Derick Hillier told the RCMP he left St. Anthony on the morning of Nov. 30, 2016, and drove to St. John’s — about 12 hours before his cousin, Jennifer Hillier-Penney, was last seen.

The jury in Dean Penney’s first-degree murder trial finally heard from Hillier himself on Wednesday, after weeks of hearing his name raised by the defence as an “alternate suspect” in Jennifer’s disappearance.

Derick Hillier died in 2020, but the jury heard a recording of an interview he gave to the RCMP on Dec. 19, 2016.

“The day I left to come back to St. John’s was Nov. 30, the day she went missing,” Hillier said, telling the officer he left around 7 a.m.

He said he stopped at a diner in central Newfoundland, before driving on to Gander where he met up with his mother around 3:30 p.m.

The jury heard from both his parents on Tuesday.

His father, Graham, said Derick left his house in St. Anthony early that morning, around 6:30 a.m. His mother, Norma, said she met up with her son in Gander around 3 p.m. for snacks and sandwiches.

Early in the trial, the jury heard about a phone call Derick made to Jennifer while he was residing at the Waterford Hospital in St. John’s. Jennifer’s daughter, Deana, recalled Derick saying he was coming to St. Anthony to bring Jennifer to a party in heaven with several of their dead relatives.

Dean Penney’s mother, Ruby, went to the RCMP on the day Jennifer was reported missing, and said she had suspicions about Derick Hillier. She told them about the phone call.

In his interview with police two weeks later, Derick acknowledged he would call Jennifer from time to time, including once while he was a patient at the Waterford Hospital.

Derick told the officer he had bipolar disorder, which was made worse by a cocaine habit. He said he was in and out of the hospital for about eight months. At the time of the interview, he said he’d been sober and healthy for several months.

He said he moved back to St. Anthony that November, and had called Jennifer once while he was walking around town. He said she answered, but told him she was at the mall and she’d call him back. Derick told the officer she never did call back, and he didn’t see her during the month he was home.

The interview wrapped up after about 13 minutes, with the officer saying he had no further questions.

Penney could testify on Thursday

After playing the audio for the jury, lawyer Mark Gruchy said the defence is drawing near to the end of their witnesses.

He said the jury will hear from one more police officer on Thursday morning. After that, it’s expected Dean Penney will make the short walk from the prisoner’s box to the witness box.

Gruchy told the jury during his opening submissions that Penney will testify. It’s a rare move in a first-degree murder trial, and opens Penney up to cross-examination by Crown prosecutors Shawn Patten and Kate Ashton.

Gruchy said he expects they’ll finish calling evidence on Friday.

After that, the Crown and defence will give their closing submissions and Justice Vikas Khaladkar will give his final instructions to the jury.