Richard Oland's killer was 'perfect target' for blood spatter, expert testifies

Richard Oland's killer was a "perfect target" for blood spatter, a bloodstain pattern expert testified Friday at Dennis Oland's murder retrial.

RCMPSgt. BrianWentzellagreed with the statement put to himby lead defence lawyer Alan Gold during cross-examination.

Gold went on to askwhether the killer "should" have hadspatter on them.

"There certainly could be," replied Wentzell.

"Should be?" pressed Gold.

"I would expect there should be," Wentzell conceded.

But how much, he couldn't say.

"It'spossible that they did have a lot of spatter on them, but it's possible that they may not have had a lot of spatter on them as well," Wentzell said under questioning by lead Crown prosecutor P.J.Veniot,

Hehas seen both scenarios in other bludgeoning deaths.

It's a "very dynamic event" and can be affected by a number of factors, he said, including the positions of the assailant and victim during the attack, thetype of weapon used and sequence of the blows.

The court has heard that four of the stains found on the brown sports jacket Oland wore when he visited his father the night he was killed were blood.

Wentzellidentified them Friday as being two on the right sleeve, one on the upper left chest and one on the back near the hem.

All four were three millimetres or less in size, he said.

Oland, 51, is being retried on a charge of second-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of his father more than seven years ago.

The retrial is scheduled to resume in Saint John's Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

A jury found Oland guilty in 2015, but the New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 2016 and ordered a new trial, citing an error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury.

Olandis the last person known to have seen his fatheralive when he visited him at his office on the evening of July 6, 2011.

The body of the 69-year-old multimillionaire was discovered in the office the next morning, face-down in a pool of blood. He had suffered45 sharp- and blunt-force injuries to his head, neck and hands. No weapon was ever found.

The jacket is a key piece of evidence in the Crown's case against Oland.

He told police he was wearing a navy blazer when he visited his father, but security video and witness testimony showed he was wearing a brown sports jacket.

The jacket was dry cleanedthe morning afterOlandwas questioned by police andseized a week later fromhis bedroom closet.

Subsequent testing confirmed the four areas of blood and DNA that matched the victim's profile, the Crown said during opening statements.

On Friday, Wentzelltold the court he couldn't say how the bloodstains got on the jacket.

Because they were on absorbent fabric, they lacked the defined shapeshe normally uses to determine whether a bloodstain is impact spatter, transfer from another bloody object or a drip, he said.

Bloodstains could have pre-dated homicide

The defence contends the bloodstains arethe result of innocent transfer. The victim's secretarytestifiedearlier in the trial that he had a skin condition that would sometimes cause his scalp to bleed and that he was a touchy-feely talker.

Gold suggested a nose bleed or a cut were other possible examples. Wentzell agreedthere was nothinginconsistent with the bloodstainsbeing innocent transfer.

Gold argued the blood could have been on the jacket for weeks or months before the homicide.Wentzellacknowledged he couldn't say how long the blood had there.

Healso agreedhe couldn't say whether the bloodstains looked any different before or after the jacket wasdry cleaned.

The dry cleaners previously testified theydidn't notice any stains on the jacket and didn't use any special treatments to remove bloodstains.

'Significant' blood

Gold askedWentzellabout the application Saint John police used to obtain a searchwarrant forOland'shomeand to seize the jacket. It indicated it wasthe opinion ofWentzelland the force's head of forensics thatthe assailant would have had "significant bloodstains (spatter) on their person."

Wentzelltold the court he didn't remember using the word "significant," but said it was possible he did.

The information to obtain the search warrant also indicated police believedifthe suspect had fled in a vehicle, transfer could occur.

Wentzell said if the blood was still wet, it was possible it could transfer. If it was already dried, it was less likely, he said.

No bloodwas found in Oland's car or on the Blackberry he used after leaving his father's office, the court has heard.

None was detected on the shirt or pants police believe he was wearing that night.

Gold contrasted the"miniscule" bloodstainsonOland'sjacket with the amount of blood atthecrime scene.

There were "hundreds" of blood spatter stains radiating essentially 360degrees,includingone that travelled more than three metres.

The attack was so ferocious, there was even "brain matter" on the back of the victim's sweater, Gold stressed.

He suggested the killer would have been in close proximity to the victim, where the largestblood spatter stains were deposited.

Wentzellagreed that was likely true if a short-handled weapon was used, but pointed out that if the assailant was moving around, it's possible he or she could have avoided much of the flying blood.

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He also noted therewas one area, south of the body, that had less spatter than others. That could mean less blood was dispersed there and ifitwas the location of the killer,he or she could have avoided significant spatter.

However, the "semi-void"could also mean the killer was standing there and blocked the blood from getting on the floor and walls, landing onhim or her instead.

Thetype of weapon used could also be a factor, said Wentzell. Based on the nature of the victim's injuries, police suspect a drywall hammer was the possible weapon.

The hand-held tools typically have a bevelled hammer headwith a waffle design "like a meat tenderizer"on one sideand asharp axe on the other side.

If a hammer head strikes at an angle, it disperses blood in the opposite direction, said Wentzell. The autopsy photos he reviewed showed the blunt-force impressions weren't perfectly circular, suggesting the weapon was tilted, he said.

The small surface area of a sharp edge, such as a hatchet-like blade, typically disperses blood to the sides, rather than back towards an assailant, he said.

It's possible the initial blows from eithertype of weapon would disperse no or little blood, he added.