Accused double murderer Edward Downey was taken to a Calgary hospital in “life-threatening condition.”

Accused baby killer Edward Downey was hospitalized in critical, life-threatening condition Friday — two months before he is set to go on trial on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother and her five siblings. year old daughter.

Paramedics were called to the Calgary detention center just before 6 a.m. after corrections and medical staff found the inmate in “medical distress,” spokesman Stuart Bridex confirmed.

Downey was taken by ambulance to Foothills Hospital.

Defense attorney Gavin Walch did not elaborate on Downey's health issues, but told Judge Beth Hughes that the medical emergency only occurred Friday morning.

Downey faces two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the July 2016 deaths of Sarah Bailey, 34, and her 5-year-old daughter, Talia Marsman.

Yellow alert

The judge and attorneys involved were scheduled to meet Friday morning to discuss Downey's upcoming trial schedule, but the hearing had to be postponed until Downey appeared in person.

In July 2016, police were called to Bailey's home after he failed to show up for work. Officers found the mother's body in her basement apartment in the northwest community of Panorama Hills.

When investigators realized he was missing, a yellow alert was activated for the boy. About a week later, Talia's body was found near a country road near Chestermere, about eight kilometers east of Calgary.

According to police, Downey was known to both victims.

Crown prosecutors Carla McPhail and Ryan Jenkins did not object to Friday's adjournment.

A three-week jury trial will begin in November.

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