What to know as Dean Penney’s time in the witness box has ended

Crown attorney Shawn Patten was fast-paced in his cross-examination of Dean Penney on Wednesday, bouncing from topic to topic over the course of about 90 minutes.

Penney is accused of the first-degree murder of his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney. The courtroom was full of Hillier-Penney’s family, along with RCMP officers who have previously testified.

A portion of the cross-examination focused on Penney’s comments that the stories he told an undercover RCMP officer masquerading as a crime boss — including the killing of his wife — were fabricated.

Patten challenged Penney on his assessment that he was intimidated by the crime boss during one of the police interviews. The crime boss could be seen kicking his feet up on a desk and reclining in his chair, which led Patten to question Penney on if he was truly intimidating. 

Penney said the court watched an altered video where the crime boss’s face couldn’t be seen — to conceal his identity — and that in person his face showed a different intention.

Penney told Patten he felt he needed to tell a fabricated story to the crime boss. He said the stories he told were lies, including that he dumped Hillier-Penney’s body in the ocean.

Patten asked Penney why he went to such lengths to include graphic and vivid details of how he killed his wife if the story wasn’t true. Penney said he felt gory details would make the story more believable, but insisted they were false.

Patten also accused Penney of not being able to keep his stories straight, because in each of his statements to police following Hillier-Penney’s disappearance Penney would add additional details. 

When asked by Patten why Penney stayed with the organization despite the fear he says he felt, Penney said he did it for the money. Penney said he was making as much as $1,500 per week, but Patten said that Penney’s tax return showed he was only making on average $500 per month.

With the cross-examination now complete, the court will adjourn until 10 a.m. NT on Tuesday to give the justice and counsel time to prepare instructions to the jury for the next phase of the trial.