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Shadow of Doubt: The Trials of Dennis Oland, Expanded and Revised Edition
A national bestseller, now updated, expanded, and revised to tell an even bigger story.
Who has been reporting on the case since Richard Oland's body was discovered? Who tracked down the details? Who interviewed the witnesses? Who was cited in the court proceedings? Who knows the story? No-one but Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon.
On July 6, 2011, Richard Oland, scion of the Moosehead brewing family, was bludgeoned to death in his Saint John office. In a shocking turn, the multimillionaire's only son, Dennis, was arrested for second-degree murder. Found guilty by a jury in 2015, Dennis Oland successfully appealed his conviction and was retried in 2018 and 2019.
Following the defence's arguments that any jury would be unfairly biased against Oland and a botched jury-selection process, a mistrial was declared. Then it was dramatically announced that the retrial would be conducted by a judge without a jury -- a rare event in Canadian law for a murder trial.
In this new updated edition, Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon takes readers inside the final stages of one of Canada's most gripping murder trials, including the issues with the original police investigation, Oland's appeal and his subsequent appearance at the Supreme Court, new evidence and witnesses brought forward in the second trial, and the sensational verdict.
The definitive account of a series of trials for a horrific crime, Shadow of Doubt lays bare the tribulations of a prominent family and the inner workings of the justice system that led to Dennis Oland's contentious conviction, retrial, and acquittal.
Who has been reporting on the case since Richard Oland's body was discovered? Who tracked down the details? Who interviewed the witnesses? Who was cited in the court proceedings? Who knows the story? No-one but Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon.
On July 6, 2011, Richard Oland, scion of the Moosehead brewing family, was bludgeoned to death in his Saint John office. In a shocking turn, the multimillionaire's only son, Dennis, was arrested for second-degree murder. Found guilty by a jury in 2015, Dennis Oland successfully appealed his conviction and was retried in 2018 and 2019.
Following the defence's arguments that any jury would be unfairly biased against Oland and a botched jury-selection process, a mistrial was declared. Then it was dramatically announced that the retrial would be conducted by a judge without a jury -- a rare event in Canadian law for a murder trial.
In this new updated edition, Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon takes readers inside the final stages of one of Canada's most gripping murder trials, including the issues with the original police investigation, Oland's appeal and his subsequent appearance at the Supreme Court, new evidence and witnesses brought forward in the second trial, and the sensational verdict.
The definitive account of a series of trials for a horrific crime, Shadow of Doubt lays bare the tribulations of a prominent family and the inner workings of the justice system that led to Dennis Oland's contentious conviction, retrial, and acquittal.
- GenresNonfiction
380 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2019
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon
3 books3 followersBOBBI-JEAN MacKINNON is a reporter and web editor for CBC Radio and Television. She has worked at the Telegraph-Journal, the Toronto Star, and the Ottawa Citizen. She has been a finalist for two National Newspaper Awards and three Atlantic Journalism Awards, including one for her early reporting on the Richard Oland murder. She lives in Saint John.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 12, 2020
Very good. Just the facts so you can form your own opinions. I had followed the whole trial process so I wasn't going to read this book but I am glad I did as a lot of the facts were never put out there and it was nice to fill in some blanks.
May 2, 2020
A solid 4.5 stars. Having been residing in Quispamsis, NB (next to Rothesay) during this time period, fascinating account if one of the well known families in NB. There was a lot of speculation, but also incompetent investigation. While reading this well written account of the evidence, when I thought I had it figured out...a plot twist and I didn’t. Fascinating read and hoping for a sequel to conclude ‘who done it’ — perhaps a hit man hired by a disgruntled lover? Only the missing note & cellphone (and drywall hammer) hold the answer to this cold case.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2020
A really interesting and thorough outline of this case. Being from the Saint John area, I obviously knew about Richard Oland's murder and the case against Dennis Oland. I hadn't intended on reading about it until listening to the episodes about the case on the Canadian True Crime podcast. This was an engaging and interesting look at the New Brunswick criminal justice system and at a highly publicized trial. For me, it didn't necessarily confirm whether or not Dennis Oland killed his father, but it did confirm that there is some serious professional misconduct and inadequacy within the Saint John Police Force and RCMP, and that there are many errors within the justice system.
November 1, 2021
I didn't read the first edition but I have read another book covering the Oland trail. I feel the author did a very thorough overview without adding bias. She reported on the facts (as are known) and the arguments from both sides. A very interesting recap of the story.
July 13, 2020
Loved the book. Very objective and great story telling.
January 16, 2020
True crime stories are one of my favourite genres and "Shadow of Doubt: The Trials of Dennis Oland" certainly delivers. This book especially hit close to home for me because this particular murder took place in my hometown Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The book tells the story from beginning to end of the murder of Saint John's prominent businessman Richard Oland.
When Richard Oland was murdered on July 6th, 2011, a firestorm of media and investigators embarked on what would be come known as Saint John's most high-profiled unsolved murder. The murder investigation became a nation wide event as everyone across the country started following the investigation and court trials that would surround the murder of Richard Oland.
The book is superbly written and provides great detail of the crime scene itself, the investigation, the forensic mishaps, the charge of murder placed against Dennis Oland, his trial and his appeal. The story also delves deep into the inner workings of the Oland family, the secrets behind both Richard and Dennis Oland (father and son), and offers a glimpse into how the gruesome murder affected everyone surrounding them. Author Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon truly captures the full story from start to finish and takes readers on an incredible journey through all of it as she recaps all of the discrepancies and mistakes outlining the entire ordeal.
My only complaint about the book was that I found some parts repetitive and extremely scientific (especially when it goes into great detail of the DNA related to the crime scene). Aside from this aspect, I enjoyed the novel and I would recommend it to other readers who enjoy this genre.
One thing I know for sure is that the crime scene and the investigation were very poorly handled and as a result, a murderer has walked free and clear, leaving an entire community and family baffled as to what truly happened.
The author Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon lives in Saint John, New Brunswick, and she is a web editor and journalist for CBC Television and Radio. She has also worked at The Telegraph Journal, The Toronto Star, and The Ottawa Citizen. Bobbi-Jean McKinnon has also been a finalist for two national Newspaper Awards and three Atlantic Journalism Awards.
When Richard Oland was murdered on July 6th, 2011, a firestorm of media and investigators embarked on what would be come known as Saint John's most high-profiled unsolved murder. The murder investigation became a nation wide event as everyone across the country started following the investigation and court trials that would surround the murder of Richard Oland.
The book is superbly written and provides great detail of the crime scene itself, the investigation, the forensic mishaps, the charge of murder placed against Dennis Oland, his trial and his appeal. The story also delves deep into the inner workings of the Oland family, the secrets behind both Richard and Dennis Oland (father and son), and offers a glimpse into how the gruesome murder affected everyone surrounding them. Author Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon truly captures the full story from start to finish and takes readers on an incredible journey through all of it as she recaps all of the discrepancies and mistakes outlining the entire ordeal.
My only complaint about the book was that I found some parts repetitive and extremely scientific (especially when it goes into great detail of the DNA related to the crime scene). Aside from this aspect, I enjoyed the novel and I would recommend it to other readers who enjoy this genre.
One thing I know for sure is that the crime scene and the investigation were very poorly handled and as a result, a murderer has walked free and clear, leaving an entire community and family baffled as to what truly happened.
The author Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon lives in Saint John, New Brunswick, and she is a web editor and journalist for CBC Television and Radio. She has also worked at The Telegraph Journal, The Toronto Star, and The Ottawa Citizen. Bobbi-Jean McKinnon has also been a finalist for two national Newspaper Awards and three Atlantic Journalism Awards.
October 25, 2019
I got this book when Bobbi-Jean came to our library on her book tour (she also signed it, it was pretty cool). I loved it! I thought she did an amazing job to not show her biased; this was also reflected in her Q&A when I think at least 4 people wanted to know what she thought and she graciously avoided the question. Do I think he did it? No, not really. Are there discrepancies in his story, the apparent timeline of events and the overall handling of the SJPF? Abso-friggen-lutely!! If I get murdered, do I wish the Saint John police to investigate it? Hell no.
One of the biggest issue I had with the book are entirely relating to the overall flow and grammatical and sentence structure issues. Bobbi-Jean did an amazing story. The publishers and editors did her a gross disfavour with the amount of punctuation errors that could have been fixed. There were a lot of notes that began in parentheses but were never closed. Quotes often started and apparently never finished, or the alternate where a quote would close and I would re-read the page in vain to find the beginning of it.
I also noticed that with the revised edition, you could tell no one read the book in its entirety before it was re-published. You knew which chapters were recently included because it was incredibly (INCREDIBLY) repetitive of events from two chapters passed. I was actually really bored towards the end (the second trial) because it went in to too much detail, almost verbatim, of the first.
Those issues aside, the book was AMAZING. Really good description of events, clear and concise!☺
One of the biggest issue I had with the book are entirely relating to the overall flow and grammatical and sentence structure issues. Bobbi-Jean did an amazing story. The publishers and editors did her a gross disfavour with the amount of punctuation errors that could have been fixed. There were a lot of notes that began in parentheses but were never closed. Quotes often started and apparently never finished, or the alternate where a quote would close and I would re-read the page in vain to find the beginning of it.
I also noticed that with the revised edition, you could tell no one read the book in its entirety before it was re-published. You knew which chapters were recently included because it was incredibly (INCREDIBLY) repetitive of events from two chapters passed. I was actually really bored towards the end (the second trial) because it went in to too much detail, almost verbatim, of the first.
Those issues aside, the book was AMAZING. Really good description of events, clear and concise!☺
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews