Murder trial: Crown shares texts extracted from Sandeson’s phone – Halifax

The William Sandeson murder trial was told that the defendant had no formal connection to the Hells Angels.

The affidavit – signed by Crown attorneys Carla Ball and Kim McOnie and Sandeson’s defense attorney Alison Craig – follows Justin Blades’ testimony.

Blades told the trial Monday that he missed it initially told police about the bloodied body he saw on a chair at Sandeson’s home on August 15, 2015, fearing retaliation for believing Sandeson was connected to the Hells Angels, an illegal motorcycle group.

“There is no evidence that Mr. Sandeson was actually associated with the Hells Angels, rather Mr. Blades had the state of mind that he was,” read the agreed statement of fact, which Judge James Chipman read before the jury at the outset was the negotiations from Tuesday.

The only witness to testify Tuesday in William Sandeson’s murder trial was Gilles Marchand, a digital forensic analyst at the RCMP who extracted data from three cell phones in connection with the case. Two of them have been linked to Sandeson while the other has been linked to his former girlfriend.

Sandeson is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2015 death of Taylor Samson.

The crown read a series of text exchanges – between Sandeson’s phone and various contacts – for the jury before asking Marchand to determine which texts are coming in, which are going out and what timestamp they have.

Texts after the alleged murder

In the early hours of August 16, 2015, a series of messages were exchanged between Sandeson’s phone and a contact named “Amanda.”

At 1:42 a.m. on August 16, 2015, a text message from Sandeson’s number reads, “Do you want to catch up tomorrow?”

He gets a response that says, “Potentially!” and that if that day didn’t work, Tuesday, August 17th, would.

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At 4:59 a.m., Sandeson says, “Do you have a chance to snap?”

Three minutes later, a text message from Sandeson’s number reads, “The student loan paid off and I’m sparkling clean now!”

He then makes three more requests to speak to Amanda soon.

Taylor Samson was last seen on security footage entering Sandeson’s home before 10:30pm on August 15. His body was never found.

The Crown claims Sandeson killed Samson during a £20 marijuana deal.

Two witnesses summoned by the Crown on Monday said they saw a motionless man bleeding in a chair at the kitchen table at Sandeson’s home. They said they saw money on the floor and on the kitchen table.

Exchange with ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’

Sandeson’s number texted someone on May 3, 2015, who was stored on their phone as “Mom,” asking, “How much money is left in the RESP?”

Several text messages were sent back and forth. Sandeson eventually received a response saying she would investigate and that it “sounds like you’re looking for financial assistance?”

An outgoing text, later extracted from Sandeson’s phone, reads, “I’m fine without it.”

Then a few months later, on July 17, 2015, “Dad” contact Sandeson texted, saying, “Laurie got mail today. She’s mad about the line of credit.”

The response from Sandeson’s phone was, “Well, she doesn’t have to be” and that it “will be paid for this September.”

An outgoing message from Sandeson’s phone, this one dated August 17, 2015, says, “Just approved for a student grant of 7000!”

Cross-examination and trial prospects

During cross-examination, Marchand Sandeson’s attorney, Alison Craig, agreed that Marchand was unable to determine who was in possession of the phones during the text exchange.

The trial will not take place on Wednesday due to a courtroom scheduling conflict.

The jury was told to return Thursday, expected to spend just one morning of testimony.

Judge James Chipman told the jury “we are making good progress” with the trial schedule.

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