Little girl likely killed same day as her mother, jurors hear at Downey murder trial
Meghan Grant | CBC News | Posted: December 4, 2018 9:55 PM | Last Updated: December 4, 2018
WARNING: This story contains disturbing and graphic details
Taliyah Marsman was most likely killed the same day as her mother even though the young girl's body was found days later in a different location, according to the medical examiner who testified on Day 7 of Edward Downey's murder trial in Calgary.
Edward Downey, 48, is on trial on two counts of first-degree murder, accused of killing Sara Baillie, 34, and her daughter, Marsman, 5.
On July 11, 2016, Baillie's body was found stuffed into a laundry hamper in her Calgary home. Her face, neck and hands were bound by layers of duct tape. Court has heard that two of Downey's fingerprints were found on the tape.
Three days after Baillie was found dead, Marsman's body was discovered in a stand of bushes east of the city.
Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, the medical examiner who performed the autopsies, said the girl was most likely killed the same day as her mother, based on insects found on and around Marsman's body.
Adeagbo said the insect evidence suggests the girl was most likely dead on July 11, but, at the latest, could have been killed on July 12.
It is the Crown's theory Marsman was killed because she witnessed her mother's slaying, or at least recognized the killer who was inside their home.
Jurors were told they will hear evidence that Downey's phone was near Baillie's apartment the morning of July 11 and then, later in the day, near where the child's body was discovered.
There were clusters of abrasions to the girl's face and neck that were caused before her death, said the medical examiner.
"Like scratching from fingernails," said Adeagbo.
The doctor said he couldn't tell how long she lived after the injury — anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours, he said.
Marsman also had scrapes on the backside of her body that happened after her death and could have been caused by being dragged across bush or brushes, Adeagbo said.
'Taliyah could not do it to herself'
On her lungs and heart, Marsman had suffered petechiae — tiny blood vessels that burst.
The child died from asphyxiation, but Adeagbo said he couldn't determine how that happened, leaving open the possibilities she was smothered or strangled.
One thing is clear: "Whatever happened to Taliyah, Taliyah could not do it to herself."
He said she could have been strangled without the killer leaving obvious injuries to her neck.
Position in laundry hamper
Under cross-examination, Adeagbo confirmed to defence lawyer Gavin Wolch that there are other ways Marsman could have been asphyxiated beyond strangulation or suffocation.
He also told Wolch that Baillie's broken neck bone could have been caused by someone kneeling on her neck.
The doctor also reiterated that he could not say whether Baillie was dead or alive when she was placed in the laundry hamper. Though if she was still alive, her position would have killed her.
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Beth Hughes is presiding over the jury trial.
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