HALIFAX - The defence lawyer for a man charged in the death of a Halifax university student says he's shocked the alleged crime scene is already under renovation.

Eugene Tan said outside court today that he went to William Michael Sandeson's former Henry Street apartment on Sunday and found the walls had been painted and that parts of the floor and some drywall had been replaced.

Tan says that has compromised the defence's ability to commission an independent report on the alleged events in the case.

The case has been put over to Sept. 24 to give the defence time to get more disclosure from the Crown.

The 22-year-old Sandeson was charged with first-degree murder four days after Taylor Samson, a physics student at Dalhousie University, was reported missing last month.

Investigators searched two properties in Truro, N.S., saying they discovered several items of interest but that Samson's remains have not been found.