Huntsville man who killed wife and parrot pleads guilty to murder
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A Huntsville man who killed his wife, the family dogs and the couple's parrot in 2014 pleaded guilty to murder Friday morning.
Robin Penton showed little emotion as he pled guilty to murdering his wife Collen Penton, 34, at the couple's English Village subdivision home. He also admitted to killing the family's parrot because they talked too much and the dogs because they were not trained.
"With the families consent we offered the 40 years," said Madison County Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Helix. "He's 55 years old and the family really didn't want to go through the trial. It was a horrifically violent case and we lost a mother, a sister, a daughter."
Collen's family gathered outside of the courtroom moments after learning their former son-in-law's fate. They declined to speak on camera, but called the ruling "an act of mercy."
"If Mr. Penton has decided to go ahead with trial, we were certainly prepared," said Helix.
Helix said the state had a mountain of evidence from the March 2014 murder investigation which detailed the horrific massacre.
"He actually used the same gun that he killed Collen with to kill three dogs and parrot, so we had ballistic testing and autopsy," said Helix.
Police responded to Penton's English Village home after he called his brother and told him what happened.
Investigators found Colleen's body in the bathroom. Penton placed flowers and an angel figurine next to the body.
Officers also found Penton in the bathroom. He was taken to the hospital for an overdose.
Penton was scheduled to go to trial Monday. No word yet on sentencing.
Copyright 2016 WAFF. All rights reserved.
