Penny Scaggs had been married for 35 years when she sat down to play her piano on the evening of March 6, 1996.  Her husband, Roger, had just left the house after dinner to return to his office.  Normally, Penny would have washed the dishes right after dinner, but, with Roger away, she took advantage of the time alone to enjoy her music.

Penny must have been startled when she heard the unexpected sound of footsteps approaching her from behind.  A steel pipe crushed the right side of her face, breaking her jaw.  When Roger returned home, he called 911, telling the operator that he found his wife on the floor in a puddle of her own blood.

Join us at the quiet end for A Good Marriage: The Murder of Penny Scaggs.  Penny devoted her life to her marriage, which she saw as a bringing together of three: Roger, herself, and God.  But over the years, Roger appeared less devoted to this sacred union.  Stories of infidelity and dishonesty circulated around their neighborhood and church community.  He would become a predictable suspect in his wife’s death early on, but would the evidence support his guilt?

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Sources

Austin Chronicle Archives

District Court of Travis County, 299the Judicial District, Roger Thomas Scaggs v. The State of Texas, Apellee May 4, 2000

Insideprison.com inmate search 6/22/2021

Statesman.com Archives

The Austin Chronicle “Murder in the Suburbs” Dec. 11, 1998

The Good Wife by Clint Richmond