Krishna Starts Prison Term for Murder

Thomas Drescher, convicted of murdering a fellow Hare Krishna whose death has not yet been confirmed by positive identification of his body, has begun serving a life sentence in prison, while an accomplice has been sentenced to a one- to five-year term.

Drescher underwent the regular routine for new prisoners before he was assigned Wednesday to his cell in the general population of the maximum-security prison, said Warden Jerry Hedrick.

Before reporting to the Moundsville facility, the 37-year-old Ravenna, Ohio, man underwent physical and psychological tests the day before at Huttonsville Correctional Center.

Drescher was convicted last month of the murder of Krishna devotee Charles Saint-Denis and was sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole.

Plea Bargain Made

Drescher’s accomplice in the murder, Daniel Reid, 31, of Los Angeles, plea bargained with prosecutors last week and on Monday was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of one to five years in a federal penitentiary.

After entering his plea last week, Reid led investigators to the place where he said he and Drescher had buried Saint-Denis after shooting, stabbing and clubbing him to death.

Investigators exhumed a body from the spot in a remote area of the Krishna compound in northern West Virginia that they believe is Saint-Denis. A positive identification has not yet been made.

Drescher also has been charged with the murder in Los Angeles of Krishna dissident Steve Bryant and is expected to stand trial in California.

Last week, reports indicated that Drescher threatened to commit suicide in the Marshall County Jail. He subsequently was placed on a 24-hour “suicide watch.” Frank Phares, deputy warden at the Huttonsville facility, said Drescher was kept clothed without handcuffs in an isolation cell there Tuesday. Authorities said the inmate told people he had no intentions of serving even one day of his prison sentence.

Hedrick said Drescher will be placed on a “suicide watch” at the prison only if such reports are reaffirmed by prison officials.