Judge rules former N.S. med student who killed 22-year-old eligible for parole in 2030

A Nova Scotia judge has ruled that a former medical student who killed another student during a drug deal -- and then disposed of his body -- will be eligible for parole in about seven-and-a-half years.

Justice Jamie Chipman ruled in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that William Sandeson should spend at least 15 years in prison for firing a single bullet into the head of 22-year-old physics student Taylor Samson. Both men attended Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"(Sandeson) made a reprehensible and incomprehensible choice," Chipman said in his oral decision. "Instead of entering medical school, Mr. Sandeson entered jail in the summer of 2015."

The judge said that since the 30-year-old murderer had already spent seven years and eight months in jail, Sandeson can apply to the parole board for conditional release in 2030.

"If he is released at that time or some future time, he has the potential to be a contributing member of society," Chipman said.

Sandeson testified during his jury trial that he fired his handgun at Samson in self-defence on Aug. 15, 2015, but the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder on Feb. 18.

On Thursday, Chipman refuted Sandeson's claims, saying, "I categorically reject the notion that Mr. Sandeson had any reason to fear Samson."

Sandeson said during his trial he had thrown the body -- which has never been found -- in a tidal river near his family's home outside Lower Truro, N.S. The judge said this act was an "aggravating" factor that added years to the sentence.

Those convicted of second-degree murder face an automatic life sentence, but a judge can set parole eligibility between 10 and 25 years.

Dalhousie University student Taylor Samson was reported missing after he failed to return home from a walk. (Facebook)

The six-week trial marked the second time Sandeson was tried for Samson's murder. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2017, but the verdict was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered in 2020. A conviction of first-degree murder brings an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Crown lawyer Carla Ball had argued for 22 years in jail before parole eligibility, which would have made Sandeson ineligible for parole until 2037, while defence lawyer Alison Craig argued for a sentence of between 10 and 12 years.

Ball argued that while Sandeson didn't have a criminal record, he was involved in dealing drugs at the time of the murder and had planned an armed robbery of Samson.

Craig, however, said, "sometimes a drug deal gone bad is just a drug deal gone bad. There doesn't have to be a deep dive into some sort of psychological root cause."

Chipman said his decision to seek middle ground in determining parole eligibility was based on his finding that while the crime was "abhorrent," he could not conclude "beyond a reasonable doubt" that it was calculated.

He also said he hoped that "with the passage of time the court can only hope that William Sandeson will some day become a productive community member again while Taylor Samson's memory will serve to inspire the lives of those whom he touched and continues to touch through his time on Earth."

During Thursday's hearing, Chipman heard a series of victim impact statements from friends and family.

Samson's mother, Linda Boutilier, said in a written statement submitted to the court that after her son was killed she repeatedly walked back roads between Halifax and Truro, N.S., searching for his body or some clue to where he might be found.

"Most people can go to a loved one's resting place to visit," she wrote. "Taylor's resting place should not be some place hidden in the woods or out in the bottom of the ocean."

Samson's girlfriend at the time of his death, Mackenzie Ruthven, told the court she felt robbed of the chance to say goodbye to him.

"We don't get to laugh or cry, bring him flowers, or process our trauma in his presence," she said on the witness stand.

The Crown had argued during the trial that Sandeson was motivated by greed to kill Samson and steal the nine kilograms of marijuana he had brought to Sandeson's downtown apartment to sell. During the trial, prosecutor Kim McOnie said Sandeson had planned to sell the stolen marijuana to clear a $78,000 debt just as he was starting medical school at Dalhousie.

She also told the jury Sandeson had purchased cleaning products in anticipation of destroying evidence of a bloody crime scene.

Testifying in his own defence, Sandeson rejected all of those arguments. He said he brought his 9-mm semi-automatic handgun to the drug deal to intimidate Samson, not to kill him.

Sandeson admitted to disposing of the body but denied the Crown's allegation that he dismembered the corpse to make it easier to handle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2023.