Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On May 4, 2003, just as the sun was rising over Western Kentucky University, one dorm room was especially dark. Katie Autry, a bright and beautiful student, was lying dead in that room. She had been raped, stabbed, drenched in an accelerant, and burned alive.
Join us for Behind the Dorm Room Door. Two men emerged as suspects once the investigation onto Katie’s death began: Stephen Soules, a poor drifter, and Lucas Goodrum, a man with a history of violence. One confessed while the other denied everything. The truth behind Katie’s murder seemed lost forever. What happened in that room? Who was responsible for this act of cruelty and horror? The echoes of that terrible night continue to resonate in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Sources
Bluegrass by William Van Meter
Death in the Dorms, S1 E6, 1/5/2023
Murder She Wrote, On the Case with Paula Zahn, S4 E30, 11/28/2010
Stephen Lee Soules Appeal, Commonwealth of Kentucky, 3/20/2009
On May 4, 2003, just as the sun was rising over Western Kentucky University, one dorm room was especially dark. Katie Autry, a bright and beautiful student, was lying dead in that room. She had been raped, stabbed, drenched in an accelerant, and burned alive.
Join us for Behind the Dorm Room Door. Two men emerged as suspects once the investigation onto Katie’s death began: Stephen Soules, a poor drifter, and Lucas Goodrum, a man with a history of violence. One confessed while the other denied everything. The truth behind Katie’s murder seemed lost forever. What happened in that room? Who was responsible for this act of cruelty and horror? The echoes of that terrible night continue to resonate in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Sources
Bluegrass by William Van Meter
Death in the Dorms, S1 E6, 1/5/2023
Murder She Wrote, On the Case with Paula Zahn, S4 E30, 11/28/2010
Stephen Lee Soules Appeal, Commonwealth of Kentucky, 3/20/2009
