Sandeson murder trial: Crown questions accused about fatal shooting in Halifax

There was drama in a Halifax courtroom Wednesday

CITYnews halifax \ Canadian Press

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WARNING: This story contains details that some may find disturbing.

HALIFAX — There was drama in a Halifax courtroom Wednesday as a Crown prosecutor tried to poke holes in the alibi of a former medical school student who is claiming self-defence in the shooting death of another student during a drug deal.

William Sandeson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Aug. 15, 2015, death of physics student Taylor Samson.

Sandeson, 30, has told the Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury he brought a loaded gun to the drug deal to intimidate Samson, not to kill him. Sandeson, a former Dalhousie University track athlete, said he feared for his life and fired the gun when Samson lunged at him.

He testified that he didn’t alert police because he was afraid of being charged.

The Crown alleges Sandeson was deep in debt at the time, and that he planned to kill the 22-year-old student in order to steal the nine kilograms of marijuana Samson was carrying that night.

During Sandeson’s testimony Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Carla Ball pressed him to explain why he didn’t call out for help or simply leave the apartment when he pulled the gun on the unarmed man.

“You had a loaded handgun,” Ball said. “What were you afraid of?”

Sandeson said he tried to get the attention of his friends in a neighbouring apartment as he yelled at Samson and told him to leave. The friends did not respond, Sandeson said.

“He was twice my size,” Sandeson said. At the time, Sandeson was five foot nine and he weighed 150 pounds, the jury has heard. Samson was six foot two and 220 pounds.

Sandeson also said he had no intention of firing the gun. He said he was worried that Samson would leave the apartment with the marijuana he had brought and the $10,000 in cash Sandeson had placed on the kitchen table.

“I’m yelling at him to get the f**k out of the apartment,” Sandeson told the court. At that point, Samson started laughing, and Sandeson recalled him saying: “You’re done.”

He said Samson then lunged at him.

“I pulled the trigger,” Sandeson said. “He stopped coming towards me.”

Samson slumped backwards into a chair, and he was bleeding from either the head or neck, Sandeson told the court in previous testimony.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2023.

The Canadian Press