N.S. court denies William Sandeson funding for his murder appeal

Taxpayers will not be on the hook to fund William Sandeson's appeal of his murder conviction.

In a decision released Wednesday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal rejected Sandeson's request for an order requiring the government to cover the cost of a lawyer to argue his case. That cost has been estimated to be anywhere between $120,000 and $300,000.

Sandeson was convicted last year of second-degree murder in the August 2015 killing of Taylor Samson. It was Sandeson's second trial on a murder charge; he'd been convicted of first-degree murder in his first trial, but that verdict was overturned on appeal and a new trial ordered.

Following his second conviction in February 2023, Sandeson immediately served notice that he planned to appeal. He applied to Nova Scotia Legal Aid for funding to hire a lawyer, and was denied. He appealed that decision, and was denied again by legal aid's appeal committee. His last recourse was the Court of Appeal, where he made his case on July 18.

In her ruling, Justice Cindy Bourgeois said Sandeson had not established that he needs financial help to mount his case. In fact, the judge found, he has assets worth about $640,000. A lot of that money is in the form of bitcoin, and not all of it is readily accessible.

Samson's mother and younger brother have launched a wrongful death lawsuit against Sandeson and have managed to have some of his assets frozen.

A settlement conference is set for next month, at which time some or all of the money could be released to Sandeson.

In his arguments before Bourgeois, Sandeson — who was representing himself — said he has a lot of debts, including owing payment to lawyers who represented him in the past and reimbursing his mother for expenses she has incurred.

"Although I accept the appellant has some outstanding debts, there is nothing before me that establishes he is obligated to immediately pay out the entirety of the outstanding balances," Bourgeois wrote in her decision.

"He has presented no evidence relating to his efforts to settle the balances owing for a lesser amount, or to structure a repayment plan."

Sandeson shot and killed Samson during a drug deal in his south-end Halifax apartment. Sandeson initially claimed that a gang had snuck into the apartment, killed Samson and taken his body. At his second trial, Sandeson changed his story to admit he shot Samson, but claimed it was self-defence.

Samson's body has never been found. Sandeson testified at the second trial that he dumped Samson's body into a tidal basin where it was swept into the ocean.