By The Canadian Press

CALGARY

Killer of Calgary woman, five-year-old appeals convictions and sentence

Jun 11, 2019 | 7:39 AM

CALGARY — The killer of a Calgary woman and her five-year-old daughter is asking for a new trial.

Edward Downey’s lawyer has filed a notice that he’s appealing his two first-degree murder convictions.

He’s also seeking permission to appeal his sentence of life in prison with no chance at parole for 50 years.

A jury found 49-year-old Downey guilty last December in the deaths of Sara Baillie and her daughter, Taliyah Marsman.

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The trial heard Downey killed Baillie because he blamed her for the breakdown of his relationship with her best friend, and that the child was a witness who needed silencing.

Both died by asphyxiation.

Queen’s Bench Justice Beth Hughes sentenced Downey to consecutive periods of parole ineligibility and called him a “callous and remorseless individual.”

Downey’s grounds for appeal, set out by lawyer Kelsey Sitar, include that the judge erred in pre-trial rulings, in charging the jury and in imposing consecutive periods of parole ineligibility.