Extradited Krishna Faces Murder Trial in Slaying of Critic

A Hare Krishna devotee, already serving a life-without-parole prison sentence in West Virginia for the murder of a fellow sect member, was charged Friday with the 1986 Los Angeles murder of a former Krishna member who had turned into a vociferous critic of the religious sect.

Thomas A. Drescher, who was extradited to California on Thursday, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Municipal Court in the death of Stephen L. Bryant, a critic of the sect whose slaying two years ago helped spark a wide-ranging, ongoing federal grand jury investigation in West Virginia of the Hare Krishnas.

In the Los Angeles case, Drescher, 40, is charged with special circumstances, including murder-for-hire, which means he could face the death penalty if convicted. West Virginia does not have capital punishment, according to Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris, who is prosecuting Drescher.

Norris said the murder-for-hire allegation “naturally focuses on the hirer.” He said the investigation into who ordered Bryant’s murder is continuing, but declined to be more specific.

Outside the courtroom after Drescher’s arraignment, Norris said he believes the evidence will show that Drescher had hunted Bryant and that Bryant knew he was being stalked. Shortly before his murder, Bryant was arrested and jailed for a time in West Virginia for illegally carrying a gun.

Norris also said Bryant was assassinated “not just for financial gain,” but also because of a “very definite philosophical commitment to Hare Krishna” on the part of those responsible for his murder.

Norris declined to be more specific about potential prosecution witnesses in the case, saying he was concerned for their safety. In the West Virginia murder case against Drescher, a key prosecution witness was seriously injured in a mysterious explosion at his home the day after Drescher was arrested.

Norris, a veteran prosecutor in the district attorney’s special trials unit, said he expects to present, at Drescher’s preliminary hearing, “sufficient evidence” that others may be involved in Bryant’s death.

Municipal Judge Elva R. Soper set Dec. 7 for a hearing to set the date of the preliminary hearing, a routine criminal proceeding where a judge decides whether there is sufficient evidence to try a defendant.

Bryant, 33, was shot to death, with two bullet wounds in the head, in his van in the Palms area on May 22, 1986. Authorities said the former Michigan resident had left West Virginia a month earlier after a falling out with sect leaders there.

‘Palace of Gold’

Bryant was a former resident of the sect’s New Vrindaban community near Moundsville, W. Va., where the sect had built a lavish “Palace of Gold” that once attracted as many as 250,000 tourists a year.

There, Bryant became embittered and later blamed Krishna leaders for the breakup of his marriage. He then began publicizing his complaints against them, including making accusations of prostitution, drug use and child abuse.

Drescher was arrested in Kent, Ohio, five days after Bryant’s slaying. Drescher then was charged with the June, 1983, murder of another Krishna member, Charles St. Denis, who was shot and stabbed to death and buried near a stream. The motive in that killing was never clearly established, although authorities have speculated that it may have been drug-related or have resulted from a soured business deal involving a house Drescher had sold to St. Denis.

In December, 1986, Drescher and another Krishna member, Daniel R. Reid, were convicted of murdering St. Denis. Since then, Drescher has fought extradition to California from the West Virginia State Penitentiary. But last month, the West Virginia Supreme Court denied Drescher’s request to block extradition. Los Angeles Police Department detectives brought Drescher here Thursday.

In court for the brief arraignment on Friday, Drescher identified himself as Tirtha Swami. Through his court-appointed lawyer, Deputy Los Angeles Public Defender Mark Lessem, Drescher requested that he be given a vegetarian diet while in County Jail.

Death of Founder

Authorities believe Bryant’s slaying stemmed from a rift in the Hindu sect that began after the 1977 death in India of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Hare Krishna’s 82-year-old founder. After his death, 11 gurus in the worldwide sect began carving out areas of dominance, which contributed to the widespread internal strife.

Those conflicts led to a reformist movement whose members began questioning the sect’s leaders and their practices. Bryant became the movement’s most outspoken critic as he trekked around the United States meeting with law enforcement officials and journalists, airing allegations of wrongdoing against Krishna leaders.

Bryant had joined the street-chanting, saffron-robed sect in Detroit at age 21.