Defence to call evidence in double murder trial, jurors told
Double-murder suspect Edward Downey will be calling evidence in his defence, jurors were told Tuesday.
After Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail called her last witness, defence counsel Gavin Wolch said he will be presenting testimony.
“That completes the evidence in the Crown’s case,” MacPhail told Justice Beth Hughes, after crime scenes Const. Chad Prescesky finished testifying.
Hughes then turned the floor over to Wolch.
“The defence election is that we will be calling evidence, the jury will hear from us,” he said, before asking that the trial be adjourned to Wednesday morning for that purpose.
Wolch did not tell jurors how many witnesses he intends to call, nor whether the accused will be among them.
But he told Hughes he will be making an opening address before calling any evidence on behalf of the defence.
Downey, 48, is charged with firstdegree murder in the July 2016 deaths of Calgary mom Sara Baillie and her five-year-old daughter, Taliyah Marsman.
Baillie’s body was found the afternoon of July 11, 2016, stuffed inside a laundry hamper inside her daughter’s bedroom closet in their northwest Calgary basement suite.
The girl was gone and an Amber Alert was issued.
Her body was found three days later in a stand of trees on a rural property northeast of the city.
Forensic evidence suggested she was killed the day she disappeared.
Both victims died of asphyxiation, with Baillie suffering both neck compressions and smothering, while it was unclear what mode was used to kill Taliyah.
If convicted as charged, Downey could face a parole ineligibility as high as 50 years.