It would have seemed just another drug deal gone bad. In August of 2015, Taylor Samson walked into the apartment of William Sandeson with a large duffle bag full of marijuana and was never seen again. Sandeson would later admit to shooting Samson and dumping the body, over $90,000 of drugs. What makes this story so explosive is both young men were students at Dalhousie University, with bright futures. Samson was pursuing a degree in Physics, with the dream of making life better for the world through his inventions; and Sandeson was a top student, athlete and volunteer who worked with disabled adults, from a loving, stable family who was about to begin classes in medical school. The story made headlines nationwide, leaving a community shocked, friends stunned, and two families devastated. When Sandeson was convicted of first-degree murder, award-winning journalist Kayla Hounsell, who had followed the trial for local media, was approached to write a book about the story. First Degree: From Med School to Murder was published in 2018.
Two years later in June 2020, Sandeson’s trial was overturned on appeal. A defence investigator had turned in evidence to help the police and when this came up mid-trial, the judge was found not to have dealt with it correctly. In 2023, Sandeson faced a new trial, with a new, hotshot, Toronto lawyer, and for the first time testified on his own behalf in court, admitting to the killing but claiming self-defence. He was convicted of second-degree murder, and Hounsell has rewritten an expanded version of her book with all the current information, released as Second Degree: From Med School to Murder.
“I sped through this book; it is that riveting.”
I hadn’t read Hounsell’s first book - although I do remember the almost unbelievable news in 2015 of a med school student accused of murder - so delved into reading Second Degree with no preconceived ideas. I sped through this book; it is that riveting. Hounsell weaves an engrossing tale of two young men with everything to live for, families they doted on, friends who loved and respected them, ambitions, and goals they both worked hard to realize. And yet those goals came at a cost: tuition had to be paid and living expenses met. Despite legitimate jobs, both men turned to the drug trade to help finance their dreams.
Hounsell sits the reader down in the police interview room - a silent observer of the proceedings - where Sandeson shifts from witness to suspect over hours of questioning, much of which the second jury did not get to hear. She then takes us through both trials, along with the many appeal court hearings, where Hounsell’s journalistic training and brilliant writing grip the reader in a narrative both factual and compelling. She rounds out the story with in-depth interviews with both men’s friends, families, and lawyers. Most poignant is with Taylor Samson’s mother, a woman desperate for her accomplished and caring son to be remembered as more than just another drug dealer. Ten years on from the murder, Sandeson has never apologized, Samson’s body has never been found, and questions linger. Just what can stir beneath a benign surface of seemingly good people?
About the Author
Kayla Hounsell is an award-winning journalist, recognized for feature writing, diversity reporting, and investigative journalism. She is the CBC's National Reporter for the Maritime provinces. Based in Halifax, and originally from Newfoundland, she has worked all over Canada, in multiple African countries and the United Kingdom. A graduate of Carleton University's School of Journalism, she has also taught journalism at the University of King's College. Her first book, First Degree, was a national bestseller.
Book Details
Publisher : Nimbus Publishing Limited; updated and expanded edition (Nov. 12 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 1774712776
ISBN-13 : 978-177471277