Dean Penney’s mom told cops about ‘odd’ call Hillier-Penney received months before she disappeared

“I think she left the house of her own free will. But I don’t think she left the driveway of her own free will,” Ruby Penney says in her statement to police

The jury in Dean Penney’s first-degree murder trial were provided with a transcript to follow as an audio statement given by his mother, Ruby Penney, who is now deceased, was played in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Wednesday, April 8. Photo by Diane Crocker/The Telegram

 

Ruby Penney called it a “long shot” when she went to the RCMP detachment in St. Anthony on Dec. 2, 2016 — the day after she reported daughter-in-law Jennifer Hillier-Penney was missing — but couldn’t get a phone call from months before out of her mind.

 

She told police she had information she felt could be important in the investigation into Hillier-Penney’s disappearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruby has since died, but her words from the audio-recorded statement taken by police were played in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Wednesday, April 8, as her son’s first-degree murder trial continued.

 

Court only sat for the afternoon because of an issue with the court’s recording equipment in the morning.

 

It’s alleged that Dean Penney killed Hillier-Penney, his estranged wife, on Nov. 30, 2016. Her body has never been found.

 

His mother’s statement was presented by Penney’s defence counsel as part of their cross-examination of Sgt. Ashley Coles.

 

In 2016, Coles was a constable, and one of the officers assigned to the case after Ruby reported Hillier-Penney missing on Dec. 1, 2016.

 

 

 

In the statement, Ruby said she knew other people from St. Anthony were missing who had not been found. At the time of Hillier-Penney’s disappearance, three others had gone missing over the previous 15 years.

 

Ruby told Coles about a phone call that Hillier-Penney received in April 2016. Ruby, Hillier-Penney, and her granddaughter, Deana Penney, were travelling home from a trip to Florida at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

The call was from Derrick Hillier, Hillier-Penney’s cousin — the man that Penney’s defence counsel has already presented as an alternate suspect in her disappearance and death. Derrick Hillier is now also deceased.

 

Ruby told Coles that Derrick Hillier called from the Waterford Hospital in St. John’s and said he was Jesus Christ.

 

She said he told Hillier-Penney he was going to be getting out, and he was going to bring Hillier-Penney’s grandfather, an uncle, her brother and some other people — “And, now, these are all dead people,” she added.

 

She said Derrick Hillier told Hillier-Penney he was going to be coming up her driveway, and he was going to take her, and they were all going for a party.

 

Ruby said Derrick Hillier was now home in St. Anthony, and said she was certain Hillier-Penney would have gotten in a car with him if he came to her driveway.

 

Ruby was emotional as she gave her statement, saying she didn’t want to hurt Derrick Hillier, but couldn’t get the phone call out of her mind.

 

This advertisement has not loaded yet.

Coles said the RCMP wanted to obtain videos from a number of businesses along West Street in the town, including the Ultramar gas station, Tim Hortons, the Irving gas station, the Canadian Coast Guard building and Scotiabank. All were in close proximity to Penney’s Husky Drive residence, where Hillier-Penney had gone missing.

 

Coles said they were looking for videos between 7 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2016, and 8 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2016.

 

He said they were told the Irving only had video of the gas pumps and focused more on the Coast Guard building and Tim Hortons because they had a more direct sight of the roadway.

 

On Dec. 4, 2016, he was asked to circle back to the Irving because Penney had said in a statement the day prior that he had been at the Irving. Coles said he went to the Irving to get the video of Penney on Nov. 30, 2016.

 

Coles said he was shown the video by an employee on the Irving’s video system.

 

“And it was at that time that I saw the video of Mr. Penney at the gas pumps and walking into the Irving as he had stated in his statement with Staff-Sgt. Murrin on Dec. 3,” said Coles.

 

 

 

 

There were issues with downloading the video, and a USB jump drive with the video on it was later dropped off at the detachment.

 

While the original video contained a timestamp, the one on the USB did not.

 

Coles said the timestamp on the video was 20 minutes behind the actual time. He said it showed 10:28 p.m. when Penney arrived, but it was actually 10:48 p.m.

 

The roughly 59-minute video showing the inside of the gas station looking out to the gas pumps was not played in its entirety on Wednesday, and was only fast-forwarded through for Coles to verify it was the video obtained from the Irving.

 

A video camera was placed next to the judge’s bench in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Media have been permitted to film video statements being played during Dean Penney’s first-degree murder trial on the condition that only one camera be used and the recorded video is shared with all the media outlets present. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAM

 

Gas station employee testifies

 

The Crown’s final witness of the day was Pauline Bartlett, the accountant at the Irving, who provided the video to the RCMP.

 

She testified that the original video contained a timestamp, but did not know if anything happened with the timestamp when it was copied, as she didn’t look at the copy.

 

A portion of the video was played for Bartlett where the lighting changes. Asked about the change in the video, she said it went dark.

 

Crown attorney Shawn Patten asked her what went dark.

 

She said it was the store or outside.

 

Asked if she knew why that happens, she replied: “It’s 11 p.m. It’s closing time.”

 

The defence had no questions for Bartlett.

SOURCE: saltwire.com