PADUCAH, KY – In a case that has captured the attention of the Paducah community, Cocina Penn, a 42-year-old Kentucky woman, was convicted on Thursday of murdering her husband, 56-year-old Robert Penn. The jury, after deliberating the evidence, recommended a life sentence for the crime.
The incident occurred on October 4, 2022, when police responded to an emergency call at Seitz and Mississippi streets around 4:45 a.m. They found Robert Penn with multiple lacerations and pronounced him dead at the scene. Initially, Cocina Penn, then 41, claimed that an unknown assailant had attacked her husband during an early morning walk, inflicting fatal injuries.
However, the Paducah Police Department’s investigation revealed inconsistencies in Cocina Penn’s story. Through evidence collection, which reportedly included video material, detectives concluded that there was no unknown attacker and that Cocina Penn was responsible for her husband’s death. The nature of the injuries was particularly brutal, with reports suggesting the victim’s head and hands were nearly severed.