A judge in Nova Scotia, Canada, has ordered the return of a laptop holding a Bitcoin wallet that police seized from convicted killer William Sandeson more than a decade ago.
Justice John Bodurtha of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court found that the Crown had not proved the Bitcoin was connected to the killing, Global News reported.
The Crown “has not met its burden to demonstrate the cryptocurrency was used as part of the drug transaction,” Bodurtha said, describing its possible use in the deal as “hypothetical.”
The case
Sandeson is serving a life sentence for the 2015 killing of Taylor Samson, a 22-year-old student at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Prosecutors said Sandeson lured Samson to his apartment on 15 August 2015 to buy cannabis for C$40,000. Sandeson later admitted shooting Samson. Samson’s remains have never been found.
Sandeson’s first-degree murder conviction in 2017 was overturned on appeal in 2020. At a retrial in 2023, he claimed self-defence, and the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. He is eligible for parole in 2030.
The Bitcoin wallet
Police seized the laptop, along with other items, when they searched Sandeson’s apartment after his arrest in 2015. Sandeson, who appeared at the hearing by video, filed a motion in April asking for his personal belongings back.
Sandeson valued the Bitcoin at about C$8,000 to C$10,000. A lawyer for Samson’s family, who are pursuing a separate wrongful death lawsuit against Sandeson, said it could now be worth more than C$200,000. Global News did not report how much Bitcoin the wallet holds.
Cash stays with the Crown
The judge treated the cash differently. About C$5,000 found in the apartment was ruled “offence-related property” and will not be returned.
What happens next
The ruling does not settle the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Samson’s family, which could still affect what happens to the Bitcoin. Samson’s family had not publicly responded to the ruling at the time of writing.
