Cocina Penn: Kentucky woman found guilty of murdering husband after crucial doorbell footage emerges

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

PADUCAH, KENTUCKY: A married Kentucky woman was found guilty on Thursday, December 14, of killing her husband by stabbing him to death and attempting to pin the crime on an "unknown man".

A jury of her peers recommended life in prison for the murder. Robert Penn died in 2022. The Paducah Police Department announced at that time that Cocina Penn, then 41, was taken into custody as a domestic violence murder suspect after she attempted to place the early morning stabbing on an unidentified assailant.

What did police say?

Robert Penn, 56, had died horribly on October 4, 2022, shocking the community and devastating his family.

Cops said at the time, “Police were called about 4.45 am Tuesday to a reported stabbing at Seitz and Mississippi streets. Officers found Robert Penn lying in the road with numerous lacerations. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Investigators were informed by 42-year-old Cocina Penn that she and her husband were taking a stroll at 3.10 am on October 4 when her husband was attacked so viciously by a "unknown man" that his hands and head were almost severed.

"Detectives investigating the incident uncovered evidence that disputed Cocina Penn’s version of events," said police. According to police, who were presumably alluding to the video evidence that was eventually used in Cocina Penn's murder trial, "They determined there was no unknown attacker, and that she had killed her husband.”

Prosecutors presented doorbell footage

During this week's trial, McCracken County prosecutors showed doorbell footage showing Robert Penn running away from Cocina Penn and pleading for his life, according to WPSD.

The victim screamed, "Baby no, baby no," undermining the defense's assertion that the murder was committed by an unidentified robber. According to witness testimony, Robert Penn was the one screaming on the incriminating video.

The jury's request to watch the video evidence again during the proceedings suggests that it was important. The jury's deliberations lasted just over an hour before they decided Cocina Penn's fate.

According to the state, Cocina Penn had enquired as to whether her lover—who was purportedly her husband's friend—knew anyone who could assassinate Robert Penn. Prosecutors claimed that after that lover claimed he didn't know anyone like that, Cocina Penn took the unexpected step.

Robert Penn found eviscerated and severely cut

According to reports, an EMT testified that Robert Penn "had been eviscerated," which means that “his organs were no longer in his thoracic cavity” but “were laying outside, on top of his stomach, on top of his chest.”

According to reports, a paramedic also stated in court that the victim's hands were so badly cut that they were almost completely severed from his arms.

Chuck Walter, a prosecutor in the McCracken County Commonwealth's Attorney's office, mocked the defense's assertion that the stabbing murder was the result of an unidentified robber.

“Some strange robber didn’t take out his breathing tube, didn’t slash his carotid arteries, didn’t almost decapitate him, didn’t take his wrists down to the tissue,” Walter said.

Kevin Penn, the son of Robert Penn, also gave a powerful victim impact statement to the jury. He claimed that the killing of his father and "best friend" had "destroyed" him and that he was certain it had also "destroyed" his siblings.

Jurors were informed by prosecutor Walter that the murder was not a crime for which the defendant should face a 20-year, 30-year, or even 40-year prison sentence. It deserved a life sentence, he said.

Ultimately, the jury recommended that Cocina Penn be imprisoned for life. According to court records that Law&Crime examined, the convicted murderer's sentencing was scheduled for January 24, 2024.