Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

True Crime General

Who Killed Richard Oland?

A real-life murder mystery

by (author) Janice Middleton

Publisher
Formac Publishing Company Limited
Initial publish date
Aug 2023
Category
General, General, Atlantic Provinces (NB, NL, NS, PE)
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459507241
    Publish Date
    Aug 2023
    List Price
    $14.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459507234
    Publish Date
    Aug 2023
    List Price
    $27.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Richard Oland, once co-owner of Moosehead Breweries, was brutally murdered in his office in downtown Saint John, New Brunswick in the early evening of July 6th, 2011. His killer sprayed blood everywhere as he smashed Richard Oland’s head with dozens of blows. It had all the characteristics of an organized crime hit, designed to kill one and warn others.
His murder remains unsolved and unexplained. The Saint John city police have no suspects. Individuals who could explain the murder have disappeared, pleaded bad memories or gone silent.
Saint John, and the rest of Canada, were witnesses to two murder trials where Dennis Oland, Richard’s son, stood accused of the murder. In this book, Janice Middleton sets out the obvious and clear evidence that Dennis could not have been the murderer. Even so, Dennis was convicted by a jury in his first trial, likely because everyone in the city knew of a motive that was never mentioned in court: Richard had had an affair with his son's wife.
The Oland family got Dennis acquitted, but his acquittal left questions unanswered: who killed Richard Oland? And why was he targeted?

Janice Middleton pieces together the tangled story of Saint John’s most dysfunctional citizens. She points to people who might have wanted Richard Oland dead, shadowy investors who arrived in Saint John to finance the re-opening of the local sugar refinery. The deal went sour, the investors lost millions, and they disappeared from sight.
This is a compelling account of how someone got away with murdering a rich, powerful, sleazy leading citizen of Saint John.

About the author

JANICE LYDIA MIDDLETON’s reporting has appeared in several of Canada’s largest daily newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, the Winnipeg Free Press and the Regina Leader Post. She has a master's degree in Journalism from Carleton University. She lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Janice Middleton's profile page