A party brought together Autry, Goodrum, Soules before freshmans death

Saturday, March 12, 2005

An enthusiastic college freshman with an infectious laugh. An award-winning cheerleader in high school. A typical teenager who spent the last day of her life shopping and seeing a movie with her roommate and best friend.

The death of Melissa Katie Autry, 18, a Pellville native enrolled at Western Kentucky University, has left many looking for answers to one simple question: Why?

I and the girls who cheered with her cant believe it. We still cant believe it. It makes me ill, said Becky Gaynor of Hawsville. Gaynor was Autrys cheerleading coach throughout her four years at Hancock County High School.

Autry was beaten, raped, sodomized, stabbed, then set on fire in her Hugh Poland Hall dorm room in the early hours of May 4, 2003. She died three days later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

At college, Autry was known as a relatively quiet, but friendly, girl who worked at an ice cream and coffee stand on the WKU campus. She also worked as a dancer at Tattle Tales Gentlemans Club in Bowling Green a month before her death.

In high school, Autry was known as a standout cheerleader she was the teams flyer because of her petite size. In her senior year, Autry earned a college scholarship from the Kentucky Association of Pep Organization Sponsors, based on the recommendation of her teachers and coach.

She was determined, Gaynor recalled. If something didnt come easy for her, she worked really hard to do her best. I feel like she had overcome so much adversity in life. I always thought she was pretty amazing.

She was just a great kid. She had a lot of potential in life.

Autry, the daughter of Donnie Autry of Rosine, was raised from age 8 to 18 by her foster parents, Jim and Shirley Inman. The Inmans also raised Lisa Autry, her younger sister by two years.

The defendant

Lucas Goodrum, 23, graduated from Allen County-Scottsville High School after moving to Scottsville from Texas in his junior year.

He was a multi-sport athlete and avid sports fan with a tough reputation on the football field. He was also an automobiles aficionado and proud owner of a silver Ford Mustang. After high school, he fathered a son, Tyler, now about age 4.

He hoped to establish financial security for his son by joining the Air Force, according to a May 10, 2003, interview with investigators immediately before his arrest in the Autry murder case.

Goodrum is now being tried on charges of murder, arson, first-degree rape and arson, or complicity to those crimes. His range of possible penalties includes between 20 and 50 years in jail and the death penalty.

At the time of his arrest, Goodrum was living in a Scottsville apartment near his father and stepmother, Mike and Judy Goodrum. His father is scheduled to testify in the case, related to Goodrums alibi the night Autry was attacked.

Goodrums mother and stepfather, Donna and Bruce Dugas, live on a ranch in Aubrey, Texas, with their teenage son and daughter.

His family has defended his innocence and prosecutors have not found physical evidence linking him to the crime scene.

The co-defendant

Stephen Soules, who will turn 22 on March 15, was born in Glasgow and raised in Scottsville. Growing up, he was interested in music and sports.

Soules played football and basketball in middle school and was known for being very outgoing, constantly surrounded by friends.

Family is very important to Soules, according to his aunt, Roxanna Smith. He lived in Scottsville at the time of his arrest with his father and mother, Danny and Jean Soules, and Daniel Soules, his older brother by two years.

Soules and his grandmother, Evangeline Soules, were especially close, as he often spent time at her house in Scottsville. It was outside Evangelina Soules home where investigators found jewelry Soules had hidden after stealing it from Autry the night she was attacked.

Soules, then 20, told investigators he had never met Autry before May 3, 2003, the night of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity party they left together in a truck driven by the partys designated driver.

Soules, who has testified he went into Autrys room with her that night and assisted with the attack, pleaded guilty in the case one year ago to charges of murder, first-degree rape, rape by complicity, first-degree sodomy, sodomy by complicity, arson and first-degree robbery. He received a recommended prison sentence of life without parole.

His statement to police was the sole basis for Goodrums arrest, according to testimony heard in court Friday.

Soules aunt, Roxanna Smith, said the family has always been very close-knit.

When we go through things, we go through things together, she said. Were there for each other.

The defense

David Broderick, defense attorney for Goodrum, is a Bowling Green native who graduated from the now-closed College High School. He earned degrees in English and government studies at Western Kentucky University, then attended law school at the University of Louisville.

He earned his law license in September 1972 and clerked for the Kentucky Supreme Court in his first year, before moving to Bowling Green and entering private practice. He is currently with the law firm Broderick and Thornton.

He has represented former Warren County Attorney Mike Caudill throughout numerous recent court proceedings in connection with state and federal embezzlement charges and a state charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants. Caudill pleaded guilty to the embezzlement charges and is expected to plead guilty in the DUI case as well.

Broderick also represented the city of Russellville in the long-running Electric Plant Board dispute, which ended earlier this year after the election of new city council members.

Brodericks law partner, Kevin Hackworth, is assisting him in his defense of Goodrum.

The prosecution

Chris Cohron, also a Bowling Green native, graduated from Bowling Green High School and attended Vanderbilt University on a football scholarship. He then proceeded to Samford University in Alabama, where he earned his law degree.

A lawyer since May 2000, Cohron first worked in the public defenders office in Nashville. He moved back to Warren County in October 2001 to work as an assistant prosecutor at the request of then-Commonwealths Attorney Steve Wilson.

Four months after taking the job, Cohron secured a conviction of Wilton Lane Westerfield and a life sentence on charges of auto theft, robbery, sexual assault and two counts of kidnapping.

Cohron was elected Warren County Commonwealths Attorney in November and is assisted in prosecuting Goodrum by First Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Mike Pearson, who preceded Cohron in the CA job.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700