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

The courtroom has opened and we’re about to begin. 

There was a large contingent of Jennifer Hillier-Penney’s family outside the courtroom this morning, waiting to see Penney begin his cross examination.

The trial is on the docket at Supreme Court in Corner Brook until May 22. This is the trial's seventh week, and members of Jennifer Hillier-Penney's family who travel each week to be in the courtroom have told me they are keen for a resolution.

Penney's cross-examination will be handled by Crown attorneys Shawn Patten and Kate Ashton. They've worked over the course of the trial to convince the jury that Penney killed Jennifer Hillier-Penney in a planned and deliberate fashion.

Justice Vikas Khaladkar told the jury on Tuesday that the cross-examination can likely be completed in one day.

Once cross-examination is complete, the jury will take a multiple-day break in order for the counsel and justice to begin preparing the instructions the jury will receive.

Dean Penney says he didn’t have anything to do with his wife's disappearance

Wednesday marks the fifth day Penney has sat in the witness box. During the last four sitting days, he answered questions from his lawyer, Mark Gruchy.

Over the course of his testimony, Penney said how scared and fearful he was while speaking with an undercover RCMP officer he believed was a crime boss. It was part of a Mr. Big setup, a controversial investigation tactic that involves bringing someone into a fictitious scenario in order to get them to talk about past involvement in crimes.

Penney said he felt pressured by the crime boss and had to spin a false narrative in order to get out of it.

When asked Gruchy's final question, if he had anything to do with the disappearance of his wife, Penney said, "No, I did not."

Good morning, I'm Alex Kennedy, a digital reporter based in Corner Brook. I've been leading web coverage of the Dean Penney trial for the last few weeks.

Wednesday is another big day in the trial, as it's expected the cross-examination of Penney will take place today.

Penney is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney. He has pleaded not guilty, and insisted throughout his testimony that he had nothing to do with her disappearance in 2016. Her body has never been found.

Dean Penney's fourth day of testimony — and all of the court's proceedings for Tuesday — lasted less than an hour.

It focused on elements of the second recorded interview Penney did with the undercover RCMP officer known as Rudy, who played the fictional crime boss of an organization Penney was working for. The interview happened on Dec. 8, 2023, in Edmonton.

Penney continued his narrative from Monday's testimony that the confessions he gave around Jennifer Hillier-Penney's death were false. Penney told the court on Tuesday that he was worried the crime boss found out he was lying, and that he needed to continue lying in order to protect himself.

"I was trying to spin a lie to get me out of that situation on the boat.… I just couldn’t remember a lot of the stuff that I was saying … because it was a fabricated story,” he said.

Penney said one of the key statements he gave, that he picked up a hammer (or mallet) that Hillier-Penney had fallen near, was a lie.

Penney's testimony ended with his response to a question from defence lawyer Mark Gruchy: "Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of your wife?" Penney replied "No, I did not."

Penney's examination is now complete. Cross-examination will begin on Wednesday, and it's expected that it could all be done in one day.

No further questions for Penney, which means proceedings are done for the day. Cross-examination will begin at 10 a.m. NT on Wednesday.

The court is now in recess for a short break. That feels like a good time to share a note on timelines for the rest of this week.

Justice Vikas Khaladkar tells the jury he expects cross-examination to begin on Wednesday, and he expects it to be done in one day.

After that, the court will adjourn on Wednesday and not sit on Thursday or Friday. There needs to be time to discuss the charge and prepare the instructions for the jury, he said.

Gruchy asks Penney about Morley Hillier, a friend of Jennifer Hillier-Penney (no relation).

Penney said he and Hillier have a history. He spoke of an incident around 2011 in which he believed Hillier stole bottles of wine and a pair of mittens from his home while working to fix Hillier-Penney’s snowmobile.

Hillier was a witness earlier in the trial. He told the court he had a conversation with Penney. Hillier said Penney told him Hillier-Penney was going to disappear.

Penney says that conversation never happened. 

Gruchy asks Penney what he says will be his final question:

"Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of your wife?"

"No, I did not," said Penney. 

Penney reiterates that he felt pressured by Rudy, and that he had to make up a story to get out of the situation.

"Every time he'd come up with something, I tried to make up something else to make it believable."

"I was just scared to death … kept trying to explain it away."

Penney is also asked about how he told the crime boss that when his wife fell down a set of stairs, there was a mallet next to her on the stairs.

In the interview, Rudy called Penney out on this, saying it didn’t seem likely. 

Penney said he had to work to make it make sense.

"Was that second statement a lie?" defence lawyer Mark Gruchy asked.

"A lie?" Penney responded. "Yes." 

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