The Katie Autry Case: The Dorm Room Attack at WKU

It's just after 4 a.m. Students asleep in their dorm rooms at Hugh Pulland Hall at Western Kentucky University are jolted awake by the piercing blare of a fire alarm echoing through the building. Their doors begin to open, every room except room 214. Students spill outside into the dark, wrapped in hoodies and blankets. Their breath is visible in the early morning air. Confusion spreads across the lawn. No one knows why the alarms were triggered. Was it a prank? I mean, it happened before. But they quickly realized that this was not a prank. And this was not a drill. Whispers began to travel faster than the sirens. The blonde girl, the one who stays in room 214. Something happened to her. Something is wrong. But what happened? By 4.08 a.m., sprinklers are flooding the rooms while the rest of the students stand outside in the brisk air, unaware that inside that building is an 18-year-old freshman who is fighting for her life. This all happened in Bowling Green, Kentucky, a small college town home to Western Kentucky University, a place where young adults come to start their lives on their own. First jobs, late night study sessions, Thursday night parties that blur into early mornings, the years that people tell you are supposed to be the best of your life. But on an early morning in May of 2003, that sense of normalcy shattered when what happened inside a dorm room would become one of the most horrifying cases tied to the campus and one that remains deeply debated. This episode contains discussion of sexual violence, extreme physical injury and death. Listener discretion is strongly advised. This is the story of Katie Autry. I'm Ashley. And I'm Ricky. And this is Grime Salad. Bulling Green, Kentucky. It sits in the south-central part of the state, about an hour north of Nashville. It's a mid-sized city surrounded by farmland, rolling hills, and cave country. It's best known for its proximity to Mammoth Cave National Park. Yeah, the longest cave system in the world. Over 400 miles map so far, and they're still discovering new passages. It's incredible to think there's that much underground space in this area. But yeah, Mammoth Cave National Park, roughly a 30-minute drive from Bowling Green, home to Western Kentucky University, where young adults, many from rural communities located in Kentucky, come seeking opportunities similar to Katie. And campus life blends into the city itself, creating a strong sense of community. Melissa K. Autry. Everyone calls her Katie. She was born June 10th of 1984 in Davies County, Kentucky. She was raised by her mother, Donnie Rose Autry. And during the first years of her life, Katie grew up alongside her younger sister, Lisa. And when Katie was just 10 years old, family accounts explained that their mother got sick and they were placed with a foster family in Pellville, a small town in a nearby county. Katie and Lisa were taken by Jim and Shirley Inman, their foster parents, who would go on to provide what's been reported as a stable and loving home. And according to the family members, the girls, they were cared for, supported, and they were encouraged to dream. And Katie flourished. At Hancock County High School, Katie stood out both socially and academically. She made honor roll and she was a cheerleader. And according to her sister, Lisa, she dreamed of becoming a model, even though she was only five foot two. She was deeply involved in school life, participating in track, cheerleading, pep club, principals leadership, and so much more. Katie also earned numerous awards, including Academic All-State Honors, Honor Roll Student of the Month, a DAPOS Cheerleading Scholarship, Perfect Attendance, third place in the All-A Classic Cheerleading Competition in 1999, and District Cheerleader in 2002. She worked hard and always showed up. And outside of school, Katie was also very religious. She was very active in the youth group at Pellville Baptist Church, where faith and community were important aspects of her life. So when she graduated high school in 2002 and headed off to college, it wasn't a question of if she would succeed. It was just what path would she choose to succeed on. So she enrolled at Western Kentucky University with plans to become a dental hygienist. According to her aunt, Virginia White, she was fascinated by teeth. She once said that everybody is supposed to have beautiful teeth. So she liked school and she liked being on her own. And she had a lot of promise ahead of her. Her mother said that Katie seemed to be adjusting well to college life, making friends and finding her footing. And to support herself, Katie worked at a snack shop in the student center, making milkshakes and smoothies. And she also took a second job dancing at Tattletales, a gentleman's club in Bowling Green. According to her aunt, she worked there because the money was good and she wanted nice things. So she had to work hard to get them. So by the spring of 2003, Katie was an 18-year-old freshman who was bright, driven, surrounded by people who cared about her. And she was stepping into adulthood. But one early morning in May, all of that was taken from her. May 3rd, 2003 was a Saturday, and it was like so many weekends on campus. It was a night for parties, friends, letting loose after a long week of classes. Well, that evening, Katie went out with friends to a fraternity party at Pi Kappa Alpha, located near the campus. Nothing about the night initially seemed out of the ordinary. And after a few hours, Katie left the party and returned to her dorm room. At that point, there was no indication that anything was wrong. It sounded like a normal college night until around 2.26 a.m. when Danica Jackson, Katie's roommate, had a short phone conversation with her. It lasted about two minutes and what she heard scared her. Yes, Danica later testified that Katie said something that immediately alarmed her, saying that she was scared and that someone had just come into her room. Danica demanded to speak with that person who had entered the dorm room. It was a male voice who got on the line and they said that he was the boy who had taken Katie home from the frat party, explaining that Katie had just thrown up in his truck and he was just making sure that she was okay. Danica then said that she heard the dorm room door close, and she heard a second male voice. She couldn't make out what that person was saying, but she could clearly hear Katie's response, saying to leave her alone and she just wanted to go to sleep. Danica was preparing to confront the person on the other end of the phone, but before she could say anything more, the call was disconnected. Approximately four hours later, a smoke alarm went off inside Katie's residence hall, sending gallons of water from the building's sprinkler system into the dorm rooms. When first responders entered the room, they found Katie severely burned and critically injured. Firefighters found her in bed, naked except for a bra, with a shirt wrapped around her face. She was still alive, but barely. She had suffered third and fourth degree burns, along with puncture wounds and severe abrasions to her face and neck. According to later documentary accounts, at some point, one firefighter removed his own oxygen mask and placed it over Katie's face to help her breathe, telling those nearby that if they were the praying type, now is the time. Emergency responders performed CPR at the scene, and Katie was rushed to Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Katie's aunt, Virginia, she heard the news of what happened to her niece, and she made her way to the medical center as quickly as she possibly could. And when she got there, she was told that Katie had been stabbed twice. A towel was found wrapped around her neck, and she was badly burned. When she finally saw Katie, the reality of her condition hit all at once. She came unglued. She panicked as the doctors told her that Katie probably won't make it. Now, according to her aunt Virginia, doctors immediately made deep incisions down both sides of Katie's body to relieve pressure so that her heart and lungs could expand. Doctors told the family that surgery to remove the dead, burned skin would be necessary, but Katie was so unstable that she couldn't be moved to any operating room. Katie's lungs were severely damaged, and when they attempted to take her off the ventilator to move her body, her body couldn't tolerate it. Eventually, doctors made the decision to bring the operating room to her. After the surgery, Katie initially held on. Tuesday night, she did well, and by Wednesday morning, the swelling in Katie's face started to go down, making her look more like the Katie that everyone knew and loved. But three days later, after the initial discovery on May 7, 2003, Katie Autry died from her injuries at the hospital when she was just 18 years old. Virginia White spent most of her time at Katie's side after she was transported to Vanderbilt. On that Wednesday night, Virginia, her sister, and Katie's younger sister, Lisa, were all there with her when she passed away. As family kept vigil at her bedside, investigators were already working to piece together what happened inside that dorm room, collecting evidence and interviewing family members, friends, and anyone who may have crossed her path in the hours before the fire. That same morning, Western Kentucky University officials confirmed what many already feared, that the fire was set and it was not an accident. Okay, it's the perfect night. You go to bed feeling perfectly comfortable and then 2 a.m. hits. You're either sweating like you ran a marathon or somehow you're freezing under three blankets because same. And I finally figured out that it wasn't me. It was my sheets. We switched to miracle-made sheets, and I'm not exaggerating when I say my sleep actually changed. These sheets are inspired by NASA technology, and they use silver-infused fabric that help regulate your body's temperature all night long. So whether you're a hot sleeper, or a cold sleeper, or somehow you manage to be both in the same night, they keep you right in that comfort zone. And here's something a little gross but important. Traditional bed sheets can hold more bacteria than a toilet seat. Yeah, not great. 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We've got writers, producers, composers, directors, and we'll, of course, have some actors on as well, including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers. It was kind of a little bit of a left field choice in the best way possible. The note from Kripke was, he's great, we love him, but we're looking for like a really intelligent Duchovny type. With 15 seasons to explore, it's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to Supernatural then and now. ah the regency era you might know it as the time when bridgerton takes place or it's the time when jane austen wrote her books the regency era was also an explosive time of social change sex scandals and maybe the worst king in british history vulgar history's new season is all about the regency era the balls the gowns and all the scandal listen to vulgar history regency era wherever you get podcasts. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying, action-packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every quill they can fight. It's one heck of a tale, which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you. Wait, what? All will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotix Case Files. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts When the chaotics are on the case University Relations Director Bob Skipper, he said that he couldn't recall the last time a murder had occurred on campus. And he also confirmed that 16 investigators from six different agencies, including the Bowling Green Police Department, Bowling Green Fire Department, and Kentucky State Police were involved in the investigation. They had already examined evidence from Katie's dorm room and had already interviewed more than 100 people. Early records in the investigation described detectives' documented claims that one sprinkler head in the dorm room had been covered or obstructed, and that hairspray was used as an accelerant. Those details to investigators became part of an early theory of how the fire spread inside the room. And so while the investigation was happening, students gathered that Wednesday evening, believing that they were attending a Hope and Prayer vigil. But instead, it became a service of mourning for Katie's life. Right. So students, they gathered around the residence hall where Katie lived, with candles lining the sidewalk. People sat together, sharing stories, singing quietly, and trying to process what had happened. People talked about how smiley she was. Another brought a guitar and played music to express how he was feeling. About 100 people attended the vigil, returning with green ribbons and candles in hand. But even in mourning, questions began to surface. Senior Dee Maxey, she said that in her five years at WKU, she had never felt unsafe until this incident, and that students themselves shared some of the responsibility. She had been in Katie's building several times without showing any ID, and something could have been done to prevent this from happening. Safety measures should have been increased or enforced in the first place. And as the campus tried to come together, a strange rumor surfaced that Katie had committed suicide. But Virginia was not having that, saying that anybody who could have seen her laying in that hospital bed on a ventilator, fighting for her life, would have known that there was no possible way that she did this to herself. It was just a ridiculous statement for anyone to make. Absolutely crazy. Yeah, it's always strange how rumors like that surface in terrible cases. I guess people just try to make sense of things that just don't make sense to them at the time. Plus, no one really knew what actually happened at that point. So in the days immediately following Katie's death, WKU quickly moved to reassure students and the parents that the campus was safe. Beginning May 8th, all dormitory front doors were locked 24 hours a day and additional staff were assigned to the front desk. Many felt that those measures were long overdue. University Relations Director Bob Skipper confirmed that four resident assistants from that residence hall had quit since the fire, and their positions were temporarily filled by RAs from other dorms. But for Katie's family, that wasn't enough, especially when no one had been arrested at this point. Virginia had concerns about the dorms, saying that she didn't want her own daughter going to this university. She was angry about the situation, and she didn't understand how this could have happened and how there were no suspects after four days. And she was scared that if something didn't happen soon, whoever did this to Katie would get away with it. As long as they were still out there, no one on that campus was safe. But behind the scenes, investigators were already starting to narrow their focus. At first, they looked closely at Katie's on-again, off-again boyfriend. but his alibi checked out multiple friends confirmed that he was with them playing video games at the time of the attack after more in-depth interviews with danica and several other students detectives began asking a different question who actually walked katie back to her dorm that night eventually they determined that at the fraternity party on may 3rd two men were present who were not even WKU students, Stephen Soles and Lucas Goodrum. Investigators believe these two men may have noticed Katie at the party, and when she left, they allegedly followed her back to the dorm. And this detail became especially important because Danica reported hearing two male voices during that late night phone call. Exactly. So they wanted to hear from these two guys. During his interview, Stephen Soles told a Kentucky State Police investigator that he did have sex with Katie the night she died, but he didn't do anything else. He said that he was scared and that if they would just let him go to get some rest, he'll be back the next day to explain more. But the following day, Stephen ended up changing his story altogether. He told investigators that after he and Katie slept together, Lucas Goodrum entered the room. And according to Stephen, Lucas began touching Katie, and when she resisted, he became angry. Stephen claimed that Lucas then tried to smother Katie with a pillow, then sexually and violently attack her. So he claimed that Goodrum sexually assaulted Katie. Now, according to reports, the two men then robbed Katie, assaulted her, sprayed her chest and pubic area with hairspray, and set her on fire before fleeing the dorm room, leaving her critically injured. And based largely on Stephen's statements, police began building a case against Lucas Goodrum. Lucas was a 23-year-old guy from Scottsville, Kentucky, a small town less than 30 miles from Bowling Green. According to his mother, the family moved frequently when he was growing up, living in Louisiana, Florida, and Texas before returning to Kentucky. After graduating high school, Lucas returned to Texas to work on his mother and stepfather's horse ranch in Dallas. After a year, he moved back to Kentucky where he considered going back to college, but when his girlfriend got pregnant, he married her instead. So at the time of his arrest, Lucas Goodrum was working odd jobs. He was painting at the local mall and working at a factory. He was planning to return to Texas once he paid off a car loan and some outstanding bills, since his marriage had ended with his child's mother, and he also held a domestic violence order preventing Lucas from ever seeing her. He knew Stephen's souls through Stephen's older brother, Daniel. They played basketball together. And Lucas helped Daniel during difficult periods by giving him clothes and shoes. So Stephen and Lucas were more like acquaintances than friends. But based on that connection, Stephen's statements were enough for police to act. So Lucas Goodrum, he was picked up and arrested for murder. During his interview that day, Lucas denied any involvement. He insisted that it wasn't him and the investigators were looking at the wrong person. He said that they deserve to know who did it and he wasn't the one. But apparently, Kentucky State Police Detective Kevin Pickett told Lucas that investigators had physical evidence. security video footage and more than 200 interviews linking him to the crime. But in reality, police had no physical evidence tying Lucas to Katie's dorm room at all. There was no security footage placing him there. And the only eyewitness was Stephen Soule's. And that was obviously a massive problem. Lucas asked to see the videotape Pickett was referencing, but apparently he refused saying it wasn't necessary. When Lucas asked investigators to contact his father and stepmother to confirm his alibi that he was at his father's house in Scottsville by 3.15 a.m., Pickett again reportedly declined. He said that he didn't have to call Lucas's dad and that he already knew where Lucas was that night. But in my mind, why would Stephen just make that up? Exactly. Why would Stephen, just think of a random acquaintance of his. Police seemed sure that Stephen's testimony was true. And judging by the phone call Katie's roommate got, they were also going on the fact that there were two assailants in the room that night. But there was also another piece of testimony that complicated the timeline even more. Brian Moon, a former WKU student, testified that at 2.18 a.m., this is just minutes before Katie, called Danika, her roommate. A friend named Ryan Payne, who was the designated driver for the fraternity party that night, called to say he had arrived to pick up Lucas Goodrum from one of the residence halls near Katie's. Payne then drove Lucas Goodrum to Southern Lane's bowling alley, where Lucas had parked his car. So two days after Lucas Goodrum was arrested. Investigators interviewed Stephen Soles a second time. This time, the investigators used the same videotape trick that they did with Lucas, placing a blank video labeled Hugh Pullen Hall on it on the table. And this seemed to scare Stephen. And so he broke. Stephen admitted that he had also had sex with Katie against her will, but only because Lucas forced him to do it. Since they now had his admission and physical evidence, that same day, Stephen Soles was formally charged with murder, rape, and robbery. Soles led investigators to his grandmother's home in Scottsville, and there he showed them where he had hidden Katie Autry's jewelry inside a block wall. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense because now this is the only guy that's actually admitted to anything. And he literally led investigators to physical evidence that implicated him to the crime. I mean, what else are they going to do? Just let him go? Right. In this same interview, Stephen said that Katie was trying so hard to fight what was happening to her, but there was nothing she could do. At the same time, Stephen still denied being the primary attacker, insisting that he acted under Lucas Goodrum's direction. And he blamed Lucas for the violence that unfolded inside Katie's dorm room. So nearly 10 months later, on March 23rd of 2004, Stephen Souls entered a plea of guilty in the horrific crimes against Katie Autry. He pleaded guilty to seven of the nine charges he faced, including first-degree robbery, murder, arson by complicity, first-degree rape with serious physical injury, first-degree sodomy with serious physical injury, and multiple counts of complicity to rape and sodomy. And in exchange, Stephen avoided the death penalty and agreed to testify against Lucas Goodrum at trial. And even with that agreement, the sentence was severe, as the jury imposed six life sentences plus 20 years, all without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors, they maintained that both men followed Katie from the fraternity party back to her dorm room, even though only one of them was physically tied to the scene. A lot of people have noted in this case that Stephen was represented by a public defender. In a letter written afterwards to a friend, he explained why he took the plea. He said the district attorney came to him and said that he could get life in prison or go to trial and get the death penalty. He wrote that his family said to take life and leave it in the Lord's hands. Either way, Virginia said that she understood why prosecutors made this deal. Souls could never go out on the streets again or hurt anyone else. At least Stephen admitted his guilt, which is more than she could say for the other party involved. She said she hoped that Stephen Souls felt the guilt of what he did day and night for the rest of his life. And she added that while Stephen's family would still be able to visit their son in prison, Katie's family would never get to see her again. And they turned to others responsible. So at the same time that Stephen was entering his plea, Katie Autry's family began pursuing accountability from others. This included a civil lawsuit that was filed in Warren Circuit Court against WKU itself, the WKU Student Life Foundation that owned the residence halls, Pi Kappa Alpha, the fraternity where the party took place, as well as the dorm employees who were reportedly on duty the night that Katie was attacked. Katie's mother, Donnie, and her aunt, Virginia, were co-adminating of the estate, and said the lawsuit was about making sure that this never happened again to anyone. According to the suit, the family was seeking damages for medical expenses, destruction of earning capacity, pain and suffering, punitive damages, court costs, and attorney fees, and other losses connected to Katie's wrongful death. This absolutely brutal and disgusting attack didn't have to happen if the right measures were being followed. I'm Mandy and I'm Melissa and this is Moms and Mysteries. We're two Florida moms obsessed with true crime. From infamous cases like Ellen Greenberg to shocking Florida stories like the Dan Markell killing. With 55 million downloads, we bring you new deep dives every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen to Moms and Mysteries on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, please. Not that music. That music gives me nightmares from my childhood. Could we get something a little bit lighter, some lighter music here? Are you a fan of true crime TV shows? And what about Unsolved Mysteries, the show that jumpstarted all of our love of true crime? I'm Ellen Marsh. And I'm Joey Taranto. And we host I Think Not, a true crime comedy podcast covering some of the wildest stories from your favorite true crime campy TV shows all the way to Unsolved Mysteries. Baby, you will laugh. You will cry. You'll think about true crime in a whole new way. And you'll also ask yourself, who gave these people mics? 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Ben Crocker the family attorney he said that the attack on Katie could have been prevented with proper security cameras He said she was in her own bed in her own room She should have been safe there And she wasn Crocker stated that the administrators at WKU had been warned prior to the attack about security problems in the dorms, specifically that some RAs weren't following required procedures. Non-students were being allowed into the residence halls without escorts and without leaving IDs at the front desk. Crocker said that Stephen Soles and Lucas Goodrum were not properly escorted into the residence hall, and they also didn't sign in that night. In this case, it was a fatal mistake. The lawsuit also directly addressed the fraternity party that Katie attended that night. Pi Kappa Alpha was named in the suit for holding what was described as an invitation-only party, but allegedly allowed people to attend without invitation, including both Stephen Soles and Lucas Goodrum, as well as individuals who were underage with alcohol present. So from the family's perspective, those decisions were part of a chain of failures that left Katie vulnerable to the tragedy she experienced. Which we all know in college, it's really common for people to drink underage. But let's remember that Stephen and Lucas were both much older and were not students at the university. Now, combine that with an underage girl and alcohol, and that's just a lot of negligence that could lead to something bad happening. Like exactly what happened here. Exactly. And by fall of 2003, the case against WKU was officially underway. But there was still a criminal case that needed to move forward, the one against Lucas Goodrum. By 2004, as Stephen Soles sat in prison, the case against Lucas Goodrum was moving forward to trial, and his defense team wasted no time challenging the foundation of the prosecution's case. From the very beginning, Goodrum's attorney argued that Stephen's statements were unreliable. They maintained that there was no proof that Lucas had ever been inside Katie Autry's dorm room that night. To support that claim, Goodrum's father and stepmother were adamant that Lucas was with them at their home in Scottsville, which is roughly 25 miles from Bowling Green at the time the fire was set. And on top of that, no physical evidence placed Lucas at the scene. But there were other witnesses. Prosecutors indicated that three inmates would testify that Goodrum had talked about the crime while being held at the county jail in Bowling Green. One of those men was Richard Norman Miller, who claimed that Goodrum had confessed to killing Katie during a conversation they had while in jail. Yeah, and this was pretty eye-opening at the time because it was the first person besides Stephen who could testify, at least in some kind of way, that Lucas was in the dorm room that night. Miller, he did not come forward with his claim until months after he had been released from custody. Now, in a separate case, the executive director of Potter Children's Home wrote a letter to a judge describing Mueller's mental health issues, stating that the difference between reality and fantasy, truth and lie were not very discernible to him. In another letter, Mueller himself admitted that he was a compulsive liar. So that got muddy quick. Prosecutors also signaled that they might call Brandy Ramsey, who is a woman who claimed that she worked with Katie at Tattletales, and said that Katie had talked about Lucas Goodrum before, establishing that Lucas knew Katie, which would contribute to a motive and opportunity. But defense attorneys discounted this claim as well, stating that they would call the club's manager to testify that Ramsey had never even worked there. So outside the courtroom, Goodrum's family and attorneys were already mounting an aggressive public defense. His mother and father even created a website, lucasisinnocent.com, which featured family videos and court documents. They also purchased newspaper advertisements around Bowling Green, directing readers to the site and asking for them to help prove their son's innocence. So this is so much different than Stephen Sowell's defense efforts. Exactly. Goodrum's attorneys, they went to a higher court twice, actually, trying to overturn decisions made by the trial judge. Most notably, they requested that the trial be moved to Louisville and delayed, arguing that the pre-trial publicity had made it impossible for Lucas to receive a fair trial in Bowling Green. But in a two-to-one decision, the appeals court denied the request. So to further bolster their case, Goodrum's defense team assembled an unusually large slate of experts. In Owensboro, they hired a criminologist, a former FBI agent, and a crime scene consultant. They also retained a sociologist to survey residents in two Kentucky counties and subpoenaed more than 230 potential witnesses. So when Lucas's trial was set to begin, he faced charges of murder and rape of Katie Autry. But it looked more like something out of a major metropolitan courtroom than a small Kentucky county with his defense strategy. By March 2005, nearly two years after Katie's death, Lucas Goodrum finally went to trial. So during the trial against Lucas Goodrum, jurors were shown videotaped interviews of Stephen Soltz, recorded before he was formally charged. In those interviews, the jury heard Stephen tell investigators how Katie couldn't fight off the attack and claimed that Lucas Goodrum was responsible. At one point, he even told the detective that Lucas wanted him to help cover up what had happened. Jurors were also shown photographs taken in the emergency room after Katie was set on fire in her dorm room, and the images were so graphic that at least one juror was seen wiping away tears. The photos showed third-degree burns covering Katie's body from her neck down to knees. And defense attorneys played the interview tapes and used them to cross-examine Stephen Soles and also highlight inconsistencies. And there were a lot. So in one interview, Soles said that he didn't find it strange that Goodrum appeared in Katie's dorm room, even though he had never heard Lucas talk about her and didn't know why he would be there. Tapes also showed Detective Pickett asking Soles what he would say to Katie's family. And he replied that it wasn't his fault, and he was sorry. He knew sorry couldn't bring her back, but she won't have to go through anything like that ever again. And what a weird and disgusting thing to say. I mean, she was taken from her family in cold blood, a disgusting attack and murder. He shouldn't get to say that there were any positives from this at all. Yeah, I mean, my argument is she shouldn't have had to gone through anything like that in the first place. On the stand, Broderick pressed Steven Soles about contradictions between his trial testimony and three taped interviews, and also the letters he had written while he was incarcerated. Stephen admitted that he had written false information in at least one of the letters, saying that he thought someone was going through his stuff in jail, and they might turn the letter in for a reduced sentence. Now, according to him, if they tried to turn it in, they would look dumb. And the prosecution also presented testimony from jailhouse informants, including Richard Mueller and another inmate who claimed that Lucas talked about the crime while he was incarcerated. One testified that Lucas said he slept with Katie and hit her, and that he didn't really seem remorseful about it. Now, under cross-examination, the defense pointed out that this witness, his felony charges, had been reduced to a misdemeanor and that he received probation, which raised questions about whether his testimony was influenced by these incentives. Then the prosecution turned to medical testimony. Emergency room physician Lee Carter testified that when Katie arrived at Vanderbilt University Hospital at about 6.20 a.m., her left eye was swollen shut and her groin was severely burned, making it difficult to insert a catheter. The physician testified that he thought basically she was already dead, but her heart was still beating. From doing these episodes, you'd think you would just get used to this stuff a little bit. But it's still so hard to imagine how someone could do this to another person. It's just disgusting. Yeah, I'm sure that's how the jurors were feeling too. Jurors also heard from Mike Dowell, a detective with Western Kentucky University Police, who had been heavily involved in the investigation. Dowell described interviewing Katie's roommate, Danica Jackson, multiple times, speaking with Ryan Payne, who had testified to Lucas's alibi, and interviewing Katie's former boyfriend, Maurice Perkins. Clothing was collected from witnesses, employees at Tattletales were interviewed, and they even searched vacuum cleaner bags at a Scottsville car wash where it was believed Lucas Goodrum may have cleaned his car. But no evidence linking Lucas to the crime was ever found, which was a big problem for the prosecution. On cross-examination, it was interesting that Broderick pointed out that Dowell failed to mention key pieces of physical evidence during his testimony, which included a bed sheet, part of a burned bra, and a condom recovered from the scene. And testing showed none of it was linked to Lucas Goodrum. Dowell acknowledged that this was his first violent crime investigation. He had received general crime scene training in 1989, but had no training in arson investigations. He also testified that Kentucky State Police assisted briefly, but ended their involvement on May 19th. And that part is what made a lot of people upset, since it didn't seem like there was a ton of expertise during the investigation. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. But the point here is that they couldn't link any physical evidence to Lucas Goodrum. Yeah, right. So because of that, after weeks of testimony, evidence, and conflicting accounts, the jury deliberated for just two and a half hours and acquitted Lucas Goodrum of all charges. Lucas hugged his attorneys and wiped away tears as the verdict was read because prosecutors sought the death penalty. He said he was happy that justice had prevailed and was happy to be out in a free man with his family. His attorney bluntly said that there was no proof that Lucas Goodrum committed this crime. On the other hand, the prosecutor, Chris Coran, acknowledged the outcome, but he stood by his position on the case. He thought it was an unfortunate outcome, but they could only present the facts that they had. He also noted that the fire sprinklers and water damage had made evidence collection difficult. And he stood by his belief that Lucas Goodrum's parents lied about his alibi to protect their son. And Katie's family left the courthouse in tears, with Virginia White saying she was shocked by how quickly the jury reached a decision. She still felt like he was guilty, but they couldn't prove it. So after spending 22 months in jail, Lucas Goodrum walked free, and the criminal justice system closed the case, even though, for many people, it never truly felt resolved. In the same month that Lucas Goodrum was acquitted, Katie's mother, Donnie Autry, and her aunt, Virginia White, acting as co-administrators of her estate, were continuing with their wrongful death lawsuit against WKU, the Student Life Foundation, Pi Kappa Alpha, and several university employees who were on duty the night Katie was attacked. Early in the case, every defendant filed motions to dismiss, arguing that they were protected by various forms of immunity. They were supported by affidavits, documents, and extensive legal briefings that laid out how the university, its employees, the foundation, and the fraternity were connected and who controlled what. But the claims against the WKU employees in their individual capacities, as well as the claims against Pi Kappa Alpha, were allowed to continue. And to explain that a little bit, when someone is sued in their official capacity, they're really suing the institution they're working for because they failed at doing their job. But on an individual capacity, you're saying they personally acted negligently or wrongfully, which can survive even when the institution is immune. So that's what's happening in this case. exactly so by 2005 the Kentucky Court of Appeals were reviewing the dismissals and affirmed the dismissal of WKU and its employees in their official rules agreeing they were protected by governmental immunity but it reversed the dismissal of the SKU Student Life Foundation ruling that the foundation was not automatically immune and could potentially be sued. Of course, both sides appealed. The administrators of Katie's estate and the Student Life Foundation sought discretionary review by the Kentucky Supreme Court, which put the case on hold again. And in May of 2005, the last remaining criminal sentence in Katie Autry's case was finalized. On May 13th, Stephen Soles was formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And Lucas Goodrum left Kentucky and moved to Texas. But he didn't stay out of the view for very long. In April of 2007, Lucas Goodrum, then 25 years old and living in Aubrey, Texas, was arrested on charges of third-degree terroristic threatening stemming from allegations made by his ex-wife. So according to court records and reporting at the time, Goodrum was accused of threatening his ex-wife, LaDonna Petrick, and her fiancé. LaDonna told the court that Lucas became upset after learning she planned to remarry. She said that while she was on the phone with him, she heard two loud gunshots and was told that he would be in the area with a surprise the following day. Which is honestly terrifying. But Lucas claimed that he never fired a weapon and he didn't even own a firearm. Instead, he told the judge that he had been playing Grand Theft Auto on surround sound and that noises from the game must have been mistaken for gunfire. He admitted that it would have scared him too if he would have heard that on the other end But who knows if this is true or not He also said that he wasn upset about his ex plan to remarry and he said his primary concern was their six son LaDonna told the court that she and her fianc exchanged text messages with Lucas that she described as graphic. She also countered Lucas's claims that he didn't own a firearm, pointing to a picture of him holding one on his MySpace page. Still, Lucas held firm that he never fired a weapon on the phone that day. Despite his denial, the Simpson County District Judge issued LaDonna's second domestic violence order, barring Lucas from contacting LaDonna until March of 2009. Custody and visitation issues were left to family court to resolve, and Lucas was taken to the Simpson County Detention Center. He posted a $10,000 bond and was released. That same month, the Kentucky Supreme Court was ready to review the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Katie's family, and they issued the final word. Yes, they did, and the court agreed that WKU and its officials were immune, but it went further to rule that the Student Life Foundation was also protected, since WKU controlled the dorms in practice through things like staffing, policies, access rules, and operations. So because of that relationship, the foundation inherited the university's immunity. So all that was left were the claims against individual employees personally and the fraternity. As far as the fraternity was concerned, they called Katie's death a terrible tragedy and said the people responsible should be severely punished, but that attention should not remain on the fraternity. They took issue with comments made by the president of the university who said that careless actions could come with consequences. The fraternity said that those remarks, combined with media coverage and the lawsuit, unfairly singled them out. According to them, they took safety seriously at social functions, saying security guards and designated drivers were always present. They stated that Katie had already been drinking in her dorm before arriving at the fraternity house with a friend, and that because of her condition, she was asked to leave after a short time. Then a designated driver took Katie back to the campus, and they believed they had acted responsibly. Which I don't know how they can prove any of that with the timeline. Yeah, I don't know. So they went on to say that the fraternity had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Katie, and that Pi Kappa Alpha was a respectable organization on campus. But instead of pursuing the fraternity or individual employees, The family pursued their claim through the Kentucky Board of Claims, since Kentucky law does allow certain negligence claims against state agencies to proceed through this pathway. Something like this could waive immunity in a limited way for instances like Katie's. So that was their new pathway. Meanwhile, by 2008, Stephen Soles had been serving his life sentence for several years. But in April of that year, he made an attempt to challenge his conviction. In April 2008, he filed a motion to vacate his conviction under two Kentucky procedural rules, both of which allowed defendants to challenge a conviction after sentencing by arguing constitutional violations or ineffective assistance of counsel. In his specific case, Soles argued that his guilty plea was invalid and that his trial counsel had been ineffective. He claimed that he had not fully understood the consequences of his plea and suggested that errors by his attorney deprived him of a fair legal process. But the court denied Soles' motion without holding an evidentiary hearing. But he appealed that decision pretty soon after. The Kentucky Court of Appeals reviewed in March of 2009 and looked closely at whether Soles had any factual basis that would justify undoing his guilty plea or reopening his case. Yes, Stephen claimed that his counsel's performance failed to investigate, interview, and subpoena alibi witnesses, that they pressured him to accept the offer on a plea of guilty, they failed to inform him of the full range of penalties, and they failed to argue that Kentucky did not have jurisdiction to hear the murder case because Katie died in Tennessee. But the Court of Appeals ruled that Stephen's claims were either contradicted by the record or legally insufficient, noting that during his original plea proceedings, Stephen clearly acknowledged under oath that he understood the charges against him, the rights that he was giving up, and the sentence that he faced. So the judges found no evidence that Stevens' attorney had performed so poorly to consider the plea involuntary or unconstitutional. He couldn't undo what he said in the original proceedings. As a result, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trials court's denial of Stevens' motion. And very shortly after that, six years after Katie Autry tragically passed away, her family finally received a formal finding of responsibility. That year, the Kentucky Board of Claims ruled that WKU was negligent in Katie's death and awarded $200,000 to her state, the maximum amount the board was legally allowed to grant in a wrongful death case. All of that fighting to prove that the university didn't protect their child. Yes. So according to documents from the case, the Board of Claims agreed that WKU failed to follow its own dorm security procedures on the night that Katie was attacked. They didn't lock the dorm's front doors. They didn't monitor the lobby or require Stephen Soles to sign in at the front desk. Now, unfortunately, Virginia White, Katie's aunt, did not live to see that resolution as she passed away before this award was granted. But Lisa, Katie's younger sister, and her mother were happy that it was finally resolved. They had been through so much over the past six years, and they felt like they might have finally had some closure. And they felt relieved that something was finally done with the school. As time went on, naturally, people still continued to wonder if there were two people that attacked Katie Autry that day, and whether one of them got away with it. Years later, the name Lucas Goodrum would surface again in Texas, when in July of 2016, while living on a small ranch and helping his family, a woman accused Lucas of stealing her cell phone and keys, and an arrest warrant was issued the following month. In October, a hearing was scheduled in connection with the Texas theft allegation. But according to court records, Lucas failed to appear for that hearing. And from there, the case slowly faded out by August of 2020, when the case was formally dismissed. Since more than four years had passed since the complaint was filed and the arrest warrant had never been served. As of 2022, Lucas Goodrum is living freely in the state of Kentucky. and there is no public record indicating further charges. But people still think that he has shown a pattern of violence against women and they wonder if he got away with the attack on Katie Autry. And there's a ton of dialogue on social media outlets that talk about this. And many commenters say that they remain convinced that Lucas Goodrum was involved, even though he was acquitted. Others argue just as strongly that the evidence never supported that conclusion and that the acquittal was the only outcome that was possible. Many commenters claim that campus police mishandled the crime scene in the critical early hours. According to these accounts, investigators from WKU allegedly failed to immediately hand over control to the Kentucky State Police, despite the severity of the crime. Some people say this delay resulted in evidence being contaminated, destroyed, or improperly documented, especially after the sprinklers flooded the room. Another belief that you'll hear is that some people think there was evidence against Lucas Goodrum, but that it was either thrown out because of procedural mistakes or weakened by the way that the crime scene was handled. There's no physical evidence tying Lucas directly to the dorm room, But instead of seeing that as proof of innocence, some interpret it as a sign that something may have gone very wrong early in the investigation. And other people talked about the fact that Lucas admitted to several people in the jail that Katie was worthless and that he killed her, but that no one would care because she was poor. Obviously, this is just hearsay, but I mean, it's interesting from someone who claims to be practicing law and bullying Green during that time. And another say that they wish they wouldn't have prosecuted Lucas without evidence after running across an article that said his stepfather was burned to death inside his car several years after the trial, but no foul play was suspected in the case. And I did find this article. His stepfather was William Bruce Dugas, and in January of 2008, he was found dead inside a burning car at a rest area along Interstate 65 in Southern Kentucky. So even though there was no foul play suspected in the investigation, it makes it interesting that this is kind of a similar situation where someone was burned to death. And another thing that people bring up a lot on social media is how the crime didn't feel necessary at all. Katie was already extremely intoxicated. And if the motive was theft, Stephen was described as a petty thief. And he could have taken anything that he wanted without escalating things to that level. And at the time, back in 2003, sexual assaults on college campuses were rarely prosecuted, especially when alcohol was involved. And honestly, a lot of people felt that if a woman had been drinking, police might not take the case seriously. And then you add in the stigma surrounding Katie's part-time job and adult entertainment, and the chances of a sexual assault case moving forward would have seemed much lower. So you kind of got to ask, like, why go further? Why push it to that level? Exactly. So many people feel that everything that happened was so excessive. Was it panic? Or was it rage? Or does it suggest that more than one person was involved? I mean, her friend Danica heard someone else inside that room. So if someone else was involved, would this really be the only incident that they were involved in? Yeah, and if someone thought they had got away with it once, they might have believed that they would get away with it again. One commenter who researched the case pointed out that even if Lucas Goodrum isn't likable on paper, that doesn't mean he deserves the ongoing accusations and that investigators may have put too much weight on the idea of two attackers. And in the end, we may never know everything. And officially, based on the evidence, only one man was found guilty. Right. I mean, they didn't find any of Lucas's DNA at the crime scene. The accusations against him are really just hearsay. Katie Autry, she was adjusting to her life on her own. She was working multiple jobs and dreaming about her future and doing everything she could to build stability. She should have been safe in her own dorm room, but she wasn't. Katie was brutally attacked and murdered in her dorm. And one man will be sitting in prison for the rest of his life for it. So, as we come to a close, we want to thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Crime Salad. If Katie's story moved you, consider supporting organizations that advocate for survivors of sexual violence and for safer campus environments. And if you want to support the show so we can continue to cover stories like this one, you can follow Crime Salad, leave us a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. We also have ad-free options on our Patreon, and you can find merch at CrimeSaladPodcast.com. so if bravo drama pop culture chaos and honest takes are your love language, you'll want all about Terry H podcast in your feed hosted by Roxanne and Chantel. This show breaks down real housewives, reality TV, and the moments everyone's group chat is arguing about. Roxanne's been spilling Bravo tea since 2010. And yes, we've interviewed housewives royalty like Countess Luann and Teresa Giudice. Smart recaps, insider energy, and zero fluff. Listen to all about Terry H podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. New episodes weekly. There are vampires out there. They walk among you, shoulder to shoulder, in the dark. Heading to work, heading home, going to the bar. It's a life just like anyone else's, and I have grown used to it. To the darkness, to the moon, to the taste of blood on my tongue. But vampires are dying out. We are a fading kind, and I am the first one created in so long, and that is a dangerous thing to be. Those who came before me, elders of all stripes, they do not want to see our kind gone, and they will do anything to keep their power. 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