The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ordered the return of a laptop containing a bitcoin wallet to the family of William Sandeson, who is serving a life sentence for murdering Taylor Samson. Police seized the device after Sandeson’s arrest in 2015, but Judge John Bodurtha ruled that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence linking the cryptocurrency to the murder, CBC reported.

Court finds no evidence linking bitcoin to murder

Sandeson filed a motion in April 2026 seeking the return of personal belongings, including the laptop with the digital bitcoin wallet. He previously estimated that the cryptocurrency was worth between 8,000 and 10,000 Canadian dollars ($5,737-$7,172). A lawyer representing Samson’s family in a separate wrongful-death case said its value could exceed 200,000 Canadian dollars ($143,441).

During the hearing, Bodurtha said the alleged use of cryptocurrency in a drug deal remained hypothetical.

“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,” the judge said.

Bodurtha also said prosecutors had provided no evidence of bitcoin transactions connected to the murder.

“The Crown has not met its burden to demonstrate the cryptocurrency was used as part of the drug transaction, proceeds of crime, or otherwise tainted by criminality,” Bodurtha concluded.

The court declined to return 5,000 Canadian dollars ($3,586) in cash found in Sandeson’s apartment after the murder, deeming the money property connected to an offense.

Sandeson is serving a life sentence

Sandeson and Samson studied at Dalhousie University. On Aug. 15, 2015, Sandeson arranged to meet the 22-year-old Samson, who was to sell him about 18 kilograms of cannabis for 40,000 Canadian dollars ($28,688).

After Samson arrived at Sandeson’s apartment, Sandeson shot him, kept the drugs and money, and later dumped his body in a waterway flowing into the Bay of Fundy. Samson’s remains have not been found.

A court convicted Sandeson of first-degree murder in 2017, but an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2020. During a 2023 retrial, Sandeson admitted shooting Samson but claimed self-defense.

The jury convicted him of second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence. Sandeson is serving his sentence in Quebec and will be eligible to apply for parole in 2030.

Other crimes involving bitcoin

Bitcoin ownership has also been a motive in other violent crimes. In Los Angeles, former police officer Eric Halem was found guilty of kidnapping and robbing a 17-year-old from whom $350,000 in bitcoin was stolen in 2024.

In France, three men posing as law enforcement officers broke into a married couple’s home and forced one victim at knifepoint to transfer about $1 million in bitcoin.

South Korean prosecutors also charged a man who, according to investigators, tried to poison his business partner after losing $800,000 when the price of bitcoin fell.

Source: Incrypted