Medical student’s murder trial shown video of initial Halifax police interview

HALIFAX – The jury in the first-degree murder trial of William Sandeson is being shown a video of the medical student’s first interview with Halifax police, days after Taylor Samson’s disappearance.

Police Sgt. Charla Keddy testified that Sandeson was not under suspicion when she met him on the afternoon of Aug. 18, two days after Dalhousie University physics student was reported missing.

Keddy told Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury that Sandeson was polite and co-operative while at the police station, and that investigators obtained text messages from his phone.

The 90-minute video shows Sandeson casually dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and ball cap, sitting on a black couch in an interview room at the station.

He told Keddy the last time he saw Samson was Aug. 13 — two days before he was last seen alive — and that he had been introduced to Samson about three weeks earlier for the purpose of buying marijuana from him.

Sandeson told the officer that when they met on Aug. 13, he didn’t like the quality of the marijuana, however Samson later sent a text message to say he had better quality marijuana.

He told Keddy he had been messaging Samson through a texting app on Aug. 15 for a couple grams of marijuana for himself, and eventually told Samson they could meet the next day, but Samson never replied to his message.

In an opening address last week, Crown lawyer Susan MacKay said evidence will show that police detected DNA matching Samson’s genetic profile on a gun and a bullet found in Sandeson’s apartment in Halifax.

MacKay said Samson was last seen alive walking down the hallway of Sandeson’s building, where she alleges he was going to sell 20 pounds of marijuana to the accused for $40,000.

Sandeson was charged with first-degree murder on Aug. 20, 2015, four days after Samson was reported missing. His body has yet to be found.

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