A UNB Saint John professor has written a book about a murder case that captivated the city of Saint John — the 2011 slaying of wealthy New Brunswick businessman Richard Oland, of the family that owns Moosehead Breweries, and the trial and ultimate conviction last year of his son Dennis Oland for second-degree murder in his father’s death.
The book is called Truth and Honour: the Death of Richard Oland the Trial of Dennis Oland and is authored by professor of Canadian history at UNBSJ Greg Marquis, who tells us that his goal with his book, which he called an “epic writing job”, is to get people on different sides to rethink what they think they know.
(Greg Marquis)
“[To] show that a court case can have a lot of grey area, it’s not always black and white,” Marquis tells us. “I try to cover the story in the most neutral fashion as possible, so I don’t come down in the conclusion saying that this is the right outcome or the wrong outcome.”
After Richard Oland’s bludgeoned body was found in his investment firm office in uptown Saint John on July 7, 2011 and the court proceedings were getting underway, Marquis says that he sensed it would be a historic moment for the city.
“A few years later it would literally be history.”
While he has been convicted and sentenced, Dennis Oland’s legal saga continues with the Supreme Court of Canada set to hear Dennis Oland’s appeal of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal’s decision to deny him bail on October 31. That’s nearly two weeks after the start date of the appeal of his conviction of second-degree murder in Fredericton.
(Dennis Oland – Photo courtesy of Fredericton Blogger)
“It’s conceivable that we could add a chapter to the electronic version of the book,” Marquis says. “I would think that if it ever led to a new trial there would have to be a second book.”
The book is going to be coming out around early October and the publisher for the book is Nimbus Publishing. You can get the book through the publisher, or through Indigo or Amazon. A book launch is being held at the UNBSJ Grand Hall in Saint John on October 6 which is open to the public and books will be available for sale.
(Richard Oland)
