William Sandeson‘s first-degree murder trial heard about a line of credit he had taken out before going to medical school, and the balance owing at the time of the alleged killing.
Sandeson, now 30, stands accused in the death of fellow Dalhousie University student, Taylor Samson, 22, who went missing in August 2015.
Two volunteers with the ground search and rescue crew that looked over the 200-acre Sandeson Farm in Lower Truro, N.S., testified on Thursday, which marked the second week of Sandeson’s retrial.
Lawrence Corbin told the trial that police had asked them to search for “any evidence, possibly human remains,” he said, “that’s the way it was explained to us” on Aug. 27, 2015.
Corbin and two police officers — Halifax Regional Police Sgt. Jonathan Jeffries and RCMP Sgt. Shawn Reynolds — recounted when crews found a pair of what were described as red cotton gloves that had been balled up. The jury was also told about a duffel bag and garbage cans that were located in an old refrigeration truck box.
Jeffries said police were searching for evidence in connection to the homicide. That could include “anything related to Mr. Samson, any clean-up material … a body.”
Timothy Priest, a bank branch manager, also took the stand on Thursday.
He testified that Sandeson was the primary borrower on a $200,000 line of credit in July 2013 prior to starting medical school. At the time of the alleged killing, Sandeson owed more than $76,000.
Police received bank records in April 2017 that indicated the balance owing had grown to more than $103,000.
Body never found
Sandeson is accused of fatally shooting Samson during a drug deal and later disposing of his body.
Security footage shows the two entering Sandeson’s apartment in Halifax on Aug. 15, 2015.
Samson was never seen again.
The Crown has previously said the two were meeting to conduct a 20-pound drug deal. The trial has heard a similar amount of marijuana was later found in Sandeson’s brother’s apartment.
A verdict from a trial in 2017 was overturned on appeal and this second trial was ordered in 2020.
The retrial continues next Monday.