New Brunswick police completed a search Friday in a wooded area in the Saint John suburb of Rothesay, but they are not saying whether it was linked to the killing of businessman Richard Oland.

Sgt. Glenn Hayward, a spokesman for the Saint John police, said its major crime unit searched the area next to a ballfield at the Bill McGuire Memorial Centre for about three hours.

Hayward said the search was in relation to a "major investigation."

An earlier search of a home in Rothesay in connection with the Oland homicide investigation was completed Thursday night.

That search lasted nine hours and included efforts by the police to dig up parts of the lawn of the property at 58 Gondola Point Rd., Hayward said.

Media reports citing property records say the home belongs to Richard Oland's son, Dennis.

Oland's body was found in his office in Saint John last Thursday.

Police Chief Bill Reid said earlier this week that investigators believe the 69-year-old Oland knew the person responsible for his death, which he said was not part of a robbery or a random act.

Oland was a member of the family that owns Moosehead Breweries Ltd., but he left the company in 1981.