Jurors at the Edward Downey double murder trial have heard testimony from dozens of witnesses over the last three weeks and lawyers are presenting their closing arguments on Monday.

Downey, 48, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sara Baillie and Taliyah Marsman in July 2016.

Baillie’s body was found with duct tape wrapped around her neck and face, stuffed into a laundry basket in a closet in her Panorama Hills home on July 11, 2016.

The body of her five-year-old daughter, Taliyah, was found three days later in a rural area east of Calgary.

The medical examiner determined that both died of asphyxiation.

The Crown has called nearly 30 witnesses and it is the prosecution’s theory that Downey killed Baillie because he hated her and that he killed Taliyah because she witnessed her mother’s murder.

Downey was dating Baillie’s best friend at the time, who can only be identified as AB.

AB testified that Downey wanted her to work as an escort but she refused. She said she broke up with Downey over text message and according to the Crown, he blamed Baillie.

Downey testified he never forced his girlfriend to work as a prostitute.

Surveillance video captured a vehicle, similar to the Dodge Charger driven by Downey, around the corner from Baillie’s basement suite the day she was found dead and her Ford Fusion was seen out front.

A witness testified that he saw a little girl, who looked like she had been crying, getting into a dark, coloured car with a stocky, black man, carrying a suitcase.

During the trial, the jury heard that Downey’s phone connected to cell towers near Baillie’s home and close to where Taliyah’s body was found.

Downey pleaded not guilty to the charges and testified in his own defence. He told jurors that he didn’t kill Baillie or Taliyah.

Downey admitted that he was at Baillie’s home on the morning of July 11, 2016 but said he was there with a drug dealer and another man.

Police discovered two of Downey’s fingerprints on the duct tape that was found wrapped around Baillie’s face. Downey said he gave the drug dealer the duct tape but didn’t ask why he needed it and that when he left the residence, both mother and daughter were alive.

He said he continued with the drug deal outside of the city and was texting with a woman he was trying to date.

The Crown said that a five minute gap in those texts came as Downey was busy dumping Taliyah in the bushes and that his entire story was untrue.

Downey told the jury he was a cocaine dealer. His criminal record includes a pimping and weapons conviction but he said he’s no killer.

On Monday, defence attorney Gavin Wolch addressed the court first and said that no one is defending the horrible things that happened to Baillie and Taliyah but that the jury should rely on the evidence.

He said that Downey is not guilty on both counts and that there are still unanswered questions.

Wolch said that Downey didn’t hide the fact that he has had financial difficulties in the past and that his relationship was failing.

He said that Downey’s background was provided to show how he was earning money and how he ended up in Baillie’s apartment.

Wolch said Downey’s relationship with AB went bad because of the drinking and that even if it was over, Downey still had other options.

He said Downey testified that he didn’t hate Baillie and that he didn’t blame her for his relationship issues.

Wolch said that there were at least five, male DNA sources in Baillie’s home and that there were three male, DNA sources on the duct tape.

He said that ‘we know he touched the tape, he said so’ and that it is ‘one of the most important pieces of evidence for’ the jury to consider.

Wolch then talked about the testimony of two witnesses who live in the same community as Baillie and how neither of the witnesses were able to identify anyone.

He said the Jury should acquit Downey because the motive is inconsistent with evidence and that the evidence supports three men were present when the duct tape was produced.

Wolch says the medical examiner talked about how asphyxiation can take seconds or minutes but that they couldn’t say when Baillie died.

Crown prosecutor, Carla MacPhail addressed the jury in the afternoon and said that Downey unlawfully confined Baillie and Taliyah and planned their murders.

She told the jury not to believe Downey and that based on the evidence, there should be no doubt that he is guilty as charged on both counts of first-degree murder.

MacPhail said Downey’s testimony involved ‘far-fetched coincidences’ and that the testimony that he handed over a piece of tape was unbelievable.

She said there was no ‘Terrance’ in Baillie’s contact list and that it made no sense that there was no exchange of contact information between Downey, the drug dealer Terrance, and the mystery man.

The Crown says the most telling inconsistency was when Downey said he ripped off an 18-inch piece of tape and MacPhail said his explanation didn’t make sense.

MacPhail maintains that Downey held a ‘bitter hatred’ towards Baillie and that it had been building since the incident outside the nightclub when Baillie told AB she was afraid for her.

Family of Sara Baillie and Taliyah Maisman who were in the courtroom were brought to tears when the Crown suggested Downey had fed Taliyah blueberries at his home before he allegedly strangled her. Autopsies confirmed the presence of blueberries in the young girl's stomach.

MacPhail said investigators found Taliyah's body by reviewing Downey's cell phone usage. "That is not a coincidence." She said a five minute interruption in Downey's text message conversation with 'Dianna" suggests Downey was busy at that time as 'he was dumping Taliyah in those bushes'.

The Crown stated that both deaths were intentional despite the fact they were the result of separate motivations.

Justice Beth Hughes informed the members of the jury that they will receive their final instructions on Wednesday prior to the start of deliberations.

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