William Sandeson testified at his first-degree murder trial Wednesday that he did not lure Taylor Samson to his Halifax apartment with the intention of killing him.
Sandeson, 30, is accused of murdering 22-year-old Samson during a 20-pound drug deal the evening of Aug. 15, 2015. The former medical student has admitted to killing Samson, but said it was done in self-defence during a struggle over a gun.
He also claimed he dumped Samson’s body in a river feeding into the Bay of Fundy.
The Crown is arguing that Sandeson, who was 23 at the time and about to begin studying medicine at Dalhousie University, was buried in debt and planned to kill Samson that night to steal the 20 pounds of cannabis he had previously arranged to buy for $40,000.
Crown prosecutor Carla Ball repeatedly suggested during cross-examination Wednesday that Sandeson “lured” Samson to his apartment that night, where the two would be alone.
“You were luring him as part of your plan,” said Ball.
“I wasn’t luring him,” Sandeson replied. “He was trying to meet with me.”
Texts between the two men read in court indicate that Samson was unsure about meeting at the apartment on Henry Street.
Sandeson had told the court earlier that, for his own safety, he pretended he was working for someone else, and said the meeting would take place at a “safe house” owned by this imaginary person rather than his own apartment.
He said he worked to “anonymize” the apartment prior to Samson’s arrival — removing and hiding items referencing himself, and taking his shoes off a rack outside his door.
According to texts read in court Wednesday, Samson said he didn’t want to go to “some safe house” of a person he didn’t know. Sandeson assured him it would be just the two of them.
Sandeson had told the court he had plans to confront Samson the night of Aug. 15, 2015, over a recent home invasion and robbery he was allegedly involved in against a fellow drug dealer.
Sandeson said the mood “soured pretty quickly” after Samson arrived that night and declined a beer that was offered to him.
While the two had made a deal for Sandeson to buy 20 pounds of weed for $40,000, Sandeson testified he only intended to give Samson $10,000.
After placing the money in front of Samson on the kitchen table, Sandeson said Samson quickly realized it was far less than the agreed-upon $40,000.
Sandeson said he told Samson he already got the rest of the money from the person whose home was allegedly invaded.
“I thought I saw a look of recognition,” Sandeson claimed. “He started to stand up, he was agitated, and (said) something like, ‘If you’re going to f– around, if you’re going to play games, I’m taking all of this.'”
Sandeson said he assumed that to be the money, as well as the weed.
“I said, ‘No you’re not, you’re lucky to be getting what I’m giving you,'” Sandeson told the 12-person jury.
When Samson became agitated, Sandeson said he lifted his shirt to show Samson a gun tucked into his pocket.
While the Crown argues Sandeson brought the gun to the meeting to kill Samson, Sandeson said he merely wanted to intimidate him.
“At that point, I opened the door to the hallway and gestured for him to leave, as well as speaking more loudly and swearing at him, hoping that he’ll just leave,” said Sandeson.
He said he hoped to attract the attention of his across-the-hall neighbour, Pookiel McCabe, and visitor Justin Blades, but nobody came and he closed the door again.
Sandeson said Samson “lunged” at him multiple times trying to get the gun, and was eventually shot. Sandeson confirmed it happened while Samson was on his feet, not touching him.
Sandeson said he was focusing on the gun and wasn’t sure what happened to Samson, but he was slumped in the chair the next time he looked at him.
He said Samson did not appear to have any weapons on him that night, nor did he appear to be reaching anywhere to try to retrieve one.
Ball wondered why Sandeson did not call for help or leave the apartment.
“He didn’t have a weapon, what were you afraid of?” she said.
“He was twice my size, ma’am,” Sandeson replied. Sandeson stands at 5’9 and around 150 pounds, while Samson was about 6’4 and 220 pounds.
After shooting Samson, Sandeson said he dropped the gun and kicked it away. He testified he approached Samson to try to take a pulse, but backed away once he saw all the blood.
He said he couldn’t see a wound, but believed he had been shot in the head or neck.
Ball noted that Sandeson had first aid training, was a medical student, and had worked at the QEII hospital as a patient care attendant.
“That amount of blood indicated there was no first aid I could render that would be of any use,” Sandeson said.
“Have you thought about the fact that this is a son — and family may have wanted to see his remains?” Ball asked.
Sandeson said he’s “thought about that a lot.”
He said he also didn’t call for medical assistance because he didn’t think there was any way Samson could be saved.
Sandeson said he then went to McCabe’s apartment across the hall. McCabe and Blades went to Sandeson’s apartment, and Sandeson said he told them to leave as he didn’t want them to get in trouble.
McCabe and Blades previously testified that they observed Samson slumped in a chair in Sandeson’s apartment.
Blades also testified last month that Sandeson asked him to “bring the car around,” which Sandeson denied.
Sandeson said he then went about cleaning the apartment, and at one point moved Samson’s body to the bathtub.
Ball again appealed to the fact that Samson had family who loved him.
“When you put his lifeless body in the bathtub, did it occur to you this is somebody’s son?” asked Ball.
Sandeson responded that he didn’t recall.
He said he then wrapped Samson’s body in black garbage bags and put it in the large black duffel bag that Samson had been carrying the cannabis in.
The court heard the bag measured three feet and six inches in length, one-and-a-half feet in width, and 18 inches in height.
Ball suggested Sandeson dismembered Samson’s body to fit him in the bag, which Sandeson denied.
“It took me two hours just to clean my apartment,” he said. He said he instead “folded his legs up towards his chest.”
He then moved the body to the trunk of his car, Sandeson said.
Sandeson’s girlfriend at the time got home from a friend’s house after he finished cleaning the apartment, and he said he didn’t tell her about Samson’s death. She had previously told the court that he appeared “rattled” and the apartment smelled strongly of cleaning products.
Sandeson told the court he drove his former girlfriend and her coworker to work the next day, with Samson’s body still in the trunk. He said he left the body in a river feeding into the Bay of Fundy later that day.
Ball suggested Sandeson instead put parts of his body in “various locations,” which Sandeson denied.
Sandeson admitted to texting Samson — “this isn’t cool man” and “don’t know what you’re planning” — after the fact to make it look like he wasn’t dead.
“It was a pretty stupid thing to do, but I wasn’t thinking straight,” he told the court.
Sandeson’s cross-examination is expected to continue Thursday.
— with files from Callum Smith
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