more than $500,000.

The documents contain claims not proven in court. Members of Dennis Oland's family have said they believe he is innocent.

Saint John police Chief Bill Reid said in November that Richard Oland died after repeated blows, but he wouldn't elaborate or say whether police found a murder weapon.