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The halls of the Corner Brook, N.L., courthouse were quiet on Saturday, as 12 jurors spent hours locked away deliberating on Dean Penney’s fate.
They started around 8:30 a.m. and worked until 7 p.m., without reaching a verdict. The jurors have been sequestered since Wednesday evening, and have spent three full days deliberating.
Penney is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney. She was last seen on Nov. 30, 2016, in St. Anthony.
The jury had no questions for the judge on Saturday. They asked two questions on Friday, including a request to watch the unedited versions of Penney’s conversations with an undercover RCMP officer posing as an organized crime boss.
The versions shown in court had the man’s face blurred to protect his identity. The two videos total about eight hours.
Those taped conversations were at the forefront of the trial, as Penney had confessed to killing his wife in both videos. The defence argued the confessions were lies made up by Penney to get out of a tense situation. They contend he was intimidated by the organization and only told them what he thought they wanted to hear.
The jury also asked for definitions of “coercion” and “coercive impact,” as mentioned in the judge’s final instructions to them about how to assess Penney’s confessions in the video.
Penney was subject to a four-year covert RCMP investigation, commonly known as a Mr. Big sting. It ended with his arrest in December 2023.
The 12 jurors are staying at a Corner Brook-area hotel, with no TVs, phones or radios in their rooms. They will remain sequestered until a verdict has been reached.
They can find Penney guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, or not guilty of any offences.
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