NASHUA, N.H. -- A grim but composed David Cates took the stand Wednesday in the trial of a man charged with killing his wife and attacking his daughter with a machete.
The husband of Kimberly Cates testified that he was away on business the weekend of Oct. 4, 2009. He said his last communication with his family was a text message he sent a few hours before a break-in that prosecutors say led to the attack on his wife and daughter.
"They normally go to bed pretty late, so I didn't bother them," David Cates said.
Steven Spader, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the attack. Cates kept his eyes only on Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin and the jury until the very end of his 25-minute testimony, when he looked Spader in the eye.
Strelzin walked over to the defense table at the end of his inquiry, pointed at Spader and asked Cates three pointed questions.
"Did you ever give the defendant, Steven Spader, or anyone else permission to be in your home on Oct. 4, 2009?" Strelzin asked.
"I "Did you ever give the defendant, Steven Spader, or anyone else permission to take any one of those items I just showed you out of your home?" Strelzin asked.
"I did not," Cates said.
"Did you give them permission to take any other items out of your home?" Strelzin asked.
"I did not," Cates said.
Cates has avoided all media exposure since the attack, but in court Wednesday, he laid open his private life. He said that before October 2009, he averaged 26 business trips per year as an engineer for BAE Systems. He said that changed after the attack.
"Because Jaimie needed me there, and I needed to be there with Jaimie," he said.
Cates was asked to identify various items prosecutors said were recovered from the suspects in the case, including an old wallet of his and jewelry boxes that belonged to his daughter and wife.
He was called to the stand just before noon and asked to identify jewelry boxes
Cates' testimony came after prosecutors went through photographs that showed the bloody crime scene inside 4 Trow Road. Spader looked at the photos intently as they were projected for the jury.
Cates testified that his home did have a security system at one time, but a fuse blew a couple of years ago and they hadn't used it since. The defense declined to cross-examine Cates.
Earlier in the day, Dr. David Mooney, who leads the pediatric trauma unit at Children's Hospital in Boston, where Jaimie was treated, took the stand. He said he had never treated a child with so many wounds.
Mooney, Jaimie's primary care physician, testified that the girl would have died from her injuries if she hadn't been able to call 911 for help and receive treatment quickly. He also said the wounds were consistent with the knife and machete he was shown by prosecutors.
"Their wounds were right through the bone where the bone had been cut clean across, which is very hard to do, which required a lot of force and something much bigger than that little knife," Mooney said.
Wednesday's court session ended early because one of the jurors had a prescheduled appointment.
http://www.wmur.com/mont-vernon/25533907/detail.html
A mistake in the testimony reported:
"They normally go to bed pretty early, so I didn't bother them." Mr Cates said.
(sent e-mail to the station)
