Hare Krishna Devotee Gets Life in 1983 Slaying

A Hare Krishna devotee convicted of murder in the 1986 slaying of a sect dissident was sentenced Wednesday in a Los Angeles court to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Thomas A. Drescher’s sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg, who followed a jury recommendation that Drescher be imprisoned instead of executed.

Drescher, 42, was convicted of murder for financial gain, which made him eligible for death in the gas chamber. Prosecutors, who said Drescher was paid $8,000 for the killing, had sought the death penalty. Drescher was found guilty on Aug. 20 of first-degree murder in the shooting of Stephen L. Bryant, 33, of Royal Oak, Mich. The conviction came in Drescher’s second trial. The jury in the first trial deadlocked. Drescher already was serving life without possibility of parole for the 1983 murder of another Krishna member, Charles St. Denis.