CLAYTON, Mo. — The man accused of killing a doctor and a woman in St. Louis County as part of a multi-state crime spree in 2021 entered a guilty plea Monday.
It was May 15, 2021 when Tyler Terry went on the run with his girlfriend, Adrienne Simpson, after killing 71-year-old Barbara Goodkin and 58-year-old Dr. Sergei Zacharev in St. Louis County.
Both suspects were later found in South Carolina after committing two more murders in that state and one in Tennessee.
The now 29-year-old Terry was charged with 14 crimes, including murder, robbery and assault in connection with the shooting deaths of Dr. Sergei Zacharev and Barbara Goodkin. He had previously pleaded not guilty, but on Monday, he formally withdrew that plea and entered a guilty plea.
Terry was sentenced to life in prison without parole and multiple life sentences, which are all to run concurrently.
Terry was already serving a life sentence in South Carolina after he pleaded guilty to murder and multiple other crimes in November 2022. He was also charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in Memphis, Tennessee, in August 2023.
"He has consecutive sentences meaning life without parole, and then life without parole, then life without parole. Obviously, he's not going anywhere. And so he'll serve out his life sentence in the South Carolina prison," St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said.
Police said it's unclear why Terry and his alleged accomplice, Adrienne Simpson, were in St. Louis County as they have no known connections to the area or the victims.
Zacharev was shot to death and robbed in Brentwood while waiting for an Uber.
"This was a heinous crime that gripped the St. Louis metropolitan area, Rick Knox, executive director of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis, said. "(Barbara and Stanley Goodkin) were just coming home from dinner and were assaulted on Del Mar Boulevard. Dr. Zacharev was just getting off an airplane coming back from Florida and just minding his business."
Goodkin was killed while riding inside her SUV in University City along with her husband Stanley, who was also shot in the chest. His cell phone saved his life. Both shootings happened on May 15, 2021.
Knox said the Major Case Squad had about 35 investigators working on this case.
Terry and Simpson both admitted to killing Simpson's husband and another person on May 2, 2021. They both entered guilty pleas in November 2022 in those cases and were sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors in Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee agreed to waive the death penalty in exchange for the guilty pleas, in order to "prevent years of lengthy death penalty appeals and to offer all the victims and their families closure," the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said.
"This unified plea agreement effectively nullified any future legal challenge in any state," Bell said in a statement. "These cases — including our case — are now closed. This murderer will no longer pose a threat to St. Louis County or any other community in any state."
Goodkin's husband and Zacharev's brother both delivered victim impact statements in court.
"(You) should be sentenced to a burning, torturous death," Stanley Goodkin said to Terry before walking out of the courtroom.
Zacharev's brother, Alex Zacharev, said to Terry, "You're going to prison your whole life to die. Be proud of yourself."
Terry smiled the entire time as both victims gave their statements and laughed as he was escorted from the courtroom.
"This particular defendant got what he deserved. Two of the family members gave victim impact statements. And you could understand how tough that was for them. And the defendant even laughed at one point. And so, you know, these acts were just terrible. They were heartless," Bell said.
Alex Zacharev thanked the prosecutors for "getting this animal out of the street." He said his brother was an amazing person, brother, son, uncle, father, and more.
Sergei worked as an anesthesiologist, saving people's lives every day. Alex said, "Terry didn't kill just five people; he killed my whole family and left us all heartbroken."
"As Mr. Zacharev said, we were just happy that we could help him close that chapter or, as he said, burn the file so that he can move on with his life and his family. We wish we could bring his loved one back to them, their loved ones back to him, but obviously, we can't do that. But we can do everything we can to bring justice to these families," Bell said.
Simpson was also charged with 14 crimes in connection with the St. Louis County incidents. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said the court has her case under seal.
In the courtroom, Terry did not give any type of statement about why he killed Zacharev and Goodkin. Bell said, "He was afforded that right. The judge asked him if he did want to make a statement and he did not."
Bell said they're starting the process of bringing Adrienne Simpson to St. Louis County to face charges and sentencing. He expects the same outcome that Terry received.
"I'm not going to speculate as to what would make someone be able to do such heinous acts. Our job is to hold them accountable. That's what we've done with the great work of the Major Case Squad and all of the contributing departments. And the job's not done. We have one other defendant that we intend to hold accountable. We hope that that's done in the next few months," Bell said.