William Sandeson’s appeal of his second-degree murder conviction has been dismissed, with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal saying the trial judge did not err in law.
Sandeson, a former Dalhousie University medical student, was convicted in 2023 for the murder of 22-year-old Taylor Samson.
During the trial, he admitted to shooting and killing Samson in a Halifax apartment in August 2015 but argued it was in self-defence during a drug deal.
Samson’s body has never been found.
Sandeson was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility set at 15 years.
It was Sandeson’s second trial for Samson’s death.
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He was found guilty of first-degree murder in his first trial in 2017. However, that conviction was overturned in 2020 after the court of appeal found a mistrial should have been granted.
Sandeson, who represented himself in the latest appeal, argued the trial judge failed to remedy an abuse of process and failed to find warrantless searches of his apartment breached his Charter rights.
Sandeson’s first argument involved information provided to police by a private investigator who was hired by his defence team.
The three-member appeal court wrote in its decision that the trial judge “firmly grounded his decision in the relevant legal principles and evidence. It discloses no injustice.”
As for the warrantless searches, which took place after Samson was reported missing, the panel said the actions were “justified.”
“The circumstances known to the police at the time, faced with fast moving and dynamic events, amply justified their decision to undertake a warrantless search of Mr. Sandeson’s apartment,” decision reads.
“They had reasonable grounds to suspect that entry into the apartment was necessary to prevent imminent bodily harm to Mr. Samson. The record supports the trial judge’s finding the police were acting on ‘objectively discernible facts’ which he then subjected to independent scrutiny.”
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