No new trial date yet for Dennis Oland in murder of his multimillionaire father

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – Dennis Oland will have to wait until at least next month to learn if a date will be set for a new trial in his father’s 2011 murder.

Oland was convicted of second-degree murder last December, but that verdict was overturned by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in October, which ruled the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury, and a new trial was ordered.

A new trial date was expected to be set Monday in Saint John, but the matter has been set aside until Jan. 3, 2017, while lawyers await the full written decision from the Court of Appeal.

Once it is released, the lawyers will have up to 60 days to decide if they’ll seek to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada instead of a new trial in New Brunswick.

Crown prosecutors could also decide not to pursue the case any further.

Prominent New Brunswick businessman Richard Oland was bludgeoned to death in his office in July 2011. No murder weapon was ever found.