Earlier allegations involving Penelope Fegan did not lead to convictions, but prosecutors later proved Vincent Scoggins murdered her in 2022.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Long before a jury convicted Vincent Scoggins of murdering Penelope “Penny” Fegan, police had already responded to allegations that violence and threats were part of the couple’s relationship, according to court records and prosecutors.
Those earlier allegations did not produce convictions and cannot be treated as findings of guilt. Their significance is instead found in the history surrounding a later and separate homicide prosecution. In July 2026, a Multnomah County jury convicted Scoggins, 62, of second-degree murder constituting domestic violence and unlawful use of a weapon constituting domestic violence in Fegan’s death. A judge sentenced him to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility. The murder conviction followed a nearly yearlong investigation and a trial in which prosecutors said Fegan was preparing to leave Scoggins when she was killed.
One earlier episode was reported in 2021. According to court documents summarized in news coverage, Fegan told Portland police that Scoggins returned to their apartment intoxicated and angry and began breaking things. She said he threw household objects toward her during the confrontation and threatened her. Officers also recorded significant bruising on her arms, according to the reports. Police arrested Scoggins after the encounter, and he was accused of assault, menacing and resisting arrest. The resulting criminal case was later dismissed in 2022 after prosecutors said they were unable to move forward.
The dismissal meant those accusations were never resolved by a guilty verdict. It also meant they were legally distinct from what happened later. A prior accusation cannot substitute for evidence proving a separate crime, and when Fegan was killed in August 2022, investigators still had to determine who was responsible. Another arrest involving Scoggins occurred shortly before her death, when he was accused of violating a no-contact order involving Fegan. That case was dismissed as well. Publicly available accounts do not provide a full explanation for either dismissal.
Prosecutors later described the relationship itself as marked by domestic violence and recurring conflict connected to Scoggins’ methamphetamine use. Evidence presented in the murder trial showed that he had threatened Fegan during previous arguments and had told her he would kill her if she left him. Detectives learned that Scoggins returned to methamphetamine use during the weekend before Fegan’s death, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors said Fegan responded by ending the relationship and beginning concrete preparations to leave the apartment the couple shared.
That decision became especially important because it placed Fegan’s plans to leave alongside the threats prosecutors said Scoggins had previously made. The state did not rely on those statements alone, however. The murder case also included forensic evidence, records of Scoggins’ movements, surveillance material and interviews with people who knew Fegan. The combination allowed prosecutors to present jurors with a broader reconstruction of the period surrounding her death rather than asking them to infer guilt from the earlier dismissed allegations.
Fegan was found dead at the Beverly Grove Apartments on Aug. 8, 2022. Scoggins called 911 at about 1:30 a.m. and told authorities that he had arrived home and discovered her inside their residence. First responders determined she had been dead for some time. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Fegan died from blunt-force trauma to the head and classified the death as a homicide. At the later trial, evidence established that she had been struck repeatedly with a hammer. Scoggins denied killing her and said he had returned home to find her already dead.
That denial gave detectives an account they could test. Over the months that followed, investigators collected surveillance video, traffic-camera recordings and phone records in an effort to reconstruct both Fegan’s final days and Scoggins’ movements. They also interviewed family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Prosecutors said the resulting evidence showed that Scoggins had lied to detectives about several important matters and had attempted to conceal his role in the killing. The district attorney’s public summary did not describe each allegedly false statement, but jurors were able to evaluate the state’s evidence during the trial.
The Oregon State Police Crime Lab assisted with another part of the inquiry. Investigators obtained DNA testing and bloodstain-pattern analysis connected to the scene. Prosecutors later said that testing generated evidence that proved crucial to the murder case. Officials have not publicly released a complete inventory of the laboratory findings or every expert conclusion presented in court. The forensic evidence nevertheless became one part of the state’s case, alongside the relationship history, Fegan’s plans to move and the records detectives used to examine Scoggins’ account.
Authorities did not immediately arrest Scoggins on a murder charge. Investigators continued working for almost a year before prosecutors presented the matter to a Multnomah County grand jury. In July 2023, the grand jury returned a secret indictment charging Scoggins with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, with both counts designated as domestic-violence offenses. The indictment was filed July 17. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested him two days later, and he appeared in court July 20 and pleaded not guilty.
The not-guilty plea left the state with the burden of proving its case at trial. Nearly three years after the indictment, jurors heard about two weeks of evidence. The prosecution was handled by Deputy District Attorney Devin Franklin and Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero. The district attorney’s office said the evidence included Scoggins’ statements, records showing his movements, information about Fegan’s plans, forensic findings and testimony concerning the relationship. On July 23, 2026, jurors found Scoggins guilty on both counts.
His sentencing followed July 27. Scoggins received life imprisonment on the murder conviction and must serve at least 25 years before parole consideration. He also received 30 months for unlawful use of a weapon, but the court ordered that term to run concurrently with the life sentence. The conviction is legally different from the earlier dismissed cases: the previous accusations ended without findings of guilt, while the murder charge was presented to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Franklin later described Fegan as a person with a “bright and colorful personality” who was loved by relatives, friends and co-workers. He said her absence continued to be felt by those who knew her. The district attorney’s office credited Portland police investigators and the Oregon State Police Crime Lab with helping resolve the homicide after months of work following the 911 call.
The public record therefore contains two separate legal histories involving the couple. Earlier allegations described violence but ended without convictions. The later homicide case proceeded through grand-jury review, a not-guilty plea, trial, jury verdict and sentencing. Scoggins is now serving a life sentence for Fegan’s murder and cannot be considered for parole until he has served the required 25-year minimum.
Author note: Last updated August 29, 2026.