N.L. man tells murder trial he was intimidated by fake crime group before telling details of his estranged wife's death

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Following that commentary, Gruchy told Justice Vikas Khaladkar his next line of questioning is about the crime boss interviews. Those interviews are between Penney and Rudy, in which he confessed to his involvement in Jennifer Hillier-Penney's death. The defence contends the confession is false.

More time is needed to dive into those questions, and as a result, court has been adjourned until Monday morning. Penney will remain on the stand when court resumes at 10 a.m. NT on Monday.

Mark Gruchy asked Penney about his connection to Rudy. Penney said they had limited connections before their time on the boat, and he had heard from his friends in the organization that Rudy was a serious man.

Rudy was a key witness in court earlier in the trial. Rudy told the court he had played the role of a crime boss at least a dozen times across his policing career, and that the role is designed to portray respect as opposed to fear.

Rudy testified that Penney was given multiple opportunities to leave the group if he felt scared or intimidated. If Penney showed that, Rudy said he worked to make sure he understood why and correct it.

The first initiation was Penney working around the boat in Vancouver. He cooked for them, and was told the crime boss was impressed. 

The opportunity for Penney to become captain was a staged part of the operation. The plan was for the crime boss's former captain, an undercover officer Penney knew as Ryan, to take the fall for Jennifer Hillier-Penney’s death. Penney was told Ryan had fallen ill.

Penney said he was debating declaring bankruptcy. He said he had so much money put into his properties that he couldn’t see himself letting the bank take it, so he wanted to keep trying.

This is around the same time the RCMP — posing as a criminal enterprise — offered him a job as a boat captain in Vancouver. Penney says this income would have solved all his problems.

Penney says they took him to Vancouver and put him aboard the yacht to see what he could do. 

Penney is speaking about his relationship with his father. He says they shared their fishing revenue 50/50. He said his father has suffered three strokes, including one since Penney was arrested.

He said his father had also suffered "harassment" since Jennifer Hillier-Penney disappeared. 

Penney's testimony has resumed.

We’ve taken a short break. Much of the testimony in the last few minutes focused on Penney's finances, including his 2023 tax return being introduced as an exhibit, and commitments he had as a fisherman to providing fish to a local seniors home.

Court will resume shortly.

Defence lawyer Mark Gruchy pivots to asking Penney about his time in the fishery, and how he didn’t qualify for unemployment insurance after a slow season in 2023.

It meant Penney needed to find a way to make money and keep up-to-date on his bills. On Thursday, Penney said the support from the organization was a much needed financial boost.

"I was basically broke," Penney said, "I was down and out … [my financial situation] was declining rapidly."

Here’s an example of how in-depth the RCMP went to make Penney believe this was all real.

They went to a military base in Alberta, where they were escorted in through the gates and taken to what Penney believed was the commander's house.

They didn’t go inside, but somebody came out and said there were packages waiting for them at the warehouse. They drove over and met two armed guards, wearing full military uniforms. They pushed a crate aboard the truck and told them to leave.

Everyone around Penney at this time were undercover RCMP officers, playing complex roles with objectives and character backstories.

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