text: Dennis Oland's defence team abruptly closed its case on Thursday at his second-degree murder trial in the 2011 bludgeoning death of his father, prominent New Brunswick businessman Richard Oland. 
   
   The accused's fate could be in the jury's hands as early as Dec. 16. 
   
   The defence sees "no need to call any other evidence," lawyer Gary Miller announced to the Saint John Court of Queen's Bench. 
   
   The surprise decision follows Oland's testimony in his own defence on Tuesday and Wednesday. He told the packed courtroom he did not kill his father, and that he loved him. 
   
   Richard Oland, 69, was found dead in his Saint John office on July 7, 2011. (Canadian Yachting Association) 
   
   Oland's mother, Connie, sister, Jacqueline Walsh, wife, Lisa Andrik-Oland, uncle, Jack Connell, and friend Mary Beth Watt were all expected to testify on his behalf. 
   
   The body of Richard Oland, 69, was discovered in his uptown Saint John office on July 7, 2011, lying face down in a pool of blood. The multimillionaire had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands. No weapon was ever found. 
   
   Dennis Oland, 47, who was the last known person to see his father alive, during a meeting at his investment firm office the night before, has been standing trial before a judge and jury since Sept. 16. 
   
   The defence ended up calling only two other witnesses — a bloodstain analyst and a forensic computer expert. 
   
   Jurors face 'tough task' 
   
   Judge John Walsh dismissed the jurors until Dec. 14 at 9:30 a.m. AT. 
   
   He said the lawyers need time to prepare their closing arguments in the high-profile case and he needs time to prepare his instructions to the jury. 
   
   It's been a "very long" trial, with a "mass of evidentiary detail," during the past 47 days, including testimony from nearly 50 witnesses, said Walsh. 
   
   "I told you at the outset, I don't blow smoke. I don't gild the lily, so to speak," he said. "My charge will be long," possibly up to two days. 
   
   'With the holiday season coming, if you have any decorating to do, or Christmas baking, or other arrangements, get all of that done.' –Judge John Walsh 
   
   Walsh said he also has some legal decisions to make in the interim, which will guide the lawyers on what they can and can't say during their closing arguments. 
   
   The judge urged the jurors to make good use of their week off. 
   
   "With the holiday season coming, if you have any decorating to do, or Christmas baking, or other arrangements, get all of that done," he said. 
   
   They should also get some rest before deliberations begin, he advised. 
   
   "You will find it will be tough duty. It's a tough task," said Walsh. 
   
   It will be "mentally exhausting" and "emotionally draining," he said. 
   
   1 juror will be dismissed 
   
   Once deliberations begin, the jurors will be sequestered, "cut off from the world," until they reach a unanimous verdict. 
   
   Court of Queen's Bench Judge John Walsh warned the jurors deliberations will be 'mentally exhausting' and 'emotionally draining.' (Andrew Robson) 
   
   Only 12 of the 13 jurors will deliberate. One of them will be eliminated by a random draw, Walsh has said. 
   
   The extra juror was in place as a precaution, given the length of the trial, in case anyone got sick or had some other emergency that would prevent them from being able to serve. 
   
   The judge reminded the jurors as they left the courtroom on Thursday to avoid all media reports. 
   
   'Mistaken' about jacket 
   
   Oland testified on Wednesday that he "absolutely" loved his father and fought back tears when he said he misses him. 
   
   Dennis Oland fought back tears as he testified on Wednesday about how he loved his father and misses him. (Andrew Robson) 
   
   He also acknowledged there are inconsistencies between his testimony and what he told Saint John police in a statement on July 7, 2011. 
   
   Oland said he was "nervous, in shock and sad" at the time of the statement, having just learned of his father's death, and remembers his comings and goings more clearly now. 
   
   Among those inconsistencies, Oland told police he was wearing a navy blazer when he visited his father on the night in question, but video surveillance and witness testimony showed he was actually wearing a brown sports jacket. 
   
   A brown sports jacket seized from Dennis Oland's bedroom closet had three bloodstains on it. The DNA extracted from those areas matched his father's. (Court exhibit) 
   
   Oland testified he was "mistaken" about what clothes he was wearing. 
   
   The brown Hugo Boss jacket, which was taken to the dry cleaners the day after police told Oland he was a suspect in his father's death, and was subsequently seized from his bedroom closet, had three small bloodstains on it — on the right sleeve, upper left chest and on the back. 
   
   The DNA extracted from those stains matched his father's DNA profile, the trial has heard. 
   
   Oland also told police he went to his father's office twice on the night in question to discuss family genealogy, but said during his testimony he actually went there three times. The third trip was to retrieve a camp logbook he was supposed to return to his uncle, he said. 
   
   The Crown has suggested Oland's financial problems and his father's extramarital affair were possible motives in the slaying. 
   
   Under questioning by his lawyer, Oland said he didn't discuss either of those issues with his father during their meeting. 
   
   The trial, which was originally scheduled to run until Dec. 18, is one of the longest criminal trials in New Brunswick history. ||||| The only son of a Canadian beer magnate choked down tears before a packed court in Saint John, New Brunswick on Wednesday. It was the second day Dennis Oland testified in his own defense. Wiping his eyes, he reiterated what he'd been saying for the past four years: that he had nothing to do with the "rage killing" of his father. 
   
   Richard Oland, 69, was found beaten to death on the floor of his office back on July 7, 2011. 
   
   Richard Oland, from the sixth-generation of the Oland beer dynasty, died of dozens of slashes and blunt-force wounds. The attacker used something like a drywall hammer to break apart the bones in his face. Wounds to his hands showed he tried, vainly, to fight back. The blood soaked through three layers of flooring into the ceiling of the office below. 
   
   Richard Oland died, as he lived, in a public, sordid fashion. While he lost control of Moosehead, Canada's oldest independent brewery, in a public fraternal feud, his own professional successes netted him a cool $37 million by the time he died. His main joys appear to have been arguing with people, winning sailing competitions, and carrying on an eight-year affair (which was increasingly public knowledge.) While his wife described him as emotionally abusive, his funeral was a who's-who of the local business and political establishment, attended by hundreds including the premier, mayor, and lieutenant-governor of the east coast province. 
   
   Murders are relatively rare in the industrial hub of Saint John. With a landscape of oil refineries, 19th-century bricks, and wild, foggy ocean vistas, Canada's oldest incorporated city prides itself on old-school loyalty. Especially close-knit: the billionaire Irvings and millionaire Olands, who pump gas, brew beer, and sign cheques for most of Saint John's 70,000 residents. Richard Oland's murder offered a rare glimpse into the dysfunctional private lives of the region's wealthiest elites. 
   
   Related: Blood, Beer, and the Maritime Rumour Mill: The Dennis Oland Murder Trial 
   
   The investigation rapidly zeroed in on Richard's only son, Dennis. The last person to see his father alive, Dennis was also hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and spending around $14,000 per month more than he earned. The 46-year-old financial advisor, who also owed his father over $500,000, became with Richard's death either co-director or president of three companies, and received a payout of $150,000. Some saw all this as a potential financial motive. 
   
   But any appearance of an open-and-shut case proved deceiving. Searches of Dennis' home, Volkswagon, and boat turned up nothing. No other suspect was advanced, and for two years, the case appeared to go cold. Police attributed the silence to backlogs at the forensic lab. When a second degree murder charge was laid against Oland in 2013, he was bailed out by his uncle, Derek, who joined the rest of the family in publicly defending Dennis' innocence. Ever since, he's been trapped by court-ordered conditions to stay at his estate in Rothesay, a tony suburb with an average household net worth of $2.29 million, surrender his passport, and advise police of travel outside New Brunswick. 
   
   But small towns love gossip — especially about the rich and powerful. Thus, the tiniest details have become grist for the rumor mill: a newspaper photo that appeared to show Dennis smiling while leaving Richard's funeral; that he changed his Facebook profile pic to a still from The Fugitive; that he capped off his 37-day preliminary hearing by rocking out at a Bob Seger show. All these, and juicier details, have turned Saint Johners into a community of armchair private eyes. 
   
   Related: A Cop on Trial for Murder in Toronto Breaks His Silence 
   
   Much was also made of discrepancies between the video witness statement Dennis Oland gave to police the day the body was found, and his testimony this week under direct examination. In the former, Dennis described his father a "a really difficult" person with whom he shared only a crisp, business relationship. But in the witness box, he became emotional when defense lawyer Gary Miller asked if he loved and missed his father. He told the court he'd visited his father's office three times the day of the murder; previously, on the video, he told police he'd gone to Far End Corp only twice. 
   
   "I was nervous, I was in shock, and I was sad," Oland said, by way of explaining the incongruities. 
   
   But in both 2011, and this week, he reiterated one thing: he didn't kill Dick. 
   
   The trial, which started in mid September, is likely to wrap up earlier than expected — possibly as soon as Friday. After that, it's in the hands of the jury, which will also consider allegations of police corruption and incompetence, the two-year delay in laying charges, that no murder weapon was ever found, and innumerable other factors. If Oland is found guilty, there's little question his world-class legal team will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. 
   
   Whatever the outcome, the Oland dynasty — once synonymous with ice-cold beer — is now brewing some of the hottest gossip Atlantic Canada has ever known. 
   
   Follow Julia Wright on Twitter.
target: – The body of Richard Oland—the sixth generation of Canada's oldest beer dynasty—was found on the floor of his office with nearly four dozen wounds in 2011, the CBC reports. According to Vice, it appeared someone had used a hammer to "break apart the bones in his face," and there was so much blood it seeped through three layers of flooring into an office below. The defense for the beer magnate's 47-year-old son Dennis—who has been charged with his murder—rested its case this week, the CBC reports. Money is suspected to have played a part in the killing. According to Vice, Dennis was hundreds of thousands in debt and owed more than $500,000 to his millionaire father alone. After Richard's death, Dennis inherited leadership positions in three companies and a $150,000 payout. The CBC reports Dennis continued to maintain his innocence during testimony this week while acknowledging discrepancies between his testimony and a 2011 police statement. For example, Dennis—who was the last person to see his father alive—originally told police he was wearing a different jacket than he was when he saw Richard the day before his body was found. The jacket he was actually wearing had three bloodstains on it matching Richard's DNA. He blames the differences on shock and nerves during his interview with police. The Oland family, which founded Moosehead Breweries, has rallied around Dennis and says he is innocent. Jurors are scheduled to reconvene on Dec. 14 to decide that for themselves. (Money was also suspected when this US man was charged with murdering his missing parents.)