National Network for Equitable Library Service

A murder, a missing body, and a sensational trial that gripped Nova Scotia.Will Sandeson seemed like a model son. A member of the Dalhousie University track and field team, he was about to start classes at Dalhousie's medical school. He worked at a group home for adults with disabilities. He came from a good family. "There's times for whatever reason that things don't go quite as planned," a Halifax police officer told Sandeson shortly after he was arrested for the first-degree murder of Taylor Samson, who also, on the surface, seemed like a model son. Samson lived in a fraternity house near Dalhousie, and when the six-foot-five physics student disappeared without a trace, the focus eventually turned to Sandeson. Sandeson's trial, blown open by a private investigator accused of switching sides, exposed a dangerous world of drugs, ambition, and misplaced loyalties. Through interviews with friends and relatives, as well as transcripts, award-winning journalist Kayla Hounsell tells the full story of two young men who appeared destined for bright futures. First Degree includes previously unpublished details never made public until now.