16-year sentence for man who killed his wife

‘Every day we deal with the pain,’ daughter says

A Victoria man pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday for the the March 2015 strangling death of his common-law wife, Mary Caitlin Walton.

Daniel Blake Penney, 53, was charged with second-degree murder but accepted a plea deal for the lesser charge, avoiding a trial at B.C. Supreme Court.

The court accepted a joint submission by Crown and defence lawyers that Penney receive a 16-year sentence, said Alisia Adams, spokeswoman for the B.C. Prosecution Service.

With credit for time served, Penney is to be in prison for 12 years, seven months and 13 days. He must serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

Penney killed Walton, 46, on March 13, 2015, inside the couple’s house at 830 Queens Ave. in Victoria. At the time, he was under court-ordered conditions to not have contact with Walton, stemming from a domestic dispute a month earlier.

He then drove to his Colwood home at 3012 Volmer Rd., and tried to kill himself by running his car inside a closed garage. His 19-year-old daughter noticed the car had been running and told a tenant, who called 911.

Two West Shore RCMP officers exposed to fumes while rescuing Penney had to be treated in hospital.

Penney had been ordered to stay away from the Volmer Road home, with the exception of the garage, where he ran an auto repair and hauling business. He was also ordered to avoid the Hillside Seniors Health Centre at 1450 Hillside Ave., where Walton worked.

“My mother was my best friend,” daughter Tonilin Walton told CHEK News outside the courthouse. “I don’t think [Penney] realized what he has done and how he’s ruined our lives. … Every day we deal with the pain. I only had 19 years with my mom and that’s not enough. She was a beautiful, beautiful person.”

Walton’s brother, Mike, said he believed Penney had planned the killing. “It took quite a bit to beat her the way he did. And that’s not something you just black out and do.”