When 22-year-old Stacy Barnett didn’t show up at her parent’s West University Place home on July 21, her parents began calling friends in Austin, where Barnett lived with her 21-year-old boyfriend John Goosey, who also grew up in West U. When friends went to the couple’s apartment at 904 West 21st street, they found both deceased.
Austin police are releasing few details about the deaths, other than to say the two were both killed by gunshot wounds and murder/suicide has been ruled out. Lieutenant Mark Spangler said at a press conference Wednesday that the lack of forced entry into the apartment indicated that the couple knew the assailant.
“We believe that whoever may have committed this crime may have known one of the residents there,” said Spangler, who said the investigation is in the early stages, and police are asking for the help of anyone who knew the couple or have any information about what happened. “We are doing a full and detailed background on them and we hope that information will give us additional clues.”
Barnett and Goosey were both recent University of Texas graduates who grew up in West U. and attended Lamar High School. Barnett apparently made contact with a few friends earlier in the morning of July 21, and was due at her parent’s home later that day.
“…We have two people who were brutally murdered in an apartment, in their own residence, in a neighborhood I would say is relatively safe,” said Spangler. “People feel most safe inside their home. When you have two people who are murdered inside their own residence, that’s quite a concern.”
Gary Tidwell, a Houston attorney representing the Goosey family, released a statement Wednesday from John and Claire Goosey and their daughter Leslie.
“Our son was a spontaneous, gregarious young man with a bright future and a smile for everyone he met,” read the statement. “We will miss his spirit dearly.”
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