Search warrants reveal N.B. businessman Richard Oland was murdered

Richard Oland is seen in this undated image.

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Search warrants in the year-old homicide investigation of prominent New Brunswick businessman Richard Oland say police believe he was murdered.

Heavily censored portions of five search warrants and related documents in the Oland case were released Thursday after the CBC and New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal asked the provincial court in Saint John to make them public.

The Crown had initially argued that all of the search warrants and related documents should remain sealed because they contained evidence that only the person or persons responsible for Oland's death would know.

The documents released Thursday repeatedly say investigators believe that on July 6, 2011, a person or persons "did commit murder." Up to this point, the Saint John police have only said publicly that Oland's death was a homicide.

The 69-year-old Oland was found dead in his downtown Saint John office on July 7, 2011.

As part of their investigation, officers collected "DNA, toxicology samples, swabbings, nail clippings, hair and fibre samples as well as other trace evidence" from Oland's body, the documents say.

Searches were carried out at his office and car, as well as at a 29,880-square metre property at 58 Gondola Point Rd. in the Saint John suburb of Rothesay.

The identity of the home's owner, the items sought and the rationale for the July 14, 2011, search is blacked out. But media reports citing property records say the home belongs to Richard Oland's son, Dennis.

Another document says police searched a 7.6-metre yacht named Loki, which was docked at the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club in Saint John. The name of the boat's owner is redacted, but the record says "genealogy papers/books/documents" were sought.

The records also reveal that police asked a CIBC bank at 44 King St. in Saint John, about 100 metres away from the scene of Oland's slaying, to provide certified copies of unnamed documents.

There is also a document that says video evidence exists.

"The footage shows (redacted) on Canterbury Street in the direction of 52 Canterbury Street," says the record.