HALIFAX — A former Dalhousie University medical student has been denied bail as he appeals his conviction for killing a fellow student in 2015 during a drug deal.
In a written decision dated Tuesday, Justice David Farrar of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal dismissed William Sandeson’s bail application heard Oct. 26, saying he failed to present a persuasive reason for why he should be released.
A jury found Sandeson guilty in February of second-degree murder in the killing of 22-year-old Dalhousie physics student Taylor Samson.
He was sentenced in April in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years and filed a handwritten notice of appeal in May.
Sandeson was convicted of first-degree murder in 2017 for killing Samson, but that verdict was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered in 2020.
His current appeal is scheduled to be heard on June 13, 2024.
“Mr. Sandeson’s application fails on the public interest criterion,” wrote Farrar. “His grounds of appeal, which I consider to be weak, are also relevant to consideration of the public interest.”
Sandeson’s appeal states that the trial judge erred in law by failing to remedy an abuse of process and by not recognizing that his Charter rights had been violated.
During his six-week retrial earlier this year, Sandeson testified that he feared for his life when Samson lunged at him during an argument over a drug payment.
He said he killed Samson in self-defence and disposed of his body, which has never been found.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2023.
The Canadian Press
