Poplar Bluff man to stand trial for alleged witness tampering

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Monday for tampering with a witness in the upcoming trials of those accused of the 1999 murder of a woman whose remains were found scattered in a secluded area near Qulin, Missouri.

After hearing testimony from Keith Edgar Atnip's alleged victim, Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth found probable cause to bind the 50-year-old over to stand trial on the charge and ordered him to appear Tuesday for arraignment.

Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ted Thompson's lone witness was Lisa Ann Gulledge, who testified she has known Atnip since he was a teenager and knew he was "friends/relatives" with the accused -- John Austin, Tracy Rea, Melissa Baggett and Marlin Rice.

The four are charged in connection with the August 1999 death of Carla Ann Austin. Authorities believe the 33-year-old woman was killed by members of her late husband's family, who blamed her for Mike Austin's earlier death.

Gulledge indicated she is to testify against the four during their trials. The defense stipulated that all are facing felony charges.

Under questioning, Gulledge said Atnip threatened her about a month and a half ago, around March 28.

"It started in his house and ended in mine," she said.

A girl called Gulledge to ask her for a ride from Atnip's house.

While there, she said, she went into the home, where she talked with Atnip, who "played a couple songs" on his guitar.

"He told me, 'I hear you are going through some things about the Austin trial,'" Gulledge said. "I said, 'yes, I am.'"

At that point, Gulledge alleges Atnip told her he was "kin to them," and she told him she had to leave.

Gulledge said Atnip told her to leave the week before the trial and not testify or she and her family would not be safe.

"I was terrified," Gulledge said. " ... I was very scared and intimidated. I felt threatened."

The next evening, Gulledge said, Atnip came by her home, saying he had "went to talk to Monk [Austin]," who is related to Mike Austin, but she didn't know how.

Mike Austin is the father of Baggett and Rea, late husband of Carla Austin and brother of Monk Austin.

"He said Monk said everything was OK, don't worry about it," Gulledge said. "He looked me straight in the eye and said, 'You don't have to worry about them; I'm the evil [expletive].'"

After that, Gulledge testified, she had no more contact with Atnip, but found her written statements missing after he left. They had been in her living room, she said.

On cross examination, Gulledge said Atnip was a friend when she was younger, but indicated they had never been romantically involved.

Gulledge said she was at Atnip's home about an hour "before he said he was kin to them."

Gulledge said she subsequently left the home because "the girl I came to pick up left on her own."

Rice asked whether anyone else was present when her client made the alleged threats.

Gulledge said it was mostly just her and Atnip, but Atnip's girlfriend was present behind her at one point.

When asked whether she called authorities after leaving Atnip's home, Gulledge said, she did not, but indicated she went home.

Gulledge said she was afraid to call because Atnip's "got goons" who knew "where I lived," which he "would pay off with dope. I had to play along" by agreeing to leave town and not testify.

Gulledge again indicated she was "very threatened" by Atnip's alleged actions.

When Atnip came to her home, Gulledge confirmed she let him in. No one else, she said, was home during the approximately 20 minutes he was there.

"When he left did you call police?" Rice asked.

Gulledge indicated she did not, but she also indicated she didn't stay at her home that evening.

When Rice asked whether she called the authorities the next day, Gulledge said, she had talked with Detective Tim Davis with the Butler County Sheriff's Department "several times" about "whether [Atnip] would hurt me or not. It kept eating at me, built up and built up."

Before the alleged March incident, Gulledge said, she had not seen Atnip in about 10 years because he was in federal prison.

Gulledge also was asked about going with Atnip's girlfriend to get her things from the home. She indicated Atnip was not home.

Gulledge also alleged Atnip "sent his goon" to intimidate her after she made her report to the sheriff's department.

After talking with her client, Rice asked about an incident in which Gulledge allegedly squealed her tires outside Atnip's home.

Gulledge said she never went in the home, but was on the public street.

The incident, she said, also involved her fiance, who "I told to come on because the girl tried to hit me. ... I got in the car to leave. I didn't want to leave [her fiance] there."