Expert testifies about gun found at William Sandeson's home

William Sandeson's murder trial heard Monday from an RCMP firearms expert who testified she couldn't say for certain the accused's handgun fired the bullet that was found lodged in the window frame of his Halifax kitchen.

Testifying via video link, Laura Knowles of the RCMP crime lab in Ottawa told the court she tested Sandeson's gun, which was seized from a safe in his apartment bedroom, days after Taylor Samson went missing.

Sandeson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Samson, a fellow Dalhousie University student who disappeared in August 2015. His body has never been found.

The judge and jury trial is now in its seventh week at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. 

Tests performed on gun

When police searched Sandeson's south-end Halifax apartment, they recovered the handgun with a cartridge still in the chamber and a box of ammunition with two bullets missing.

Knowles testified Monday the gun, a 9-mm Smith and Wesson, was operational. She test-fired the gun at the RCMP range to prove it worked and to obtain a bullet to compare to the one in the window frame.

She said the bullet from the window frame was the same type as those fired by Sandeson's gun. However, it was too badly damaged to get a confirmed match, she added.

Knowles also testified she tested the gun to make sure it couldn't be fired accidentally. Drop tests were performed and the gun did not go off.

She said the gun required seven pounds of pressure to pull the trigger. By comparison, she said the pull tab on a can of pop requires five pounds.

Jury sent home for the week

Knowles was the only witness to testify Monday before the seven-man, seven-woman jury. They've now been sent home until next Monday afternoon.

Lawyers will be making arguments over the next several days without the jury present. Those proceedings are covered by a publication ban.

• See the evidence presented in the William Sandeson murder trial so far

Blair Rhodes live blogged from court.