Dean Penney's 3rd day of testimony in his 1st-degree murder trial delayed until this afternoon

james byron dean Penney mat up intimidated and scared patch workings with fictitious crime organization, he tells court at trial

Dean Penney takes the stand in his own murder trial

The moment Dean Penney told an undercover police about death of Jennifer Hillier-Penney

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Fictitious crime boss faces cross-examination in Dean Penney's murder trial

An unexpected delay has cancelled this morning's proceedings. Court will resume at 2:30 p.m. NT, and I’ll be back to update this page at that time.

Watch Dean Penney re-enact with an undercover officer how he says he killed Jennifer Hillier-Penney with a hammer

With Dean Penney sitting on one side of a desk, and Rudy — as he can only be identified as — sitting on the other, Penney is seen in a video describing how he struck his estranged wife. Warning: this video contains language and descriptions some may find offensive.

The defence has argued Penney felt under pressure to tell the undercover officers he killed his wife. He felt that pressure specifically when talking to the crime boss during the interviews, saying he was intimidated by his stature and power. The crime boss was played by a veteran undercover officer, who can only be referred to as Rudy.

The defence also contends that Penney's confession was false.

Jury watches 1st part of interview where Dean Penney allegedly confessed to murder

Penney's testimony today is expected to focus on the two interviews he did with an undercover RCMP officer he thought was the crime boss of a fictitious crime organization that was set up around him. It was part of a Mr. Big operation, a controversial major crime tactic used in cold cases to connect with someone and try to get a confession.

The interviews were recorded about a week apart from each other, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 8, 2023.

Over the course of those interviews, Penney gave three versions of events surrounding Hillier-Penney's disappearance.

In the first interview, he said he had nothing to do with it. During that same interview, he said she fell over the stairs into the garage of Penney's home during a heated argument and he later disposed of her body.

In the second interview, Penney said he hit his wife three times in the head with a mallet after she fell to ensure she wouldn't wake up.

He has a chance to explain himself this morning, when he's examined by his lawyer, Mark Gruchy.

Penney has pleaded not guilty of killing his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney. Her body has never been found.

Dean Penney felt intimidated and scared while working with fictitious crime organization, he tells court at trial

Dean Penney took to the witness box for his second day of testimony at his first-degree murder trial on Friday. 

Penney is accused of killing his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney, who disappeared on Nov. 30, 2016. It's up to the jury to decide whether the murder was planned and deliberate.

Penney spoke Friday of the fictitious crime organization he was brought into by undercover officers of the RCMP as they sought a confession, and kept coming back to how intimidated and scared he felt.

What he saw and heard was heavy, he said, and he often felt stress and unease. While he did say he felt comfortable around those he worked the closest with, he also knew they were "shady dealers."

Police officers went deep to build a world around Penney, putting him in several different staged scenarios. Penney outlined one of them on Friday, speaking of how he was brought to a military base in Alberta and met by armed guards in uniform who handed over a crate of unknown materials for them to transport. Penney also told the court of an instance in which he saw dozens of Glock handguns being unloaded, which he said added to the tension he felt.

Part of the intimidation Penney said he felt was because of Rudy, the RCMP officer playing the criminal organization's boss. The defence will attempt to show Penney felt pressure when dealing with Rudy, and it played a role in a pair of confessions Penney's lawyers contend were false.

Rudy had limited meetings with Penney before they were together in Vancouver aboard an organization-owned yacht. Penney cooked for the group and worked around Rudy's yacht, hoping to become its next captain.

As part of the job interview process, Rudy and Penney sat down for a conversation on Nov. 30, 2023. The court has already heard that recorded conversation, in which Penney confessed to involvement in Jennifer Hillier-Penney's death. Penney initially said Hillier-Penney fell over the stairs during an argument, and he disposed of her body. He'd later say he hit her over the head with a hammer after she fell.

Those conversations will be the subject of testimony when trial resumes on Monday morning. 

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. 

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