The double murder trial for Edward Downey is in its third week and court is hearing testimony from a digital forensic expert who examined a cellphone that was on the accused when he was arrested.
(**Warning: Graphic content)
Downey is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sara Baillie and her daughter, Taliyah Marsman, in July 2016.
Baillie’s body was found in her Panorama Hills basement suite and Taliyah, 5, was found dead in a rural area east of Calgary a few days later.
The medical examiner determined both died by asphyxiation.
On Monday, court heard from CPS Cst. Ian Whiffin from the digital forensics team.
Whiffin is an expert in the forensic examination and retrieval of digital data from computer and digital storage devices.
He talked about International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI, which is a unique number given to mobile phones, and examined a number of cellphones as part of the investigation.
Whiffin looked at Baillie’s Samsung cellphone, which was found beside a tree in a park in Panorama Hills by a member of the public.
He said the phone ‘had been wiped’ to factory reset and that there was very little data recoverable with the exception of contacts.
Jurors previously heard that the phone was discovered by Mark Leckie, who was staying with a friend in Panorama Hills.
Heather Hubert kept the phone in case someone called looking for it and testified that she attempted to turn the phone on multiple times. She said that she did reset the phone and was then able to access the contact list.
Hubert said she knew there was an ongoing police investigation and realized the phone may have something to do with the case so she took it to police.
Whiffin also examined the BlackBerry device that Downey had on him when he was arrested.
He said Downey’s phone was password protected but that he was able to access the contact list, texts, BBMs, call history and photos when he took the device apart.
He testified that there were over 200 SMS messages sent or received from Downey’s phone on July 11, 2016 and that they were to or from three numbers.
Whiffin went through a series of SMS and BBM messages from Downey’s phone.
He examined texts between Downey and a friend named Kukuie from June 30th and in the exchange, Downey tells his friend that he’s ‘down to one bitch and she’s square.’
Downey goes on to say that he ‘messed that up’ and that he ‘made a dummy move by not taking her away when she was ready.’
The day before Baillie’s body was found, Downey’s ex-girlfriend, who we can only identify as AB, broke up with him over text message.
On day one of the trial, Prosecutor Carla MacPhail told the jury they should consider if Edward Downey blamed Baillie for pushing his girlfriend to break up with him because she refused to work as an escort.
Cst. Whiffin was back in court on Tuesday and said an image of Baillie’s Ford Fusion, which was taken on June 17, 2016, was found on Downey’s BlackBerry.
He said that two iPhones were found in the Dodge Charger that Downey was driving on July 11 and Whiffin created a map of location data from one of the phones.
GPS coordinates recorded on the iPhone showed a location around Downey’s Skyview Ranch area home just before 10:00 p.m. on July 10th, the day before Baillie’s body was discovered.
The phone’s location was then recorded about an hour later in Panorama Hills and Whiffin said the last location recorded was from Panorama Hills Mews, about 1.7 km from Baillie’s home.
He said that the phone had several user IDs, including Downey’s ex-girlfriend, and that the battery died just after 11:04 p.m. on July 10, 2016.
Under cross examination, Whiffin said that the iPhone had 12 user accounts and that he couldn’t say who was using the phone at that time.
He was asked if one of the phones found in the Charger had accessed the Wi-Fi network at Baillie’s home on July 10, 2016 and he said it did not.
Constable Samuel Schofield was the next witness called and he talked about executing a search warrant at Downey’s home.
He said he seized two red suitcases from the garage of the Skyview Ranch home.
The defence asked about a luggage tag on one of the suitcases and also inquired about whether both suitcases had wheels. Schofield answered ‘yes’.
Cst. Chad Prescesky testified next about a search that was conducted on the Dodge Charger and told the court that he found an iPhone and a wallet inside.
Prescesky was the final witness for the Crown and the defence will begin presenting its evidence when court resumes on Wednesday.
A judge and jury, consisting of five men and seven women, are hearing the case, which is scheduled to last until the end of the week.
Follow @CTVInaSidhu for complete coverage of the trial.
