 "Photo: Tamir Kalifa/The Daily Texan")
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Police identified the two individuals found dead in West Campus apartment as UT graduates Stacy Barnett and John Goosey and classified their deaths as a double homicide Wednesday.
Barnett and her boyfriend Goosey, both in their early 20s, were found dead Tuesday afternoon at the Preservation Square Condos at 904 W. 21st St., when Barnett’s parents asked friends to check up on her. Barnett, who graduated in May, planned to return to her parents’ home in Houston but never appeared there.
Lt. Mark Spangler of the Austin Police Department’s violent crime unit said both Goosey and Barnett had been shot and preliminary evidence suggests they were both killed by someone they knew.
“There was no sign of forced entry into the apartment, so we think at this point that while that is still a possibility, we believe whoever may have committed this crime at least knew one of the residents,” Spangler said.
Investigators are still trying to piece together the events of that night, but police have no leads or suspects in the case. At least 10 people, friends and neighbors of the two residents, have been interviewed by police, and the number is growing, Spangler said.
“We are coming to you, we are asking for the public’s help,” Spangler said.
“Right now, we are actively looking for whoever or whomever would have committed these murders,” Spangler said. “We are doing a full and detailed background on them, and we hope that information will give us additional clues. Any little piece for us can potentially lead to another lead for us.”
Spangler said Barnett had been in contact with friends around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning and was packing her belongings for her trip home. At 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, she was found dead along with Goosey.
The apartment where the homicide took place was sealed by police security tape along 21st Street.
One resident on the street said he was not home when emergency crews responded to the bodies’ discovery, but said his wife heard Barnett’s friends call police. The man said he was not afraid for his own personal safety, confident the number of police officers and the amount of media attention surrounding incident would have driven the perpetrators away.
For Barnett and Goosey’s friends and family, questions still remain as to who could have committed the murders.
Jennifer Rangubphai, a business major at St. Edwards University and Barnett’s cousin, said she was driving along Congress Avenue with a friend when she learned Barnett had been murdered.
She said she had to pull over and let her friend drive because she was shaking so much.
“I really didn’t understand what was going on,” Rangubphai said. “That anyone could do this is just unbelievable.”
The last time she and Barnett spoke was almost a week ago, when Rangubphai said they met for lunch. There, Barnett never hinted there were problems in her life.
“She always let on that everything was fine,” Rangubphai said. “She was a beautiful person. She would never hurt anyone. She was just an all-around good person. She was always active and doing things.”
Rangubphai said she did not know how long her cousin and Goosey had been dating.
“We don’t really know a whole lot about him,” Rangubphai said.
A friend close to Goosey, who did not want his name printed, said he learned of his friend’s death Wednesday morning.
“We don’t know if it’s a random act of violence or if he got mixed up in something,” he said. “I am still shaking. It’s just a feeling of disbelief.”
Police said they want residents to remain alert.
“Until we have somebody that we are going to hold in custody and responsible for these crimes, we want people to be vigilant,” Spangler said. “We want them to be aware of their surroundings, and we also want them to know we are doing our best to find the persons responsible.”
Anyone with information can call APD’s homicide hot line at (512) 477-3588.
24 comments
I'm sorry that you had to read these horrible comments that one or 2 people wrote about your relative. I can assure you that the rest of Austin is mourning, and that is just a person with a cruel sense of humor. You're right- drugs or not- this is sad and wrong. Hopefully this Ricky Thompson guy is the guy APD was looking for and justice is served. Many prayers to your family.
Tell your family and friends and get out.My heart goes out to the families of these kids.
There are much safer college towns then Austin; I'm not expecting it to be crime free but isn't there something else this city can do (besides carrying shotguns around, nice suggestion)