A 51-year-old man accused of killing his common-law wife was under bail conditions not to contact her stemming from an incident in February.
Daniel Blake Penney was charged Tuesday, a day after he was arrested, with the second-degree murder of Caitlin Walton. He appeared in Victoria provincial court and was held in custody.
His next court appearance is in May.
Walton, 46, was found dead Friday about 5 p.m. inside a house owned by the couple at 830 Queens Ave.
Four hours earlier, Penney was found in the closed garage of his Colwood house at 3012 Volmer Rd., inside his car with the engine running, an apparent suicide attempt.
His 19-year-old daughter, who lives in the house, noticed that the car had been running for about 20 minutes. She told tenant Mike Herritt, who lives in the basement suite, and he called 911, according to his wife, Carol Herritt.
Two West Shore RCMP officers went into the garage through the laundry room and dragged Penney out. Penney and the two Mounties were taken to hospital to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. The Mounties have since been released and are back on duty.
RCMP tried to contact Walton and asked Victoria police to check the house the couple owns on Queens Avenue. It was there that Victoria police discovered her body.
The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit took over the homicide investigation. Walton’s cause of death has not been released.
According to court documents, Penney was under court-ordered conditions to not have contact with Walton and to stay away from the Volmer Road home, with the exception of the garage, where he operates an auto repair and hauling business.
He was also ordered to stay away from the Hillside Seniors Health Centre at 1450 Hillside Ave., where Walton worked for Aberdeen Hospital as a health-care aide.
The conditions stem from a Feb. 11 police incident involving the couple.
Herritt said she was in the basement suite around that date in February when she heard the loud voices of two women, whom she believed to be Walton and her daughter.
“We heard the two women were fighting, never heard Blake’s voice at all and all of a sudden things were thrown around. We could hear some smashing,” Herritt said. The tenants noticed during the next few days that Penney wasn’t home “and then we got told he wasn’t allowed on the property.”
Herritt said that because of the court conditions, Penney was staying at the Queens Avenue house and Walton remained in the Volmer Road house.
According to land title documents, Penney and Walton own the homes on Volmer Road and Queens Avenue. Penney also owns two boats, several vehicles and a motorhome. He’s known as a car enthusiast, taking his 1969 Camaro to car shows.
The Queens Avenue home, which is divided into rental suites, is listed for sale.
In a statement, Island Health said Walton was a valued, long-term employee.
“Caitlin was dedicated to the clients and patients she served and she had positive influence and impact on those she cared for. She was a leader on the floor, always putting the needs of patients first,” said Island Health spokeswoman Suzanne Germain. “Her colleagues and friends at work are deeply shaken by what has occurred and they mourn her passing. … She will be missed.”
Herritt and her husband, Mike, have lived in the Volmer Road basement suite for a year. They talked more with Penney because he collected the rent.
Other than a few “quarrels,” Herritt said Penney and Walton “seemed like a good couple. Blake was down to earth and really calm and cool. Caitlin, not very talkative, kept to herself.”
The couple has two children, a son and a daughter, not two sons as previously reported.
The son and his partner were at the Volmer Road home Tuesday and a couple with two young children also arrived at the home.
Herritt described Penney as a nice guy and that she’s never known him to be violent. “[Maybe] a little temperamental, just standing his ground. But he wasn’t a physical fighter. I’ve never seen him raise a hand at anyone, his daughter or his wife, at all.”
