The jury in the William Sandeson murder trial has been sent home for a week while the judge, crown and defence deal with some legal issues.
Sandeson, 24, is facing a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Taylor Samson, 22.
Samson was last seen alive on video walking with Sandeson into his Henry Street apartment.
His body has never been found.
READ: Answers to commonly asked questions about the Sandeson murder trial
Monday marked the beginning of the trial’s seventh week. The court heard testimony from only one witness, Laura Knowles, a firearms expert with the RCMP National forensic laboratory services in Ottawa.
Knowles said she examined three exhibits in connection with the Sandeson case. Those items included a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun that police officers seized from a safe located inside Sandeson’s bedroom, a fired bullet that was removed from the window frame in Sandeson’s kitchen and one cartridge (an unused round of ammunition.)
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Knowles prepared a report for the court on her findings. She testified that after completing a mechanical assessment of the handgun she found it was capable of discharging, meaning it could be fired.
As for the fired bullet, Knowles said while it shared some of the same characteristics as the gun, she could not identify or eliminate the bullet as being discharged from Sandeson’s Smith and Wesson handgun. Telling the court that the bullet could have been fired from that pistol or another pistol with similar characteristics.
Following Knowles testimony, Judge Josh Arnold told the jury there would be no more evidence presented to them Monday and that he and the lawyers had legal issues that needed to be discussed.
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The seven-man, seven-woman jury was told to return to Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Monday at 2 p.m., to resume hearing evidence in the case.
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