Accused would-be abductor testifies at his Houston County trial

PERRY -- William Lawrence Carpenter testified Wednesday that he was at a Macon golf course when an attempted kidnapping that he's accused of committing took place at a Warner Robins dry cleaner in March 2012.

"I don't know who did this," Carpenter told jurors. "I know I didn't. ... I'm facing serious time for something I didn't do. This is incredibly scary," he said.

Carpenter, the former manager of a wireless telephone store, testified he shaved, had breakfast and then went to Oakview Golf Course for about four hours. He had the day off from work.

Carpenter said he left his keys and work cell phone inside his Toyota 4Runner with the windows down.

When he returned to his vehicle, Carpenter said the tag was missing. The license plate that went around the tag was on the ground.

He called the Bibb County Sheriff's Office and reported the tag stolen, a deputy later came to his home to make a report and Carpenter got a new tag the same day.

Carpenter was questioned about his vehicle by Warner Robins police Detective Mark Wright, who initially told him a vehicle like his had been seen near the scene of an accident. When Wright previously showed Carpenter a photo of the suspect's vehicle, he said it couldn't be his. Carpenter later realized the car in the photo had to have been his but he said he didn't know how it got involved.

Kaylie Lopez, who was 19 when she worked at Master Cleaners on Russell Parkway, used her cell phone to take a photo of the vehicle her would-be abductor fled in.

Police made out three of the numbers and narrowed down the possible letters on the license plate to create 14 combinations. One of those combinations matched the license plate of a Toyota 4Runner. That vehicle's tag was registered to Carpenter.

Also, a blown-up photo of the vehicle that police showed Carpenter had two dark spots on the back window. Police found two sport placards on the back window of Carpenter's vehicle in the same location as the dark spots in the photo. Police found two pieces of black paper in Carpenter's vehicle -- each large enough to cover the placards.

Carpenter testified he'd covered the placards to protect them when he washed his vehicle that day.

Psychologist Robert William Shomer, an expert in eyewitness identification from Encino, California, testified Wednesday that eyewitness identification of strangers has been proven to be unreliable.

"It's about like flipping a coin," he said.

Shomer said stress and the presence of a weapon reduce accuracy even more. He also said the way police conduct the eyewitness identification can affect the outcome.

Lopez identified Carpenter as her would-be abductor from the witness stand Tuesday. But when she looked at a photographic lineup a few days after the incident, she wasn't sure. Suspect No. 2 was Carpenter.

"Either two or five, but I'm leaning more toward two, but I'm not 100 percent," Lopez said in a video played Wednesday.

Amanda Booth, a customer who'd come into the dry cleaner and left while the would-be abductor was there, also picked Carpenter out of the same lineup but also wasn't 100 percent sure. She was certain on the witness stand Tuesday, though.

Carpenter's wife of eight years, Morgan Carpenter, testified Wednesday that when she left for work the morning of the incident that her husband was shaving. Lopez told police immediately after the incident that her would-be abductor had a "slightly scruffy beard."

Also Wednesday, Carpenter's friends Andrew Ray and Eric Boyd testified that he a good reputation in the community and was known for being truthful.

Jasmin Tell, a records custodian for Verizon wireless, testified that a misdial to Carpenter's work phone pinged a cell tower on Feagin Mill Road in Warner Robins at 1:41 p.m. on the same day of the attempted kidnapping, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m.

Closing arguments are expected Thursday.

To contact Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Accused would-be abductor testifies at his Houston County trial ."