A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ordered the return of a laptop containing a bitcoin wallet to William Sandeson, who is serving a life sentence for murder, after prosecutors failed to prove the cryptocurrency was connected to criminal activity. The ruling, issued by Justice John Bodurtha on Nov. 3, also withheld C$5,000 (approximately US$3,578) in cash found in Sandeson’s apartment, classifying it as offense-related property.
Background and Ruling
Sandeson, who appeared remotely at the Halifax hearing, had filed a motion in April seeking the return of personal belongings seized after his 2015 arrest. The laptop’s return concerned access to a bitcoin wallet that had also figured in separate civil litigation. Bodurtha directed that the laptop be handed to Sandeson’s family.
In his decision, Bodurtha stated: “The potential use of the cryptocurrency as part of the drug transaction is hypothetical … There was no evidence that the respondent actually intended to use it in the transaction.” He added: “The Crown cites no evidence of actual dealing with the bitcoin in connection with the murder.”
Convictions and Civil Lawsuit
Sandeson was first convicted of first-degree murder in June 2017. An appeals court overturned that verdict in June 2020 and ordered a new trial. The second trial in 2023 resulted in a second-degree murder conviction and a life sentence with parole eligibility set at 15 years. He is serving his sentence in Quebec.
The killing occurred in 2015 when Sandeson and Taylor Samson were Dalhousie University students. Sandeson arranged for Samson to visit his apartment to sell him about 18 kilograms of cannabis, then shot him and kept the drugs and money. During his retrial, Sandeson admitted disposing of Samson’s body in the Bay of Fundy; the remains have never been recovered.
The cryptocurrency had also been the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Samson’s mother, Linda Boutilier, and brother, Connor Samson. Their lawyer, James Goodwin, told The Canadian Press in February 2023 that they wanted the bitcoin kept available if they won compensation. The lawsuit sought financial damages for Samson’s death.
Goodwin said a temporary court order obtained in December 2022 had blocked an earlier decision allowing the laptop’s return. In October 2022, Sandeson had told the court his bitcoin was worth C$8,000 to C$10,000. By February 2023, Goodwin suggested the cryptocurrency could exceed C$200,000.
The family’s earlier injunction sought to keep assets available to pay compensation if its lawsuit succeeded, a separate issue from whether prosecutors could retain the bitcoin as crime-related property. A comparable use of an injunction arose in Canadian proceedings targeting cryptocurrency. In 2022, Ottawa residents obtained an Ontario court order freezing assets, including digital currencies, associated with the Freedom Convoy, the trucker-led protests against COVID-19 restrictions.
Preserving a claimant’s ability to collect was also the purpose of a worldwide freezing order against Craig Wright. Britain’s High Court granted that order in July 2024 to secure Peter McCormack’s potential recovery of legal costs amid concerns that assets could be moved. Although the claims differed, that order and the Samson family’s earlier injunction addressed the same practical concern: keeping property available for a possible payment through civil proceedings.
