The head of the RCMP in this province is confident the Mounties got their man in the presumed murder of Jennifer Hillier-Penney. But Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Ebert acknowledges that’s ultimately for the courts to decide.
Police arrested Hillier-Penney’s estranged husband, Dean Penney, near Deer Lake on Friday and charged him with first-degree murder. He’s since made two court appearances, with another scheduled for tomorrow morning.
RCMP announced the arrest during a news conference on Saturday, stating Penney committed the murder and that it was a case of intimate partner violence.
Ebert clarified that’s their belief.
Jennifer Hillier-Penney
“The trier of the fact will be the judicial system to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence or not to have him convicted,” she said. “However, there’s certain evidence that will be in the court system which will demonstrate why the investigators believe that she has been murdered and believe that Dean Penney is the individual responsible for her murder.”
As for this being a case of intimate partner violence, Ebert is without doubt.
“I would suggest that any time an individual is deceased at the hands of their spouse or estranged spouse, intimate partner violence is not a step too far,” she said. “These individuals were partners or estranged partners, and one has died at the hands of the other, so I do feel very strongly that definitely it is the result of intimate partner violence.”
There has been no sign of Jennifer Hillier-Penney since she disappeared on November 30, 2016.
