A Portland man convicted of killing his girlfriend with a hammer in 2022 received a life sentence on Monday.
The sentence, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, comes after a jury last week convicted Vincent Scoggins, 62, of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the killing of Penelope “Penny” Fegan sometime before Aug. 8, 2022, court records show.
Scoggins murdered Fegan in their shared residence in the Beverly Grove Apartments at 1820 Northeast 104th Avenue, police said.
After the murder, Scoggins called 911 and claimed he’d found her dead when he came home, according to prosecutors. But detectives soon found evidence that undercut Scoggins’ story.
Fegan had been dead “for some time” when Scoggins called 911, officials said. As investigators spent the next year talking with neighbors and friends, and combing through digital data and other evidence, a picture of an abusive relationship emerged, officials said.
Investigators learned that Scoggins’ meth use had been a flashpoint in the relationship, officials said, and that he’d threatened to “bash (her) head in” if Fegan tried to leave him.
On the week of Aug. 8, 2022, Fegan did try to move out after she discovered that Scoggins’ had begun taking drugs again, but he bludgeoned her with a hammer before she could escape their apartment, officials said.
Scoggins had no previous convictions in Oregon.
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