Jury selection in Dennis Oland’s second-degree murder trial completed

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – New Brunswick’s Justice Department says a jury has been chosen for the trial of Dennis Oland on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his father, high-profile businessman Richard Oland.

The 46-year-old entered a plea of not guilty as the process of selecting a jury began Tuesday at a hockey arena in Saint John.

Selection of the jury from the 1,131 people registered to serve on it switched to a courthouse on Wednesday, when Judge John Walsh of the Court of Queen’s Bench placed a publication ban on the proceedings.

Justice Department spokesman Dave MacLean says 14 jurors — eight men and six women — were chosen, and a man and a woman were also chosen as alternate jurors.

While 12 jurors will ultimately determine the outcome of the trial, MacLean says the extra members of the jury were added in case of illnesses or other problems that could happen during the lengthy trial.

The trial begins Wednesday and is scheduled to last 65 days.

Oland was 69 when he was found dead in his Canterbury Street office in Saint John on July 7, 2011.

The Oland family operates Moosehead Breweries — the oldest independently owned brewery in Canada — although Richard Oland left Moosehead in 1981.