By The Canadian Press

Calgary jury hears how high-tech used to track suspect in double homicide

Dec 6, 2018 | 8:12 AM

CALGARY — A jury in a Calgary murder trial has heard how cell phone calls from a man charged in the deaths of a woman and her young daughter led to the discovery of one of the alleged victims.

Edward Downey is charged with first-degree murder in the July 2016 deaths of Sara Baillie and her five-year-old child, Taliyah Marsman, and has pleaded not guilty to both counts.

Jurors heard Wednesday that Downey and a woman exchanged a number of texts and photos for about three days before his arrest, and that information from those calls was later passed to police.

Patricia Pace, who specializes in cellphone analysis for Calgary police, testified that she examined the call records for the number connected to the phone Downey had at the time of his arrest.

She said she noticed extensive activity in the area of some cellphone towers east of Calgary near where Taliyah’s body was discovered.

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A map produced from the data helped investigators locate her remains.

Pace is expected to continue her testimony today.

The jury has previously heard that Taliyah’s body was discovered in some bushes on the morning of July 15, 2016.

Baillie was found dead in her basement apartment on July 11. She had been bound in duct tape and stuffed inside a laundry hamper in her daughter’s closet.

The court has also heard both Baillie and Taliyah died of asphyxiation. (CTV Calgary, The Canadian Press)