July 8, 2025 • 25 mins
When 18-year-old Katie Autry was found barely alive inside her Western Kentucky University dorm room, it triggered a frantic search for her killers.
Katie had been beaten, assaulted, and set on fire in a crime so vicious it stunned the world. Detectives soon focused on two young men with ties to the area, unraveling a web of shifting stories, surprising alibis, and a trial that left many wondering if the full truth ever came out.
In this episode of Murder U, we examine the evidence, the contradictions that clouded the case, and the lasting impact on campus safety.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
Katie had been beaten, assaulted, and set on fire in a crime so vicious it stunned the world. Detectives soon focused on two young men with ties to the area, unraveling a web of shifting stories, surprising alibis, and a trial that left many wondering if the full truth ever came out.
In this episode of Murder U, we examine the evidence, the contradictions that clouded the case, and the lasting impact on campus safety.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Abnormia. From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and
the sanctity of their homes, These once secure spaces have
transformed into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict
harm on the unsuspecting. Join me Maddie each week as
we delve into the bone chilling stories of senseless murders
(00:26):
occurring in and around our centers of education. Welcome to
Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome to the latest episode
(00:59):
of Murder You. I'm your host, Mattie, and today I'm
going to tell you about the shocking murder of a
Western Kentucky University freshman named Katy Autry. This two thousand
and three case stands out due to the brutality and
callousness of the crime and because it had far reaching
implications for campus security. And that's because Katy was killed
in her dorm room, right on campus. This situation is
(01:23):
beyond terrifying because freshman dorms are supposed to be a
safe place where students are watching out for each other
and oras are patrolling every floor. But it only takes
one event to remind you that violence against women can
happen anywhere, at any time. And it also highlights that
campus security is something every school should take seriously because
(01:44):
students should feel safe in their dorms and we should
never blame the victim for the actions of their killers
or the failure of their school to provide a secure
atmosphere for learning. Before I talk about Katy's death, though,
let me give you some backstory about her life. Katy
Autrey grew up in Pelville, Kentucky, about seventy five miles
(02:06):
north of Bowling Green. She apparently had a difficult childhood
and faced a lot of adversity. For starters, her father
wasn't around at all. To make matters worse, her mother
was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was often unable to care
for her and her younger half sister, Lisa. Lisa was
two years younger than Katie, who practically raised her younger sister.
(02:28):
You don't get much of a childhood when you have
to step up and act as a surrogate mother before
you're even a teenager. The girls were still very young
when their mother's mental illness became so pronounced that they
had to go live with their relatives. They bounced around
living with various family members, which must have been extremely difficult.
I can only imagine not knowing where or who you
(02:50):
were going to live with from one month to the next. Eventually,
the girls ended up in foster care when Katy was
just ten years old. Her experience in the foster system
and caring for her sister likely shaped her life and
her ambitious nature. Katie didn't have a long life, but
she lived a full life during her short time here.
(03:11):
Even though Katie had a complicated relationship with her family,
one cousin described her as a thoughtful person who would
always stop what she was doing and make time for
her left ones. Katie attended the Pelville Baptist Church, where
she was a youth group, an acting group, and an
Assembly committee member. In high school, Katie participated in many
(03:31):
activities including cheerleading, track, PEP, Beta, Spanish and reading clubs,
sadd Dedicated Teens FCA, FCCLA, TSA, and principles leadership. Wow,
that's an amazing list of activities. She was such an
impressive and energetic young woman. Though ambitious students sometimes joined
(03:54):
clubs and extracurricular activities to stand up for college applications.
Katie was a caring teen who genuinely wanted to make
a difference in her community and in the world. She
earned Academic All State, Honorable Student of the Month, Most
Improved Cheerleader ninety eight to ninety nine, Who's Who among
American high school students, Most Determined Cheerleader two thousand to
(04:17):
two thousand and one, courts for above average testing scores
and proficient writing profile, a Dapist Cheerleading Scholarship, Perfect Attendance,
and several other cheerleading awards. Yeah, I'd describe her as
an overachiever. She faced so much adversity, but she remained
an amazingly positive and kind person. I find that inspiring,
(04:40):
and she no doubt inspired everyone who knew her. Katie
graduated from Hancock County High School in two thousand and
two and enrolled at Western Kentucky University that fall with
plans to become a dental hygienist. As a Kentucky Foster
Care System college student, Katie could get free tuition and
other benefits until she was twenty one. However, she wasn't
(05:02):
content letting the state pay for her. She was eighteen
years old and determined to become fully independent quickly. I
admire that about her. Undoubtedly she would have become successful
at whatever she put her mind to. As she entered WKU,
Katie was adjusting to college life and living independently. She
worked hard to get into college, but like many first
(05:24):
year students, she was partying and enjoying her independence. Katie
got a reputation for being promiscuous, which, whether true or not,
is nobody's business. I only mentioned that because it will
affect how the university responds to this crime. Katie's reputation
likely had more to do with her being a white
woman who dated black men on a southern college campus.
(05:46):
There are still many prejudiced people, but twenty years ago
attitudes were even worse. She didn't get along with her
first roommate, who eventually moved out. However, she became good
friends with her second roommate, Danica Jackson. Katie might have
been self conscious about coming from a foster home and
fitting in at a big university. She started proceedings to
(06:09):
leave the foster care program, working two jobs and attending
school full time. She was looking forward to buying her
first car and gaining even more freedom when the unthinkable
happened the last weekend of before finals, on the evening
of May third, Katie attended a PI Kappa Alpha or
Pike fraternity party. She was drinking and having fun with friends.
(06:31):
At the party, she reportedly argued with a guy named Maurice,
whom she had previously dated. One of the hosts of
the party asked her to leave. Katie's roommate was having
fun and didn't want to leave the party, but one
of the designated drivers at the frat party offered to
give Katie a ride home. The roommate thanked the driver
and told Katie she would call her later. Around two am,
(06:55):
Katie was given a ride home by Ryan Payne. He
drove Katie to pull And Hall and dropped her and
two other people off. Alison Todd, the night clerk at
the dorm, said she saw Audrey enter by herself and
take the stairs to her room. At two thirty am,
Katie's roommate called to make sure she got home okay.
Danica was staying at a friend's house and was worried
(07:17):
about Katie. When Katie answered the phone, she told her
roommate that someone was in her room and she was scared.
She didn't know who the guy was, so Danica told
her to put him on the phone. The man got
on the phone and said he was the guy who
brought Katie home. The man said he wanted to make
sure Katy got up to her room okay, because she
(07:37):
was so drunk. He reassured Danica that he was leaving,
but she thought she heard a second male voice in
the room before hanging up. So this is a crucial detail.
Danica's belief that she heard a second man in the
room would alter the course of the investigation, and it's
one of the reasons there's still a lot of controversy
(07:58):
and disagreement, Sir, this case, but I'll get to that
in a few minutes. Around four oh eight am, an
hour and a half after Danicus spoke to Katie, the
fire alarm at Hugh Poland Hall began blaring. False alarms
were a regular occurrence as freshmen aren't very good at
operating microwave ovens or hot plates or candles for that matter.
(08:21):
The students filed out of the dorm, assuming the disturbance
was minor, but they soon realized something was very wrong.
A Western Campus police officer responded and saw water coming
from Katie's room. He used the master key to open
the room, but smoke was pouring out. The fire was
nearly extinguished by the overhead sprinklers. When the firefighters arrived,
(08:44):
the room was still obscured by black smoke, but as
it began to clear, one of the firefighters caught a
glimpse of Katie's badly burnt arm. He rushed to her side,
certain she was already dead. Katie's entire body was burnt,
Her face had been wrapped in some sort of cloth.
A white T shirt was wrapped tightly around her neck.
(09:06):
Then one of the firefighters noticed Katy's chest rising and falling.
He couldn't believe she was still alive. The firefighters carried
Katie out of the room and were shocked by her condition.
If the cloth hadn't been tied around her face, she
would have likely died from smoke inhalation. Still, her chances
of survival were slim. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital,
(09:30):
even though Katie, whispering in a feeble voice, said just
take me home. It's just heartbreaking to think what this
girl went through. At the hospital, doctor saw she was
severely beaten with extensive bruising, Her neck had puncture wounds,
and she was severely burnt in the groin area. The
(09:52):
attacker had poured accelerant on Katie and set her on
fire while she was still breathing. It's such an evil act,
devoid of even a shred of empathy. Katie's groin was
burnt so badly that investigators immediately suspected her attacker was
trying to destroy evidence of a brutal rape. Doctors tried
(10:14):
to save her, but she died three days later at
Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. During the three days
since Katie was attacked, police had been questioning people who
were at a frat party Autry attended. Ryan Payne told
the authorities that he dropped off two men at the
same time he drove Katie home. They would become the
(10:34):
prime suspects in her murder, and their names are Steven
Soles and Lucas Goodrum. Souls and Goodrum attended high school
in Scottsville, Kentucky. However, neither were students at Western Kentucky.
Souls was a mixed race, half black and half white
male from a low income family, and Goodroom was a
(10:55):
white male from a wealthy family. I only mentioned the
suspects ethnic and so socioeconomic backgrounds because there has been
a lot of speculation that it affected how law enforcement
and the media approached this case. Investigators went to Steven
Soul's grandmother's house to question him. First, he said he
had never been to Poland Hall and claimed he didn't
(11:16):
notice any girl getting into Ryan's truck that night, which
seemed suspicious. As the police turned up the heat, Souls
finally admitted he had been in Poland Hall and had
gone there to see Katie. Souls said Katie took the
elevator to her floor while he took the stairs because
he was afraid of elevators. Yeah, that doesn't sound believable.
(11:39):
He supposedly avoided the elevator, where the ra would have
likely spotted him. That's the same ra who saw Katie
enter alone and take the stairs, which directly contradicts Soul's
version of events. Stephen said Katie invited him into her room.
According to him, they had sex and then she got sick.
(12:00):
He left and was at a friend, Brian Ritchie's house,
by three thirty am. But investigators had an ace up
their sleeve, and they finally informed Souls that his fingerprints
were found on the can of hairspray that was used
as an igniter. Soul shrugged this off, saying maybe he
had picked up the can and didn't realize it. The
(12:20):
investigators grilled Stephen, who stuck to his story that he
didn't harm Katie. He claimed there was another guy standing
outside her room when he left. While questioning Souls, police
kept asking him if he was covering for someone else.
By asking leading questions, they may have inadvertently given Stephen
the idea to pin the crime on someone else. They
(12:43):
likely believed from the start that there were two men involved,
but Souls never mentioned his friend's involvement until detectives led
him down that path. Souls suddenly changed his story and
admitted he was having consensual sex with Katie when Lucas
Goodrum came into the room. He said Lucas wanted to
have sex with Katie too, but she said no, so
(13:05):
Goodram started beating her. Stephen said he left the room
and when he came back in, Lucas was raping Katie. Okay,
even if you believe Soul's story, the fact that he
just admitted leaving the room so his buddy could beat
and rape a woman was a clear indication of the
kind of person police were dealing with. There was a
(13:28):
lot about Souls's story that didn't make sense, but investigators
wanted to ensure they caught everyone involved. They asked more
leading questions about Goodrum, and now Stephen was all in
on blaming his high school buddy for the crime. Souls
said he left and didn't see the rest of the
rape or how the fire was started, but moments later
(13:49):
Stephen mentioned how Lucas put a towel over the sprinkler
before lighting the fire. The police had caught him in
another lie, but each time Stephen shifted his story to
downplay his role in Katy's brutal murder. Souls's account of
events should have been scrutinized harder, but investigators were convinced
Goodrum was involved, and without forensic evidence, Souls was their
(14:13):
entire case. Okay, So I should point out that the
investigation was led by campus police, which is unusual given
the severity of the high profile case. If I were
a family member, I'd want to know why this murder
wasn't given to an outside agency with greater resources. I'm
not saying campus police are necessarily less qualified to lead
(14:35):
a murder investigation, but there could be a conflict of
interest between solving a murder and protecting the university. Soules
changed his story again and said he saw Lucas spraying
Katy with the hairspray, but left before he set her
on fire. I mean, this guy's story has changed so
many times. How do you believe anything he says now?
(14:59):
Even though, oh, he just admitted having sex with the
victim and witnessing her rape. The police amazingly didn't arrest
souls right away. They should have recognized that he was lying,
but they were already focused on the idea that there
must have been two perpetrators. When police brought Lucas in
for questioning, they were convinced they were talking to a murderer,
(15:22):
and that's how they approached the interview. It's worth noting
the day before Katie was attacked, a seventeen year old
girl from Scottsville told police that Lucas Goodram struck her
twice in the face with his cell phone. So they
already had evidence of Goodram being violent towards women. It's
easy to see why they assumed Goodroom was involved. Lucas
(15:43):
told investigators he left the frat party hung out in
the Beamas storm and then was picked up by a
friend who drove him to the Bowling Alley. He then
got his car and drove home. His father said he
was waiting up for him when he got home. They
tried to rattle Lucas, but his story never changed. However,
Stephen Souls's story seemed to change every time he told it.
(16:07):
Each time Souls modified his account of that night, it
got more elaborate. But the most absurd part of his
new story was that Lucas forced him to rape Katy.
In March of two thousand and four, Souls pleaded guilty
to murder and other churches. He was sentenced to six
life sentences without the possibility of parole. He was spared
(16:29):
the death penalty in exchange for testifying against Lucas Goodram.
But here's the problem. Stephen Souls had lied so many
times that he wasn't a credible witness, and prosecutors had
zero evidence that Goodram was ever in Katy's dorm. They
had no witnesses who saw him in Poland Hall, and
(16:50):
in fact, he was even seen in a different dorm
at the same time Souls was in Katy's room. So
did the WKU campus police bungle this investigation. Local, state,
and federal authorities did take part in the investigation, but
for some reason, the case remained in the hands of
the university police, led by the chief, who was a
(17:12):
former homicide detective from Detroit. I found myself wondering if
the school played a part in that decision, since the
murder raised a lot of questions about campus security. According
to Wave three News, investigators from other agencies wrote reports
and turned over evidence to university police, but that was
pretty much the end of their role. And of course,
(17:35):
Goodroom's attorneys would later pounce on that fact, painting the
investigation as poorly run. I mean, they make a good point.
The pace of the investigation frustrated Katie's family members, who
believed campus police didn't have the experience or the resources
to lead a murder probe. They also felt Souls should
(17:55):
have been arrested sooner. It's likely the socioeconomic back grounds
of the two main suspects played a part in how
police conducted the probe. Investigators probably wanted to arrest both
suspects at the same time, and if Stephen Soles was talking,
they figured, hey, let's hold off on putting him in handcuffs.
(18:16):
Never mind that there was no physical evidence that Goodrum
was in Katie's room that night. Mind you, I'm not
saying that he wasn't in the room that night, just
that there was no evidence aside from Souls's ever evolving story. Nevertheless,
Lucas Goodraam was tried on charges of rape, arson, and murder.
Stephen Souls testified as the prosecution's star witness, but he
(18:40):
had changed his story so many times the jury didn't
find him credible. Several inmates who served time with Goodraam
during the two years he was incarcerated testified that Lucas
confessed to the rape and murder. But again, these are
prisoners who have a motive to lie if it means
a possible sentence reduction. In any event, the jury didn't
(19:01):
believe there was enough evidence to convict Goodrum, and it's
easy to see why. Now. I'm not ready to proclaim
Goodroom guilty or innocent. I'll let you make up your
own mind. But the story of Lucas Goodram as a
wrongfully accused or innocent man, well, it doesn't have the
same feel as other instances where that's been the case. Again,
(19:23):
Goodrum had a history of violence against women, so we
certainly fit the profile of someone who could have committed
this crime. Remember, just the day before Katy was attacked,
Goodream was accused of assaulting a seventeen year old girl
by hitting her with his cell phone and holding her down.
So we're not talking about a boy scout here. Then
(19:44):
in two thousand and seven, Goodrum, who moved to Texas
after his acquittal, was arrested on charges of making third
degree terroristic threats against his ex wife and mother of
his son. Goodroom became angry when he learned his ex
was getting married and allegedly fired two shots while she
was on the phone with him. He also said he
(20:04):
would be in the area with a surprise for her
the next day, implying that he intended to kill her.
Katie Autry's family believes that Goodroom escaped justice. Autrey's aunt,
Virginia White, told the Associated Press that during Katy's funeral,
she and other family members saw a man at the
funeral home. They didn't recognize until they saw a photograph
(20:26):
of Goodrum on the television and the internet the next day.
If it was really Goodroom, the family saw the fact
he went to the funeral is chilling. We may never
know for sure if Lucas Goodram escaped justice, and it's
impossible to say if his case would have gone differently
if the investigation had been conducted by another agency with
(20:46):
greater resources and more experienced thomic side investigators. During Goodrum's
two week trial, police officers testified that they failed to
secure Autrey's second floor dorm room for hours after she
was discovered. Investigators also admitted that they failed to check
Goodrum's alibi and didn't follow up on several people. I mean,
(21:09):
these are the kind of flubs that defense attorney's dream of.
In the wake of Katy's murder, Western Kentucky University board
members seemed more concerned with absolving their staff than protecting
their students. To pay her way through school, Katie had
danced at a local strip club. The same university officials
(21:29):
responsible for the lack of security that led to her
murder decided to blame the victim and smear her name
before any suspects had been arrested. University president Gary Ransdell
was quoted as saying, sometimes young people make choices that
have very unfortunate consequences. But those are the kinds of
(21:50):
things we're trying to learn about Katie and Katy's life.
I mean, what a slimy thing to say about a
student you failed to protect. That's just an unbelievable, disappointing
statement from a purse charged with leading a university. If
WKU's president had asked Katie's friends and family, he would
have found out that she was a kind and generous
(22:12):
soul who worked extremely hard to beat the odds and
overcome her difficult childhood. On September eighteenth, two thousand and three,
the Autrey family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school,
alleging that the appelli's failure to provide adequate security caused
Katie's death. The WKU Student Life Foundation and PI Kappa
(22:34):
Alpha were also named in the suit. Western Kentucky responded
by releasing a statement that neither its staff nor its
police played a role in this tragic event. I mean,
I guess if you're being sued from millions of dollars,
that's the kind of statement you release. But just the
fact that the university made sweeping changes after Katie's murder
(22:56):
says a lot. W KU had established safety regulations for
the dorms it vanaged, including that outside doors were to
be locked and all non resident guests were required to
check in with the desk clerk, leave identification with the clerk,
and be escorted by a resident to the dorm room.
(23:16):
The family was eventually awarded two hundred thousand dollars by
the Kentucky Board of Claims, which is a rather insulting amount.
Not that any amount of money could ease the pain
of losing Katie, it's worth noting that it was the
maximum amount the Board of Claims could award the family.
As reported by Bowling Green Daily News, the board agreed
(23:37):
with claims that WKU was negligent in allowing SOULS, who
was not enrolled at the university access to Autrey's room,
finding that WKU did not follow security procedures that would
have included locking the dorm's front door, monitoring the front lobby,
or requiring Souls to sign in at the front desk
on the night of the incident. I mean credit Western
(23:59):
Kentucky University for making changes to bolster student security, but
they never truly accepted responsibility for the lapses that cost
Katie her life, and as I mentioned they initially tried
to blame the victim. As of twenty nineteen, there were
no memorial plaques for Katie on campus, and according to
Katie's cousin Johnny White, who spoke to Bowling Green Daily News,
(24:24):
her room was turned into a janitor's closet. Wow. That's
beyond disrespectful. But it's unsurprising that WKU wants everyone to
just forget about this event. It's heartbreaking that it takes
a tragedy like this to bring about decisive change. But
if there's one silver lining named Katie's death, it's that
(24:45):
college campuses across the country are now safer. However, that
doesn't mean students should stop being vigilant about recognizing and
preventing sexual violence on campus. Always look out for your
friends across campus, and please stay That's it for this
episode of Murder You, and please remember. Advocates at the
(25:06):
National Domestic Violence Hotline are available to talk confidentially with
anyone in the United States who is experiencing domestic violence,
seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship.
Call one eight hundred seven ninety nine Safe one eight
hundred seven ninety nine seven two, three, three. Be sure
(25:28):
to like and subscribe to Murder You on Spotify, Apple Music,
Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Abnormia. From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and
the sanctity of their homes, These once secure spaces have
transformed into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict
harm on the unsuspecting. Join me Maddie each week as
we delve into the bone chilling stories of senseless murders
(00:26):
occurring in and around our centers of education. Welcome to
Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome to the latest episode
(00:59):
of Murder You. I'm your host, Mattie, and today I'm
going to tell you about the shocking murder of a
Western Kentucky University freshman named Katy Autry. This two thousand
and three case stands out due to the brutality and
callousness of the crime and because it had far reaching
implications for campus security. And that's because Katy was killed
in her dorm room, right on campus. This situation is
(01:23):
beyond terrifying because freshman dorms are supposed to be a
safe place where students are watching out for each other
and oras are patrolling every floor. But it only takes
one event to remind you that violence against women can
happen anywhere, at any time. And it also highlights that
campus security is something every school should take seriously because
(01:44):
students should feel safe in their dorms and we should
never blame the victim for the actions of their killers
or the failure of their school to provide a secure
atmosphere for learning. Before I talk about Katy's death, though,
let me give you some backstory about her life. Katy
Autrey grew up in Pelville, Kentucky, about seventy five miles
(02:06):
north of Bowling Green. She apparently had a difficult childhood
and faced a lot of adversity. For starters, her father
wasn't around at all. To make matters worse, her mother
was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was often unable to care
for her and her younger half sister, Lisa. Lisa was
two years younger than Katie, who practically raised her younger sister.
(02:28):
You don't get much of a childhood when you have
to step up and act as a surrogate mother before
you're even a teenager. The girls were still very young
when their mother's mental illness became so pronounced that they
had to go live with their relatives. They bounced around
living with various family members, which must have been extremely difficult.
I can only imagine not knowing where or who you
(02:50):
were going to live with from one month to the next. Eventually,
the girls ended up in foster care when Katy was
just ten years old. Her experience in the foster system
and caring for her sister likely shaped her life and
her ambitious nature. Katie didn't have a long life, but
she lived a full life during her short time here.
(03:11):
Even though Katie had a complicated relationship with her family,
one cousin described her as a thoughtful person who would
always stop what she was doing and make time for
her left ones. Katie attended the Pelville Baptist Church, where
she was a youth group, an acting group, and an
Assembly committee member. In high school, Katie participated in many
(03:31):
activities including cheerleading, track, PEP, Beta, Spanish and reading clubs,
sadd Dedicated Teens FCA, FCCLA, TSA, and principles leadership. Wow,
that's an amazing list of activities. She was such an
impressive and energetic young woman. Though ambitious students sometimes joined
(03:54):
clubs and extracurricular activities to stand up for college applications.
Katie was a caring teen who genuinely wanted to make
a difference in her community and in the world. She
earned Academic All State, Honorable Student of the Month, Most
Improved Cheerleader ninety eight to ninety nine, Who's Who among
American high school students, Most Determined Cheerleader two thousand to
(04:17):
two thousand and one, courts for above average testing scores
and proficient writing profile, a Dapist Cheerleading Scholarship, Perfect Attendance,
and several other cheerleading awards. Yeah, I'd describe her as
an overachiever. She faced so much adversity, but she remained
an amazingly positive and kind person. I find that inspiring,
(04:40):
and she no doubt inspired everyone who knew her. Katie
graduated from Hancock County High School in two thousand and
two and enrolled at Western Kentucky University that fall with
plans to become a dental hygienist. As a Kentucky Foster
Care System college student, Katie could get free tuition and
other benefits until she was twenty one. However, she wasn't
(05:02):
content letting the state pay for her. She was eighteen
years old and determined to become fully independent quickly. I
admire that about her. Undoubtedly she would have become successful
at whatever she put her mind to. As she entered WKU,
Katie was adjusting to college life and living independently. She
worked hard to get into college, but like many first
(05:24):
year students, she was partying and enjoying her independence. Katie
got a reputation for being promiscuous, which, whether true or not,
is nobody's business. I only mentioned that because it will
affect how the university responds to this crime. Katie's reputation
likely had more to do with her being a white
woman who dated black men on a southern college campus.
(05:46):
There are still many prejudiced people, but twenty years ago
attitudes were even worse. She didn't get along with her
first roommate, who eventually moved out. However, she became good
friends with her second roommate, Danica Jackson. Katie might have
been self conscious about coming from a foster home and
fitting in at a big university. She started proceedings to
(06:09):
leave the foster care program, working two jobs and attending
school full time. She was looking forward to buying her
first car and gaining even more freedom when the unthinkable
happened the last weekend of before finals, on the evening
of May third, Katie attended a PI Kappa Alpha or
Pike fraternity party. She was drinking and having fun with friends.
(06:31):
At the party, she reportedly argued with a guy named Maurice,
whom she had previously dated. One of the hosts of
the party asked her to leave. Katie's roommate was having
fun and didn't want to leave the party, but one
of the designated drivers at the frat party offered to
give Katie a ride home. The roommate thanked the driver
and told Katie she would call her later. Around two am,
(06:55):
Katie was given a ride home by Ryan Payne. He
drove Katie to pull And Hall and dropped her and
two other people off. Alison Todd, the night clerk at
the dorm, said she saw Audrey enter by herself and
take the stairs to her room. At two thirty am,
Katie's roommate called to make sure she got home okay.
Danica was staying at a friend's house and was worried
(07:17):
about Katie. When Katie answered the phone, she told her
roommate that someone was in her room and she was scared.
She didn't know who the guy was, so Danica told
her to put him on the phone. The man got
on the phone and said he was the guy who
brought Katie home. The man said he wanted to make
sure Katy got up to her room okay, because she
(07:37):
was so drunk. He reassured Danica that he was leaving,
but she thought she heard a second male voice in
the room before hanging up. So this is a crucial detail.
Danica's belief that she heard a second man in the
room would alter the course of the investigation, and it's
one of the reasons there's still a lot of controversy
(07:58):
and disagreement, Sir, this case, but I'll get to that
in a few minutes. Around four oh eight am, an
hour and a half after Danicus spoke to Katie, the
fire alarm at Hugh Poland Hall began blaring. False alarms
were a regular occurrence as freshmen aren't very good at
operating microwave ovens or hot plates or candles for that matter.
(08:21):
The students filed out of the dorm, assuming the disturbance
was minor, but they soon realized something was very wrong.
A Western Campus police officer responded and saw water coming
from Katie's room. He used the master key to open
the room, but smoke was pouring out. The fire was
nearly extinguished by the overhead sprinklers. When the firefighters arrived,
(08:44):
the room was still obscured by black smoke, but as
it began to clear, one of the firefighters caught a
glimpse of Katie's badly burnt arm. He rushed to her side,
certain she was already dead. Katie's entire body was burnt,
Her face had been wrapped in some sort of cloth.
A white T shirt was wrapped tightly around her neck.
(09:06):
Then one of the firefighters noticed Katy's chest rising and falling.
He couldn't believe she was still alive. The firefighters carried
Katie out of the room and were shocked by her condition.
If the cloth hadn't been tied around her face, she
would have likely died from smoke inhalation. Still, her chances
of survival were slim. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital,
(09:30):
even though Katie, whispering in a feeble voice, said just
take me home. It's just heartbreaking to think what this
girl went through. At the hospital, doctor saw she was
severely beaten with extensive bruising, Her neck had puncture wounds,
and she was severely burnt in the groin area. The
(09:52):
attacker had poured accelerant on Katie and set her on
fire while she was still breathing. It's such an evil act,
devoid of even a shred of empathy. Katie's groin was
burnt so badly that investigators immediately suspected her attacker was
trying to destroy evidence of a brutal rape. Doctors tried
(10:14):
to save her, but she died three days later at
Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. During the three days
since Katie was attacked, police had been questioning people who
were at a frat party Autry attended. Ryan Payne told
the authorities that he dropped off two men at the
same time he drove Katie home. They would become the
(10:34):
prime suspects in her murder, and their names are Steven
Soles and Lucas Goodrum. Souls and Goodrum attended high school
in Scottsville, Kentucky. However, neither were students at Western Kentucky.
Souls was a mixed race, half black and half white
male from a low income family, and Goodroom was a
(10:55):
white male from a wealthy family. I only mentioned the
suspects ethnic and so socioeconomic backgrounds because there has been
a lot of speculation that it affected how law enforcement
and the media approached this case. Investigators went to Steven
Soul's grandmother's house to question him. First, he said he
had never been to Poland Hall and claimed he didn't
(11:16):
notice any girl getting into Ryan's truck that night, which
seemed suspicious. As the police turned up the heat, Souls
finally admitted he had been in Poland Hall and had
gone there to see Katie. Souls said Katie took the
elevator to her floor while he took the stairs because
he was afraid of elevators. Yeah, that doesn't sound believable.
(11:39):
He supposedly avoided the elevator, where the ra would have
likely spotted him. That's the same ra who saw Katie
enter alone and take the stairs, which directly contradicts Soul's
version of events. Stephen said Katie invited him into her room.
According to him, they had sex and then she got sick.
(12:00):
He left and was at a friend, Brian Ritchie's house,
by three thirty am. But investigators had an ace up
their sleeve, and they finally informed Souls that his fingerprints
were found on the can of hairspray that was used
as an igniter. Soul shrugged this off, saying maybe he
had picked up the can and didn't realize it. The
(12:20):
investigators grilled Stephen, who stuck to his story that he
didn't harm Katie. He claimed there was another guy standing
outside her room when he left. While questioning Souls, police
kept asking him if he was covering for someone else.
By asking leading questions, they may have inadvertently given Stephen
the idea to pin the crime on someone else. They
(12:43):
likely believed from the start that there were two men involved,
but Souls never mentioned his friend's involvement until detectives led
him down that path. Souls suddenly changed his story and
admitted he was having consensual sex with Katie when Lucas
Goodrum came into the room. He said Lucas wanted to
have sex with Katie too, but she said no, so
(13:05):
Goodram started beating her. Stephen said he left the room
and when he came back in, Lucas was raping Katie. Okay,
even if you believe Soul's story, the fact that he
just admitted leaving the room so his buddy could beat
and rape a woman was a clear indication of the
kind of person police were dealing with. There was a
(13:28):
lot about Souls's story that didn't make sense, but investigators
wanted to ensure they caught everyone involved. They asked more
leading questions about Goodrum, and now Stephen was all in
on blaming his high school buddy for the crime. Souls
said he left and didn't see the rest of the
rape or how the fire was started, but moments later
(13:49):
Stephen mentioned how Lucas put a towel over the sprinkler
before lighting the fire. The police had caught him in
another lie, but each time Stephen shifted his story to
downplay his role in Katy's brutal murder. Souls's account of
events should have been scrutinized harder, but investigators were convinced
Goodrum was involved, and without forensic evidence, Souls was their
(14:13):
entire case. Okay, So I should point out that the
investigation was led by campus police, which is unusual given
the severity of the high profile case. If I were
a family member, I'd want to know why this murder
wasn't given to an outside agency with greater resources. I'm
not saying campus police are necessarily less qualified to lead
(14:35):
a murder investigation, but there could be a conflict of
interest between solving a murder and protecting the university. Soules
changed his story again and said he saw Lucas spraying
Katy with the hairspray, but left before he set her
on fire. I mean, this guy's story has changed so
many times. How do you believe anything he says now?
(14:59):
Even though, oh, he just admitted having sex with the
victim and witnessing her rape. The police amazingly didn't arrest
souls right away. They should have recognized that he was lying,
but they were already focused on the idea that there
must have been two perpetrators. When police brought Lucas in
for questioning, they were convinced they were talking to a murderer,
(15:22):
and that's how they approached the interview. It's worth noting
the day before Katie was attacked, a seventeen year old
girl from Scottsville told police that Lucas Goodram struck her
twice in the face with his cell phone. So they
already had evidence of Goodram being violent towards women. It's
easy to see why they assumed Goodroom was involved. Lucas
(15:43):
told investigators he left the frat party hung out in
the Beamas storm and then was picked up by a
friend who drove him to the Bowling Alley. He then
got his car and drove home. His father said he
was waiting up for him when he got home. They
tried to rattle Lucas, but his story never changed. However,
Stephen Souls's story seemed to change every time he told it.
(16:07):
Each time Souls modified his account of that night, it
got more elaborate. But the most absurd part of his
new story was that Lucas forced him to rape Katy.
In March of two thousand and four, Souls pleaded guilty
to murder and other churches. He was sentenced to six
life sentences without the possibility of parole. He was spared
(16:29):
the death penalty in exchange for testifying against Lucas Goodram.
But here's the problem. Stephen Souls had lied so many
times that he wasn't a credible witness, and prosecutors had
zero evidence that Goodram was ever in Katy's dorm. They
had no witnesses who saw him in Poland Hall, and
(16:50):
in fact, he was even seen in a different dorm
at the same time Souls was in Katy's room. So
did the WKU campus police bungle this investigation. Local, state,
and federal authorities did take part in the investigation, but
for some reason, the case remained in the hands of
the university police, led by the chief, who was a
(17:12):
former homicide detective from Detroit. I found myself wondering if
the school played a part in that decision, since the
murder raised a lot of questions about campus security. According
to Wave three News, investigators from other agencies wrote reports
and turned over evidence to university police, but that was
pretty much the end of their role. And of course,
(17:35):
Goodroom's attorneys would later pounce on that fact, painting the
investigation as poorly run. I mean, they make a good point.
The pace of the investigation frustrated Katie's family members, who
believed campus police didn't have the experience or the resources
to lead a murder probe. They also felt Souls should
(17:55):
have been arrested sooner. It's likely the socioeconomic back grounds
of the two main suspects played a part in how
police conducted the probe. Investigators probably wanted to arrest both
suspects at the same time, and if Stephen Soles was talking,
they figured, hey, let's hold off on putting him in handcuffs.
(18:16):
Never mind that there was no physical evidence that Goodrum
was in Katie's room that night. Mind you, I'm not
saying that he wasn't in the room that night, just
that there was no evidence aside from Souls's ever evolving story. Nevertheless,
Lucas Goodraam was tried on charges of rape, arson, and murder.
Stephen Souls testified as the prosecution's star witness, but he
(18:40):
had changed his story so many times the jury didn't
find him credible. Several inmates who served time with Goodraam
during the two years he was incarcerated testified that Lucas
confessed to the rape and murder. But again, these are
prisoners who have a motive to lie if it means
a possible sentence reduction. In any event, the jury didn't
(19:01):
believe there was enough evidence to convict Goodrum, and it's
easy to see why. Now. I'm not ready to proclaim
Goodroom guilty or innocent. I'll let you make up your
own mind. But the story of Lucas Goodram as a
wrongfully accused or innocent man, well, it doesn't have the
same feel as other instances where that's been the case. Again,
(19:23):
Goodrum had a history of violence against women, so we
certainly fit the profile of someone who could have committed
this crime. Remember, just the day before Katy was attacked,
Goodream was accused of assaulting a seventeen year old girl
by hitting her with his cell phone and holding her down.
So we're not talking about a boy scout here. Then
(19:44):
in two thousand and seven, Goodrum, who moved to Texas
after his acquittal, was arrested on charges of making third
degree terroristic threats against his ex wife and mother of
his son. Goodroom became angry when he learned his ex
was getting married and allegedly fired two shots while she
was on the phone with him. He also said he
(20:04):
would be in the area with a surprise for her
the next day, implying that he intended to kill her.
Katie Autry's family believes that Goodroom escaped justice. Autrey's aunt,
Virginia White, told the Associated Press that during Katy's funeral,
she and other family members saw a man at the
funeral home. They didn't recognize until they saw a photograph
(20:26):
of Goodrum on the television and the internet the next day.
If it was really Goodroom, the family saw the fact
he went to the funeral is chilling. We may never
know for sure if Lucas Goodram escaped justice, and it's
impossible to say if his case would have gone differently
if the investigation had been conducted by another agency with
(20:46):
greater resources and more experienced thomic side investigators. During Goodrum's
two week trial, police officers testified that they failed to
secure Autrey's second floor dorm room for hours after she
was discovered. Investigators also admitted that they failed to check
Goodrum's alibi and didn't follow up on several people. I mean,
(21:09):
these are the kind of flubs that defense attorney's dream of.
In the wake of Katy's murder, Western Kentucky University board
members seemed more concerned with absolving their staff than protecting
their students. To pay her way through school, Katie had
danced at a local strip club. The same university officials
(21:29):
responsible for the lack of security that led to her
murder decided to blame the victim and smear her name
before any suspects had been arrested. University president Gary Ransdell
was quoted as saying, sometimes young people make choices that
have very unfortunate consequences. But those are the kinds of
(21:50):
things we're trying to learn about Katie and Katy's life.
I mean, what a slimy thing to say about a
student you failed to protect. That's just an unbelievable, disappointing
statement from a purse charged with leading a university. If
WKU's president had asked Katie's friends and family, he would
have found out that she was a kind and generous
(22:12):
soul who worked extremely hard to beat the odds and
overcome her difficult childhood. On September eighteenth, two thousand and three,
the Autrey family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school,
alleging that the appelli's failure to provide adequate security caused
Katie's death. The WKU Student Life Foundation and PI Kappa
(22:34):
Alpha were also named in the suit. Western Kentucky responded
by releasing a statement that neither its staff nor its
police played a role in this tragic event. I mean,
I guess if you're being sued from millions of dollars,
that's the kind of statement you release. But just the
fact that the university made sweeping changes after Katie's murder
(22:56):
says a lot. W KU had established safety regulations for
the dorms it vanaged, including that outside doors were to
be locked and all non resident guests were required to
check in with the desk clerk, leave identification with the clerk,
and be escorted by a resident to the dorm room.
(23:16):
The family was eventually awarded two hundred thousand dollars by
the Kentucky Board of Claims, which is a rather insulting amount.
Not that any amount of money could ease the pain
of losing Katie, it's worth noting that it was the
maximum amount the Board of Claims could award the family.
As reported by Bowling Green Daily News, the board agreed
(23:37):
with claims that WKU was negligent in allowing SOULS, who
was not enrolled at the university access to Autrey's room,
finding that WKU did not follow security procedures that would
have included locking the dorm's front door, monitoring the front lobby,
or requiring Souls to sign in at the front desk
on the night of the incident. I mean credit Western
(23:59):
Kentucky University for making changes to bolster student security, but
they never truly accepted responsibility for the lapses that cost
Katie her life, and as I mentioned they initially tried
to blame the victim. As of twenty nineteen, there were
no memorial plaques for Katie on campus, and according to
Katie's cousin Johnny White, who spoke to Bowling Green Daily News,
(24:24):
her room was turned into a janitor's closet. Wow. That's
beyond disrespectful. But it's unsurprising that WKU wants everyone to
just forget about this event. It's heartbreaking that it takes
a tragedy like this to bring about decisive change. But
if there's one silver lining named Katie's death, it's that
(24:45):
college campuses across the country are now safer. However, that
doesn't mean students should stop being vigilant about recognizing and
preventing sexual violence on campus. Always look out for your
friends across campus, and please stay That's it for this
episode of Murder You, and please remember. Advocates at the
(25:06):
National Domestic Violence Hotline are available to talk confidentially with
anyone in the United States who is experiencing domestic violence,
seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship.
Call one eight hundred seven ninety nine Safe one eight
hundred seven ninety nine seven two, three, three. Be sure
(25:28):
to like and subscribe to Murder You on Spotify, Apple Music,
Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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