WENSBORO – Three hours of jury deliberation ended a three-week trial and set a Scottsville man free after a two-year imprisonment.
A jury of nine men and three women found Lucas B. Goodrum, 23, not guilty last week of murdering Pellville freshman Melissa “Katie” Autry in May 2003.
The jury also found Goodrum not guilty of rape, sodomy and arson charges.
Goodrum began crying and embraced defense attorney David Broderick as Daviess County Circuit Judge Tom Castlen read the jury’s ruling in the packed courtroom.
“I’m just happy justice was served today,” Goodrum said at a press conference following the jury’s ruling.
Goodrum could have faced the death penalty if found guilty.
Some of the jurors said the lack of physical evidence affected their decision. No DNA evidence belonging to Goodrum was ever found at the scene of Autry’s attack.
“Some of us felt in our hearts that he was guilty, but there was no way to prove it,” juror David Austin said.
Sandra Yeiser and Diane Demeter, two alternate jurors who were dismissed before deliberation, both said they would have found Goodrum not guilty.
“I wasn’t very impressed with the evidence that was presented,” Yeiser said.
Demeter agreed.
“I really think that Detective Dowell could have done more,” she said.
In his closing arguments, Broderick cited inconsistencies in the criminal investigation led by Capt. Mike Dowell, campus police investigations commander. The police never contacted Goodrum’s alibis until late in the investigation.
Broderick outlined discrepancies in the prosecution’s case, including a lack of DNA evidence to place Goodrum in Autry’s room the night of her attack and an unreliable testimony from Stephen L. Soules, 22, of Scottsville.
“He’s a felon and a liar, and you need to consider all that,” Broderick said of Soules.
Autry was set on fire in her Poland Hall dorm room on May 4, 2003. She died three days later from third degree burns at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Soules pleaded guilty to murder, rape, sodomy, arson and robbery charges on March 23, 2004. As part of a plea agreement, Soules is expected to receive life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole in exchange for testifying against Goodrum.
“We believe Mr. Soules upheld his end of the bargain,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said.
Soules testified that Goodrum set Autry on fire and that Goodrum forced him to rape and sodomize her. Soules also admitted to telling multiple accounts of what happened the night Autry was attacked during his testimony two weeks ago.
Cohron said he doesn’t plan to pursue any additional suspects in the Autry case. Soules’ final sentencing will be next month, he said.
During his closing arguments, Cohron said the defense used “smoke and mirrors” to prove Goodrum was innocent. He also said Goodrum’s father and stepmother, Mike and Judy Goodrum, were lying to protect their son.
Mike and Judy Goodrum testified that their son was at their home in Scottsville at about 3:45 a.m. on May 4, 2003, nearly 15 minutes before fire alarms went of in Poland Hall.
Cohron affirmed the reliability of testimony from Soules and three jailhouse informants who testified that Goodrum confessed to attacking Autry.
“Sometimes to convict the devil, you have to go to hell to get the witnesses,” Cohron said.
Broderick had previously said the testimony of the jailhouse informants was unreliable because their charges were reduced after they came forward with information about Goodrum.
Virginia White, Autry’s aunt, held hands with family and cried as the verdict was read.
“It surprised me that 12 people came back with a not guilty verdict that quick,” she said.
White said she still fears for young girls like Autry.
Goodrum said he felt as if he was “guilty until proven innocent” since his arrest in May 2003.
Broderick said he was satisfied with the justice system when he learned his client was pronounced not guilty.
“You don’t get two years back, but he’s walking out today a free man,” he said.
Owensboro was the second location for the trial, which had originally been scheduled to begin on July 30, 2004 in Warren County.
The location was changed because a telephone survey of Warren County residents suggested that there would be difficulty obtaining an impartial jury pool in the county .
But the events leading to the trial began nearly two years ago, when Autry and her roommate Danica Jackson decided to go out late one Saturday night.
At about midnight on May 3, 2003, Autry and Jackson headed to a party at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house on Chestnut Street, the Herald previously reported. Friends of Autry said she had been drinking.
Goodrum and Soules said they saw Autry for the first time that night.
Goodrum said Autry rubbed his stomach as she walked by him in the party, but he didn’t know who she was.
Soules said he had been too sick to go into the party and stayed in a truck outside.
According to Soules’ testimony, he met Autry while she was getting a ride home from the party.
Soules said he followed Autry to her Poland dorm room.
He said Autry got sick and went to the bathroom. While she was gone, Soules said he stole some of her jewelry.
When Autry returned, Soules testified that they had consensual sex.
What happened after that is unresolved.
According to the medical examiner who performed Autry’s autopsy, Autry received a large bruise on the left side of her face and bruises on her neck.
Hand sanitizer and Aussie hair spray were used to set Autry on fire. The fire burned 60 percent of her body. The burns were centralized in the genital area.
The alarm in the dorm went off at 4:08 a.m. and campus police Officer Rafael Casas arrived at 4:10 a.m.
The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system in Autry’s room.
Autry was taken to the Medical Center before being flown to Vanderbilt.
She died of third degree burns on May 7, 2003.
Goodrum was arrested by Kentucky State Police on May 11 after Soules implicated Goodrum in Autry’s murder.
Soules was arrested by KSP on May 12.
Reach Ashlee Clark at news@wkuherald.com.
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