William Sandeson to seek stay of murder charge in hearing set for next March

William Sandeson will make one more attempt to pre-empt his retrial on a charge of first-degree murder.

The former Dalhousie University medical student is scheduled to go on trial in January, 2023 for the death of Taylor Samson, also a Dalhousie student, in August 2015.

Sandeson was convicted of killing Samson in a jury trial in 2017. But that conviction was overturned on appeal.

Lawyers for Sandeson and the Crown appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday to discuss how the case will proceed.

Justice James Chipman had offered the lawyers earlier dates for the trial out of concern that Sandeson has been denied bail and remains in custody at the provincial jail in Pictou, N.S.

Conflicting dates

But Alison Craig, Sandeson's Toronto-based defence lawyer, said she is scheduled for another trial on those earlier dates.

Instead, the two sides will argue pre-trial motions during hearings set for next March.

The first pre-trial issue to be addressed is Craig's application for a stay of proceedings.

If successful, that motion would mean the trial would not go ahead. If that motion fails, the lawyers would move on to other issues, including the people who should be called to testify in the eventual trial.

Samson was last seen alive, heading into Sandeson's apartment in south-end Halifax, purportedly to do a drug deal.

A security camera Sandeson had installed in the hallway outside his apartment showed the two men going inside. Samson's body has never been found.

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