Jury told William Sandeson not affiliated with Hells Angels

The jury in the first-degree murder trial of William Sandeson has been told he had no ties to the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang.

As the trial got underway Tuesday morning, Justice James Chipman read an agreed statement of facts into the record. The judge said there is no evidence that Sandeson was affiliated with the Angels. The statement was signed by both Crown attorneys and Sandeson's lawyer.

A witness told the trial earlier that he was afraid of Sandeson because he believed he was connected to the violent gang. Justin Blades offered that as an explanation for why he was not truthful with police when they first questioned him about the events leading to the murder charge.

Blades was in an apartment across the hall from Sandeson's on the evening of Aug. 15, 2015. He testified on Monday that he heard a bang, then a knock at the door. Blades went on to testify that he got a look inside Sandeson's apartment, where he said he saw a man slumped over and bleeding from a head wound.

But when first questioned by police, Blades claimed he saw nothing that night. It wasn't until two years later that he said he saw a body.

The judge read a second statement into the record Tuesday, confirming that Taylor Samson had a bank account and credit card with RBC, and that neither of them have been touched since Aug. 10, 2015, five days before Samson was last seen alive.

Text messages from Sandeson's 2 cellphones

Tuesday's only witness was Gilles Marchand, a digital forensic analyst with the RCMP. He extracted data from three cellphones police had seized. Two of them were owned by Sandeson.

Marchand extracted text messages that appeared to be conversations about money.

"Just approved for student grant of $7000," one of the texts sent on Aug. 17 read.

"Student loan paid off and I'm completely squeaky clean now," another text read.

While those texts and others were sent from phones linked to Sandeson, Marchand admitted under questioning from Sandeson's lawyer that he couldn't say who actually sent the messages.

The jury was sent home early on Tuesday. The trial is not sitting Wednesday as the courtroom is needed for another case.

This is the second time Sandeson has faced a trial on this same charge. A new trial was ordered in 2020 after a verdict from a trial in 2017 was overturned on appeal.

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