{"id":18298,"date":"2026-05-14T20:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=18298"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:55:42","slug":"on-the-seventh-anniversary-of-his-estranged-wifes-disappearance-dean-penney-was-on-a-yacht-in-vancouver-discussing-her-death-with-a-man-he-believed-to-be-a-mob-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=18298","title":{"rendered":"On the seventh anniversary of his estranged wife\u2019s disappearance, Dean Penney was on a yacht in Vancouver, discussing her death with a man he believed to be a mob boss."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Guns, jewels and a heist: Inside the fake world police built for accused killer Dean Penney<\/h4>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Dean<\/div>
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Dean Penney has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney, in 2016. (Ryan Cooke\/CBC \u2013 image credit)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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On the seventh anniversary of his estranged wife\u2019s disappearance, Dean Penney was on a yacht in Vancouver, discussing her death with a man he believed to be a mob boss.<\/p>\n

This interview was the culmination of four years\u2019 work by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to get Penney to open up about the disappearance of Jennifer Hillier-Penney on Nov. 30, 2016, in the rural Newfoundland community of St. Anthony.<\/p>\n

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While the interview has yet to be played for the jury in Penney\u2019s first-degree murder trial, the \u201carchitect\u201d of the elaborate world around Penney for those four years testified on Monday in Corner Brook.<\/p>\n

The man \u2014 who cannot be identified as he is an undercover operator \u2014 told the court the goal was to build trust with Penney, and create an environment where he felt comfortable sharing secrets, but wasn\u2019t intimidated.<\/p>\n

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It started in late 2019, when the RCMP placed an undercover officer in a cell with one of Dean Penney\u2019s last remaining friends \u2014 a man who had been convicted of a violent home invasion.<\/p>\n

Making contact with Penney in a small town where everybody knew each other wasn\u2019t so simple, the architect testified.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have a reason why we are there and why we need Mr. Penney to assist us,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n

In January of 2020, an undercover officer ran into Penney at the local fish plant. He asked to rent Penney\u2019s cabin, and hire him as a guide for a hunting trip. Penney obliged, and took two undercover officers into the woods.<\/p>\n

While on the trip, the two officers faked a phone call and told Penney they had to fly to St. John\u2019s immediately. Penney was asked to drive their truck to the capital city \u2014 more than 1,000 km south from St. Anthony. He said yes.<\/p>\n

On the way down, Penney was asked to stop in St. Barbe and pick up some thumb drives to bring to St. John\u2019s. The architect said Penney agreed.<\/p>\n

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(Ryan Cooke\/CBC)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The architect said they later explained to Penney that they had a contact inside RCMP headquarters in St. John\u2019s who was taking old laptops and thumb drives before they could be wiped and discarded, and selling them to their group.<\/p>\n

He testified Penney was told they were transporting them to a corrupt military contact in Happy Valley-Goose Bay who could decrypt them so the intel could either be used by their gang, or sold to other criminals for cash.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 21, 2021, Penney met the fake RCMP contact near headquarters on East White Hills Road in St. John\u2019s. She told Penney she wasn\u2019t happy with the RCMP because she had been denied leave to care for her sick child. The architect testified it was all a ruse to show Penney they could access confidential police documents \u2014 planting the seed that they could also access documents about Penney.<\/p>\n

The scenarios became more sophisticated and elaborate as time went on. The undercover officers took Penney to Halifax in November of 2021, where he conducted surveillance on a man he believed to be a fellow gang member to see if he was drinking on the job. The man was caught and fired \u2014 which the architect said was staged to show Penney that nobody would get hurt while exiting the organization.<\/p>\n

They gave Penney an exit for every scenario, the officer testified, saying he took part of his own volition. The jury heard there were significant delays in between scenarios at times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the scheduling demands of Penney\u2019s fishing season.<\/p>\n

In total, Penney was paid $27,200. There were 66 scenarios spanning nearly four years.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 30, 2022, Penney played the role of \u201cscout driver\u201d in what he believed to be a fuel heist at the U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta. The architect testified they wanted Penney to believe they were an organization with influence on both sides of the border, and that Penney believed they had paid off a corrupt border official and stole a diesel tanker.<\/p>\n

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The jury heard Penney travelled with a group to CFB Wainwright in Alberta to get a shipment of guns. The box actually contained pipes and lead bars, an officer testified. (CBC)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days later, Penney drove to a military base in Wainwright, Alta, where he saw the group\u2019s second-in-command \u2014 the officer who testified on Monday \u2014 speaking with the commander of the base. Penney and another undercover officer then went to another part of the base to collect a crate full of firearms. In reality, the officer testified the crate was full of pipes and lead bars.<\/p>\n

The men all went boar hunting afterwards, \u201cas a reward for the fuel heist,\u201d the architect said.<\/p>\n

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In February of 2023, Penney took part in the transfer of diamonds by train from Ontario to Alberta. He was paid $2,000 for his part in the operation when he made it to Calgary.<\/p>\n

The following month, the architect kicked it up a notch when he had Penney\u2019s closest contact within the organization \u2014 a man the defence described as his best friend \u2014 admit to Penney that he\u2019d killed someone years before in a debt collection gone wrong.<\/p>\n

The man told Penney the organization sent him to a Mexican rehab facility, and backdated his trip so it looked like he had an alibi for the time of the killing. The goal was to show Penney the power of the organization, the architect said, and that they could take care of anything if you told them the truth.<\/p>\n

In October of 2023, Penney was part of a group that drove to Banff to collect a box and bring it back to Regina. The trip coincided with Penney\u2019s birthday. The architect testified they unboxed the items once they got back to Regina, and revealed to Penney that it contained 30 Glock handguns. They then threw Penney a birthday party, where his closest contact gifted him a pair of $300 boots.<\/p>\n

Crime boss interviews led to arrest in 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around the same time, the group introduced the idea of Penney taking over as yacht captain for the crime boss in Vancouver \u2014 a job for which they felt he was qualified.<\/p>\n

Penney flew out to Vancouver in late November 2023, and spent a day on the yacht before sitting down with the boss on Nov. 30. It\u2019s not yet known exactly what Penney told him, but the jury will be shown video of the interview during the trial.<\/p>\n

The architect testified they conducted a second interview with Penney eight days later at a covert location in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

He said they kept Penney busy with non-criminal jobs in Edmonton for the next two weeks, while police in Newfoundland prepared to arrest him.<\/p>\n

Penney landed in Deer Lake on Dec. 15, 2023, and was taken into custody. He\u2019s since pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His trial is expected to last all throughout April.<\/p>\n

Details of disclosures to police differ, defence says<\/strong><\/p>\n

During cross-examination on Monday, defence lawyer Mark Gruchy hammered the undercover operative on the techniques used by the RCMP to elicit the disclosures from Penney.<\/p>\n

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