Judge sets parole eligibility for convicted murderer William Sandeson at 15 years

William Sandeson must spend at least 7½ more years in prison for the murder of Taylor Samson before he can begin applying for parole.

A judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court set Sandeson's parole eligibility during a hearing in Dartmouth on Thursday.

A jury convicted Sandeson of second-degree murder on Feb. 18 of this year. Sandeson, who was just days from starting medical school at Dalhousie University, admitted to killing Samson, a fellow Dal student, on Aug. 15, 2015, in Halifax.

During his testimony, Sandeson claimed he shot Samson in self-defence — a suggestion rejected by the jury when they convicted him.

Samson's body has never been found. Sandeson claimed he dumped the remains into the Salmon River where they were swept into the Bay of Fundy.

Justice James Chipman set Sandeson's minimum sentence at 15 years, but since he's been in custody since shortly after the murder, his sentence is being reduced by roughly half.

Chipman pointed out that while Sandeson can start applying for parole in 7½ years, there's no guarantee he'll be released then. That decision will rest with the Parole Board of Canada.

Debate over minimum sentences

The Crown had asked Chipman to set the minimum sentence at 22 years, but he said that was too high.

"It's very upsetting and it won't go away, but I have to be dispassionate," Chipman said, adding that a sentence of that length would be "a direct route to the court of appeal."

The judge also rejected a defence request to set the minimum at just 10 years.

Before passing sentence, the court accepted victim impact statements from 24 friends and family of Taylor Samson. Only a handful of those statements were read by the people who wrote them.

"Since the day Taylor was taken from us, I have been lost, left in a world barely recognizable that has been shaken to its core," Kaitlynne Lowe said.

Victim impact statements

Samson's friend Gillian Meaney talked about her search for his body, which has never been found. "I drove back and forth to Halifax to Amherst every day," she told the court.

"And every day, twice a day I would look on either side of the highway praying to God that I wouldn't find his lifeless body in the ditch somewhere."

Samson's mother, Linda Boutilier, declined to comment. She submitted a written statement to the court.

"Today I accept the fact that my son has been taken from me," she wrote.

"Today I hate the world with all this evil and cruelty in it."

Boutilier said without a body, the only way she can visit her son is at a plaque his Dalhousie University classmates placed outside the physics building on campus.

"Everyone tells me I am the strongest person they know," Boutilier wrote.

"I am not strong. I hide it well. I am not okay."

As she left court, Sandeson's lawyer, Alison Craig, said an appeal was "likely." She declined further comment.

Crown prosecutors Carla Ball and Kim McOnie said they would have to study the decision to see if an appeal is warranted.