Houston County jury: William Lawrence Carpenter guilty of attempted abduction

PERRY -- A Houston County jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday before finding William Lawrence Carpenter guilty of attempting to abduct a woman at gunpoint from a Warner Robins dry cleaners when she was 19 in March 2012.

Jurors found Carpenter guilty of one count of aggravated assault, one count of attempted kidnapping and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime.

Superior Court Judge George Nunn said from the bench that a sentencing hearing for Carpenter would be held sometime next week. Carpenter, a former manager of a Macon wireless store, faces from six to 40 years in prison, according to the Houston County District Attorney's Office.

Carpenter, who remained composed after the verdict, gave his high school sweetheart and wife of eight years a long hug before he was led away by sheriff's deputies to jail. He had been free on house arrest and electric monitoring at his father-in-law's Leesburg home awaiting trial.

His wife, mother and father and father-in-law sat behind him during the duration of the four-day trial.

Behind prosecutors, victim Kaylie Lopez watched the remainder of the trial after her testimony Tuesday. She was flanked by family members and friends.

Lopez, who shed tears when the verdict was read, declined comment afterward.

Carpenter's Macon attorney Keith Fitzgerald and Assistant District Attorney Greg Winters both declined comment after the verdict with the sentencing hearing pending.

Earlier Thursday, jurors heard closing arguments from attorneys in which they were asked to consider whether Carpenter was the victim of a prank in which his vehicle was used, or whether he did attempt to abduct Lopez.

Carpenter claimed he was on the putting green at Oakview Golf Course off Hartley Bridge Road when the attempted kidnapping took place shortly before 2 p.m. March 29, 2012.

Carpenter told jurors Wednesday that he left his car keys and work cell phone in his Toyota 4Runner with the windows rolled down. He testified that he returned after four hours to put away his clubs and discovered his vehicle tag was missing and the plate that surrounded it was on the ground.

Fitzgerald argued that prosecutors had to place more than Carpenter's vehicle at the crime scene but also Carpenter himself.

Fitzgerald also reminded jurors of expert testimony that eye witness identification of strangers is unreliable.

Lopez, who had worked part-time at the dry cleaners while attending college, identified Carpenter from the witness stand during the trial. Amanda Booth, a customer at the dry cleaners, also identified Carpenter from the witness stand.

But both were not 100 percent that Carpenter was the man when they picked him out of a police photographic lineup a few days after the incident, according to testimony and evidence introduced at trial.

Fitzgerald argued that it just didn't make sense that Carpenter, a college graduate who had a good job and career, would attempt to kidnap someone. He noted that authorities have never been able to make a connection between Carpenter and Lopez.

But Winters argued that Carpenter must be the unluckiest man if what he claims were true.

Winters questioned the believability of the defense theory that someone stole Carpenter's 4Runner, then attempted to abduct Lopez as a high school prank, next returned Carpenter's vehicle to the golf course and then stole the vehicle tag.

He noted that Carpenter matched the description of the suspect that Lopez gave police immediately after the incident. Lopez, who refused to get in her would-be abductor's 4Runner, took a photo of the fleeing vehicle that police used to track the 4Runner to Carpenter.

Winters told jurors that authorities don't know why Carpenter tried to abduct Lopez.

"Why? Only he knows," Winters said. "You can't make sense out of a senseless act."

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

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Houston County jury: William Lawrence Carpenter guilty of attempted abduction ."