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Judge Orders Bitcoin Wallet Returned to Family of Convicted Canadian Killer
A Nova Scotia judge has ordered police to return a laptop containing a Bitcoin wallet to the family of William Sandeson, who is serving a life sentence for killing fellow student Taylor Samson. The judge said prosecutors had not shown that the cryptocurrency was connected to the murder or drug deal, making the ruling significant to a separate dispute over the wallet’s ownership and value.
Justice John Bodurtha said the Crown’s suggestion that Bitcoin was used in the transaction was hypothetical. He ruled that about $3,600 (C$5,000) in cash seized from Sandeson’s apartment was offence-related and would not be returned. Sandeson estimated the Bitcoin was worth C$8,000 to C$10,000 at the time, while a lawyer for Samson’s family has said it may now be worth more than C$200,000; the amount in the wallet was not reported.
In short
- A judge ordered the Bitcoin wallet laptop returned to Sandeson’s family.
- Prosecutors did not prove the cryptocurrency was linked to the crime.
- Seized cash will remain in government hands.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The family can argue that property should not be withheld from them without evidence linking it to the crime, and the judge found the Crown’s Bitcoin theory was hypothetical. Returning the laptop respects the distinction between Sandeson’s conviction and the family’s separate claim to the wallet, while leaving ownership and value to be resolved through the appropriate process.
The case against
The Crown and Samson’s family can argue that returning a laptop containing a potentially valuable wallet risks putting disputed assets beyond practical recovery before ownership and the wallet’s contents are settled. Given the conviction arose from a killing connected to a suspected drug deal, they may favour preserving the property while its provenance is examined, even if the available evidence has not established a direct link to the offence.
Explained simply
Bitcoin is a digital currency held in online wallets, which can be accessed using information stored on a device such as a laptop. Its value can rise or fall, and a wallet’s current contents are not necessarily clear from estimates of what it was once worth.
William Sandeson, a former medical student in Nova Scotia, is serving a life sentence for killing fellow student Taylor Samson. Police seized a laptop with a Bitcoin wallet as part of the case, and the two families have disputed who should receive it.
The dispute involves whether the wallet was linked to the killing or a drug deal, as well as who owns it and what it may be worth. Cash seized from Sandeson’s apartment was treated separately from the Bitcoin.
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