Nova Scotia judge orders Bitcoin wallet returned to convicted murderer William Sandeson

Key points

• Justice John Bodurtha ordered the laptop holding the Bitcoin wallet returned on 3 Nov, with the device to go to Sandeson's family.
• The judge withheld C$5,000 (about $3,578) in cash found in the apartment as offence-related property.
• Sandeson is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder with parole eligibility at 15 years, after a 2023 retrial.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ordered the return of a Bitcoin wallet seized from William Sandeson after his 2015 arrest, Bitcoin.com News reports. Justice John Bodurtha ruled on 3 Nov that the laptop holding the wallet be handed to Sandeson's family, while C$5,000 (about $3,578) in cash found in the apartment was withheld as offence-related property.

Sandeson appeared remotely at the Halifax hearing on a motion filed in April for the return of belongings taken at the time of his arrest. Bodurtha found the prosecution had not shown the cryptocurrency was used in the drug transaction, was criminal proceeds or was otherwise linked to criminal activity, calling its possible use in the deal "hypothetical".

Samson's mother and brother had also sought to keep the Bitcoin available through a wrongful death lawsuit, and their lawyer said in February 2023 that a temporary order had blocked an earlier decision to return the laptop.

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