‘This is your day, Jenny,’ says an emotional Gary Hillier after his sister’s murderer is found guilty
Jennifer Hillier-Penney’s family expressed relief after her estranged husband, Dean Penney, was found guilty of murdering her nearly 10 years ago as jury delivered its verdict May 24
Gary Hillier was elated on Sunday, May 24, 2026, when the jury returned a guilty verdict in Dean Penney’s murder trial in the Supreme Court of Corner Brook. Penney killed Jennifer Hillier-Penney, his estranged wife and Hillier’s sister in St. Anthony on Nov. 30, 2016. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAM
Gary Hillier has felt connected to his sister, Jennifer Hillier-Penney, throughout the nearly 10 years since she disappeared.
Throughout that time, he’s also felt certain that his sister’s estranged husband, Dean Penney, was responsible for killing her.
So, to hear Penney found guilty of Jennifer’s first-degree murder on Sunday, May 24, after an eight-week trial left him feeling elated.
“This is your day, Jenny. You deserve everything, and I love and miss you,” he said, his voice filling with emotion outside the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Courtroom in Corner Brook, shortly after the jury delivered its verdict.
Marina Goodyear, Jennifer Hillier-Penney’s oldest daughter, had a smile of relief on her face as she left the courtroom after her father, Dean Penney, was convicted of her mother’s murder on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAM
“This is a beautiful day in Corner Brook,” Hillier said, remarking on both the weather and coming to the courthouse to hear the verdict that his family had been hoping for in the years since Jennifer disappeared.
“It’s over the moon,” he said.
“You could hear Marina’s reaction in the courtroom,” he said of his niece Marina Goodyear, Jennifer’s oldest daughter, scream when the verdict was read.
Goodyear did not talk to the media following the verdict.
Before the jury of seven women and five men delivered its verdict, Hiller said he knew it would be good news.
“I could feel it,” he said.
For most of the eight-week trial, Hillier sat in the front row of the gallery, just feet away from Penney in the prisoner’s box.
“It was challenging. There were times that, if you could see me, I was holding the seat to keep me in the seat because (there were) times I wanted to go over the rail. But I respected what major crimes did and didn’t want to jeopardize anything in that courtroom, so I held it together.”
And even as the jury’s deliberations stretched into a third full day on Saturday, May 22, Hillier said he was still confident.
“They had a lot of information and evidence to go through,” he said, adding he tried to stay away from reading the remarks that were being made on Facebook.
“When I was in the courtroom for eight weeks, I tried to stay neutral. Not look at it as Jennifer’s brother, to see how the jury would see it, and I couldn’t see it going any other way,” he said.
Jennifer Hillier-Penney. CONTRIBUTED
‘A dog fight’
The decision, he said, has been a long time coming.
“It’s been 10 years of a dog fight, that’s what I call it,” Hillier said.
Jennifer disappeared from the St. Anthony home she’d once shared with Penney nearly 10 years ago, on Nov. 30, 2016. Her purse, cellphone and jacket were all left behind. It seemed like she’d disappeared without a trace.
“We started from the day she went missing. I knew what happened to her the minute I heard she was gone, so we started our fight then, and I don’t regret anything I did and would do it all over again,” he said.
For many years, Hillier said he didn’t know what the outcome of the police investigation would be. He would regularly make the long drive from St. Anthony to Corner Brook to meet with the officers involved.
They’d tell him that if he was mad, to take it out on them.
“It was hard to know that anything was happening, but I’m glad I didn’t jeopardize anything along the way, because I easily could have. Everything worked out the way it should,” he said.
He had high praise for the work the RCMP did in bringing Penney to justice.
“The RCMP done an amazing job and we owe everything to them,” he added.
Verdict brings some closure
The case generated a lot of interest and an outpouring of support for the family online, and Hillier thanked the supporters, calling them “Team Jenny.”
The verdict, he said, is the first chapter of closure for the family.
“We need a celebration for Jennifer, for her life. We need some kind of service, memorial, and we need a big one where anybody who wants to go can go. She deserves it,” he said.
Jennifer’s sister, Joann Peyton, also sat in the courtroom day after day, listening to the entire trial.
Speaking with the media who had also been there the entire time, she said, “As a family, we just want to thank you guys so much.”
She had kind words for the jury.
“The jury — they had such a big responsibility. They were away from their families to do this, and we acknowledge that,” she said, fighting back tears.
“They had to miss things for their families to be on this jury duty for eight weeks. They had to carry the weight on their shoulders, and we want to recognize that and acknowledge that.”
Crown attorney Shawn Patten spoke with media following the verdict. At left is is co-counsel Kate Ashton. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAM
‘A long time coming’
Crown attorney Shawn Patten said you never know what a verdict will be until the jury delivers it.
“You never know the jury. You’re just waiting for them to come back,” he told the media as his co-counsel, Kate Ashton, looked on.
“I can say it’s been a long time coming for the family. It’s approaching 10 years since Jennifer Hillier-Penney went missing, and we’re happy that we’ve concluded this matter today.”
First-degree murder is considered to be a planned and deliberate act, and Patten said it’s hard to say what the jury considered in reaching its conclusion on the verdict.
“In my closing, I made it clear that I thought there was planning ahead of time or some deliberation by Mr. Penney following through with what he did.
“I’d like to think that they looked at the evidence closely, which I think they certainly did, because it took them close to four days to make a decision,” said Patten.
Penney took the stand in his own defence, and Patten said it was not surprising that he would do so.
“Certainly, we were ready to ask some questions to point out what we thought were inconsistencies in his evidence,” said Patten.
Penney was arrested in December 2023 as a result of a Mr. Big operation carried out by the RCMP. He confessed to killing Jennifer and dumping her body in the ocean to an undercover RCMP officer posing as the head of a fictitious criminal organization.
“I think the RCMP did an outstanding job in putting this file together. These are complex investigations that take a lot of time and a lot of resources and human power to put them together,” Patten added.
Patten expressed a “hat’s off” to the amount of work the RCMP did in putting the investigation together and putting together the Crown brief that they were able to present to the jury.
The trial started on April 1 and had only been scheduled for one month, but encountered several delays, pushing its conclusion to Sunday, May 24.
“There’s always going to be delays in a trial. You know we did finish the Crown’s evidence at the end of April, which we anticipated. Certainly, we couldn’t be certain what defence was going to call as part of their case, and it took a bit longer.
“Between snowstorms and other things coming up, people being unavailable for various dates, we did get it done. It did take a bit more time, but we’re happy to have it done today,” said Patten.
Penney’s defence team, Jeff Brace and Mark Gruchy, declined to comment on the verdict.
Penney will be sentenced on Nov. 16.
While the conviction carries with it a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, the court has ordered a pre-sentence report.
Jennifer’s family will also have the opportunity to provide victim impact statements.
SOURCE: SALTWIRE
