Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: News

It's been nearly five years since a student was raped, sodomized and set on fire after returning to her dorm from a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity party.

While the family of Melissa "Katie" Autry is preparing for the anniversary, Western continues to address security issues that arose out of the murder.

Autry's death caused changes in not only those closest to her, but in campus life as well.

Stephen L. Soules, convicted of her rape and murder, is serving life in prison with no chance for parole or probation as per the terms of his plea agreement.

Another defendant, Lucas Goodrum, was found not guilty.

Western prepares for the wrongful death claim brought against it by the Autry estate to the Board of Claims.

Meanwhile, an aunt of Autry wonders what has changed to make students safe from such attacks.

A family remembers

On May 4 and May 7 - the anniversaries of the attack and Autry's death - Autry's mother, sister, aunt and a few others come together at her grave to share memories, said Virginia Autry, the aunt who previously went by Virginia White.

Autry's sister, Lisa Autry, will usually leave letters she's written to her sister throughout the year, Virginia Autry said.

She said Autry's mother Donnie Autry and Lisa Autry still have bad days.

She said holidays, Autry's birthday and the anniversary of her death are always difficult.

"I've caught myself saying 'Katie' at Christmas," she said. "I would say something like, 'that'd look good on Katie.' It just came out."

Sometimes, she said, she forgets that Autry is gone.

"You can't help but wonder what she'd be doing and what she's not getting to do," Virginia Autry said.

Now, she lies at Rosine Cemetery in Ohio County, beside her grandparents.

A campus learns

Brian Kuster, director of Housing and Residence Life, said the day Autry was found, the doors in dorms went from being locked after midnight to being locked 24 hours.

The murder happened when students were already moving out of the dorms, so Western was able to immediately make changes to the dorms, he said.

The Campus Safety Task Force was assembled to evaluate safety concerns on campus.

The task force was consisted of parents, students, staff, Bowling Green Fire Department officers, Bowling Green Police Department officers and campus police.

Gene Tice, vice president of Student Affairs and Campus Services, also served on the task force.

The task force turned in a report in July 2003, with 18 recommendations for safety and emergency response.

Western observed all of the recommendations, sometimes spending more than was recommended and adding other safety measures, Tice said.

"We tried to deal with as many things as possible," he said.

There is only one entrance to each dorm now, instead of several; others are now emergency exits.

Western moved check-in desks by entrances, allowing resident assistants to monitor entries.

One recommendation was to improve lighting on campus and establish a lighting standard.

Tice said the result of the task force recommendation was that Western would invest about $50,000 a year into lighting and it would have taken up to 10 years to complete the lighting project.

"The president agreed to invest and do it in a year's time," Tice said.

The $1 million project will blanket the main campus this summer.

Western went beyond task force recommendations by prohibiting alcohol in fraternity and sorority houses.

Tice also said Western has installed cameras all over campus.

Kuster said that Autry's murderer being a non-student seemed to inspire students to be more cautious.

General Counsel Deborah Wilkins said the task force caused some change to campus security, but the bigger drive came after the shooting at Virginia Tech.

"I think the Autry case was unquestionably a horrible thing, but I think it involved a perpetrator who set out to kill an individual," Wilkins said. "We're never going to be able to prevent that."

Reach Holly Brown at news@chherald.com.