“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 said, adding that its potential use in the deal was “hypothetical.”
The judge did rule that about $3,600 (C$5,000) in cash found in Sandeson’s apartment after the murder was “offence-related property,” meaning it will not be returned.
Sandeson has said the Bitcoin was worth between about $5,800 and $7,200 (C$8,000 to C$10,000), according to Global News. A lawyer representing Samson’s family in a separate wrongful death lawsuit, in which the cryptocurrency had been at the center, has said it could now be worth more than $144,000 (C$200,000). Global News did not report how much Bitcoin the wallet holds.
The Sandeson case
Sandeson, then 23 and about to start medical school at Dalhousie University, arranged for Samson, 22, to come to his apartment on August 15, 2015, to sell him cannabis that Sandeson had arranged to buy for C$40,000, according to prosecutors at his 2023 trial. Sandeson shot Samson, kept the drugs and the money, and later admitted to dumping his body in a river that feeds the Bay of Fundy. Samson’s remains have never been found.
Sandeson was convicted of first-degree murder in 2017, but an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2020. At a second trial in 2023, he admitted to shooting Samson but said he acted in self-defense. A jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. He is serving his sentence in Quebec and will be eligible for parole in 2030.