A Nova Scotia judge has ordered that a laptop containing convicted killer William Sandeson’s Bitcoin wallet be returned to his family, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the cryptocurrency was connected to the 2015 murder of Taylor Samson.
Justice John Bodurtha delivered the decision Tuesday in Halifax Supreme Court. Sandeson is serving a life sentence in a Quebec prison and appeared by video. The judge said the Crown had to establish a link between the Bitcoin and the crime, but did not. He described the idea that Sandeson would use the Bitcoin in a drug deal as “hypothetical” and said there was no proof it was used in connection with the murder.
The laptop will be returned to Sandeson’s family. However, $5,000 in cash found hidden at the bottom of a garbage can in his apartment will not be returned, because the judge ruled it was offence-related property.
The value of the Bitcoin wallet is disputed. Sandeson has said it is worth about $8,000 to $10,000, while a lawyer for Samson’s family has said it could be worth more than $200,000 today. At the time of reporting, Bitcoin traded at about $78,563. In a 2024 decision, Justice Cindy Bourgeois of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found that Sandeson had about $640,000 in Bitcoin and cash when he was jailed.
Sandeson and Samson were both Dalhousie University students in August 2015. Sandeson, days away from starting medical school, arranged a meeting for what was described as a cannabis deal of more than 18 kilograms. He shot Samson and dumped the body in the Bay of Fundy. Samson’s remains have never been found. A first-degree murder verdict was overturned on appeal, and a 2023 retrial ended with a second-degree murder conviction. Sandeson admitted to the shooting but claimed self-defense.
Samson’s family had fought to keep the laptop locked away, and in December 2022 a court granted a temporary order blocking its return. The family has also started a wrongful death lawsuit, with their lawyer arguing the Bitcoin could be used to pay damages if they won. Sandeson filed a motion in April seeking return of his seized property, while the Crown applied to keep the cash and laptop as tainted by crime.
