Accused admits ‘I should have walked away’ from vicious fight that killed his girlfriend

London police investigate a sudden death at 562 Kingway Avenue in London, Ont. on July 5, 2023. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

53-year-old David Yates has always maintained that he was the one being attacked on the night that his 22-year-old girlfriend Caitlin Jennings died on July 3, 2023.

However, in an Elgin County courtroom on Wednesday, Crown Attorney James Spangenberg took exception to that and continued to grill Yates about circumstances surrounding the vicious fight they had at 562 Kingsway Avenue in west London that night.

The Crown asked him why he was the one with a hammer when things got physical in the bathroom of the home. Yates admitted, “I swung, I must have hit her on the top of her head... she started laughing.”

Yates was asked about the victim bleeding and he said, “I went and got a paper towel and put it on her head.”

Spangenberg then asked, “Was her jaw broken at this time? Yates responded, “It may have been.”

The Crown asked, “You gave her a number of blows to the back?” Yates said, “It’s not something that I counted.”

Yates has told the court several times that he was exhausted during the fight. The Crown asked why he didn’t call 911 to get medical attention for Caitlin, “You must have thought your 30 to 40 blows with the hammer must have hurt her?” Yates responded, “No not in the least… it wouldn’t phase her.” He went on to say, “I didn’t think those injuries in anyway were life threatening.”

Spangenberg suggested that Yates was angry over Caitlin’s infidelity and asked, “Do you agree that you went too far and hit her too many times?”

He responded, “Not once did I think it was a situation that I’d be sitting here talking to you.”

Then the court was shown photos comparing Caitlin’s badly beaten body compared to his head, back and legs.

The Crown asked, “You *escaped this fight unscathed?.. You broke her bones?” Yates replied, “That’s clear to me now, but I didn’t know that then.”

When Caitlin became lethargic the Crown asked, “You moved her around and you didn’t see that?” Yates responded, “I didn’t see those…I didn’t see injuries like that.”

A pathologist has testified that Caitlin died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries after suffering more that 200 wounds.

Two days after the fatal fight, Yates would call 911 and London Police would arrive to the home to find Caitlin’s body on the living room floor.

Yates would be arrested and has plead not guilty to second degree murder.

At one point during his testimony Yates broke down on the stand and sobs when asked about Caitlin’s lifeless body lying on the floor.

Later in the day when the Crown showed yates entries from his journal that were made hours after Catilin died, it read, “I just killed my friend. I am the biggest piece of sh-t on this planet.”

The court has heard that Yates wanted to end his life and the Crown asked, “This looks like a suicide confessional? Yates responded, “You could look at it that way....there was no where to go.”

Near the end of the day Yates was asked why he didn’t simply avoid the fight and he said, “I should have walked away a lot of times.”

Yates has now concluded his testimony. Closing arguments will take place July 16.