THE ISKCON KILLERS WHO MURDERED SULOCANA
"Upon my death, that’s when everything will unfold.
When I die, then everyone will see.
Sulochan’s lifeless body at the LA Morgue (May 22, 1986).
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THE ISKCON KILLERS WHO MURDERED SULOCANA
(From The Book: "Killing for Krishna")
Kirtanananda: “If Tirtha [Thomas Drescher - the one who shot Sulochana] takes the whole thing, and no other boys get caught, then he’ll go back to Godhead at the end of this lifetime.”—“His Divine Grace” Kirtanananda Swami “Bhaktipada” (Keith Gordon Ham), the ISKCON zonal acharya at New Vrindaban, known as “Number One.”
Here on his vyasasana (throne) at the newly-dedicated RVC temple at New Vrindaban. Publicity photo (1983). In May 1990, a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Bhaktipada on six counts of mail fraud, including using the mail to send followers the counterfeit souvenirs they were to sell, and five counts of racketeering, as well as murder charges of two devotees. Kirtanananda pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges that included conspiracy to commit the murders-for-hire of two devotees: Charles St. Denis, killed in 1983, and Steve Bryant, killed in 1986. He was sentenced to 20 years, later reduced to 12. Bhaktipada, who was released from prison in 2004 after serving eight years of a 12-year sentence, moved to India in 2008. He died on Monday in a hospital in Thane (near Mumbai), Maharashtra, India 24 October 2011. He was 74.
Hayagriva: “This guy [Sulochan] is getting out of control. It would be nice if someone would silence him once and for all.”— Hayagriva (Howard Wheeler), Keith Ham’s college roomate, lover, best friend, and co-founder of New Vrindaban. Here with his life-long buddy at a Labor Day Festival at New Vrindaban (September 1984).
Kuladri: “We have to finish this thing. As long as that guy [Sulochan] is walking around, he’s a threat to Bhaktipada. He won’t be thinking anyone’s after him out in California. At least no one from New Vrindaban. If something happens out there, there won’t be as much heat on us. In time the whole thing will blow over. If everything runs smoothly, they won’t be able to prove anything.”— Kuladri (Arthur Villa), New Vrindaban’s temple president, known as “Number Two.” Here officiating as a priest at a New Vrindaban fire sacrifice (1984).
When asked if he had been “involved with the killing of Sulochan,” Tapahpunja Swami boasted, “I engineered it. It was completely Vedic. He offended Bhaktipada.”— His Holiness Tapahpunja Swami (Terry Sheldon), the president of Cleveland ISKCON, at New Vrindaban (undated).
Tirtha: “That son of a bitch [Sulochan] is . . . going to have to be killed, and I am the one that is going to do it.”— Tirtha (Thomas Arthur Drescher), New Vrindaban’s chief “enforcer” and hit man, in court (undated).
Tirtha was Radhanath's paid assassin. For the murder of Sulocana he received 80'000 US Dollars. He said he placed the sticker, which said "Are we having fun yet?" on the van of Stephen Bryant (Sulocana das) before tracking him down in 1986 in Los Angeles, where he shot Sulocana twice in the head. Drescher testified he carried out the assassination at the wish of his spiritual leader, Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada (Keith Ham). - A judge sentenced convicted Hare Krishna hit man Thomas Arthur Drescher to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1986 slaying of a critic of the sect. Drescher will serve the sentence consecutively with a life sentence he is already serving in West Virginia for another murder conviction. If Drescher is ever released from West Virginia prison, he will serve the remainder of his sentence in Los Angeles.
Janmastami: “Even if Kirtanananda Swami had . . . full sex with ten thousand children, he’s still the guru of the universe, and if you don’t accept that, you’re going to hell.”— Janmastami (John Sinkowski), Tirtha’s partner in crime, chanting japa on the sidewalk in the front of the RVC temple (September 1991).
“Gorby was more fired up to destroy Sulochan than any of the devotees.” Russell “Randall” Clark Gorby, retired steel worker, longtime “friend” of New Vrindaban, vocal advocate for the murder of Sulochan, and government informant (undated). Gorby, who helped the Krishnas purchase their West Virginia property, supposedly??? committed suicide last summer on the same day he was to be questioned by federal authorities in West Virginia about the Bryant murder and shortly before he was due in Los Angeles for Drescher's first trial. Gorby was found killed in his pickup truck in July of 1990 with a gunshot wound to his head. Looks like he wouldn't make it to testify against Kirtanananda in the big trial. His death is very suspicious.
Radhanath: “What was I supposed to do under those circumstances? We were convinced that Bhaktipada was a pure devotee and that Sulochan was determined to murder him, so we thought we were obligated to stop some demon from killing a pure devotee by any means possible.”— His Holiness Radhanath Swami (Richard Slavin), “gentle and humble” sannyasi dearly loved by the Brijabasis (undated). The Relationship Between Tirtha (Sulocana's murderer) and Radhanatha Swami.
Dharmatma: “Radhanath Swami won’t like all this coming out. Too bad. I had to be responsible for my transgressions [and go to prison]. He should do the same.”— Dharmatma (Dennis Gorrick), Director of New Vrindaban’s multi-million dollar “Scam-Kirtan” panhandling operation. Image from Brijabasi Spirit (January-February 1977).
Ramesvara: “He [Sulochan] should be transmigrated to his next body.”— “His Divine Grace” Ramesvara Maharaja (Robert Grant), the ISKCON zonal acharya for Southern California and head of the North American BBT, during a rare visit to New Vrindaban. Photo from Brijabasi Spirit (summer 1985).
Krishna-Katha: “My guru, Ramesvara, said: ‘K. K., if you ever see Sulochan, call New Vrindaban.’ And because I heard that Sulochan may frequent the area, I kept an eye out for his vehicle.”— Krishna-Katha (Jeffrey Breier), head of security at Los Angeles ISKCON and Tirtha’s assistant. Breier helped hunt down Sulochan and was with Tirtha until moments before the murder. Some say he witnessed the murder. (Undated Linkedin photo, c. 2010)
ISKCON's Malati Implicates Herself in the Murder Conspiracy -- Tirtha Das had been sentenced to life with no possibility of parole. His only chance for being released is if
Malati (Melanie Nagel) can convince the State Governor to pardon him, and that is what she has been working on for many years. But let us ask ourselves the real relevant question: Why would Malati be intimately involved in canvassing for a murderer’s release from prison unless she was involved in the conspiracy to murder Sulochana. http://krishna1008.blogspot.com/2019/11/iskcons-malati-implicates-herself-in.html. Devotees chanting outside Tirtha's prison to get him released.
Malati writes: "The person who was charged with and admitted to the murders of Steve Bryant and St. Denis is Thomas Drescher, aka Tirtha das, who is in prison for life. Therein lies an interesting story, should anyone care to know. But, to make a long story short, this person has undergone a deeply profound recitification and transformation. So much so that the chief prosecutor against him, Michael Stein from the District Attorney's office, feels that he is worthy of a pardon. He contacted me recently and in that conversation stated that he has rarely, almost never, witnessed a change in the character of a convicted felon, but he has seen this in the case of Thomas Drescher, who he refers to by his initiated name, Tirtha das. On his end, Mr. Drescher has become a sober humble person, accepting the results of his awful deeds (double life sentence w/o possible parole) as a befitting indication of Krishna's mercy on him." -- Malati Dasi, letter to Giri-nayaka Das, December 26 2006.
Sulocana: “They are constantly watching me. I know some morning I will go to sleep and not wake up.”— Sulochan (undated) - Sulocana (Steven Bryant), 33, was shot twice in the head (by Tirtha, Thomas Drescher) at close range as he sat in his parked van near the Krishna temple in the Palms area of Los Angeles.
Triyogi: “I felt I had to either kill myself, kill Bhaktipada, or leave.”—Triyogi (Michael Shockman), the mentally disturbed visiting devotee who tried to kill Bhaktipada on October 27, 1985, by smashing his skull with a three-foot-long steel rod reported to weigh twenty pounds. Here at the Marshall County Jail in Moundsville, West Virginia (undated). Triyogi dasa bashed in the head of Kirtanananda with a heavy pipe, enraged by the realization that the exclusive eleven paramahamsas were never appointed 'to be gurus' by Srila Prabhupada; his anger was compounded by the fact that Kirtanananda was currently an active homosexual pedophile presenting himself as a 'guru'.
Kirtanananda: “Every doctor that I talked to said it [the blow on my head] was enough to kill a hundred men. When I was attacked, Krishna absolutely incarnated to protect me. The brain scan, the X-ray, taken just after the accident, showed an unmistakable image of [the half-man/half-lion avatar] Lord Nrsimhadeva [the Great Protector of the devotees]. Krishna incarnated to protect me from the blows of that man.” — Swami Bhaktipada, speaking of the MRI image of a cross section of his brain, which, when turned upside down, resembles a ghastly face.
Kirtanananda: “The assailant [Triyogi] was a crazy madman . . . who had been influenced by Sulochan.”—Bhaktipada, ambulating with great difficulty using a walker, in the temple room at his home (December 4, 1985). He had been ten days in a coma, three weeks on the critical list, and 26 days in the hospital.
Sulocana: “Upon my death, that’s when everything will unfold. When I die, then everyone will see.” Sulochan’s lifeless body at the Los Angeles morgue (May 22, 1986).
Srila Prabhupada: “These rogues [so-called acharyas] are the most dangerous elements in human society. . . . These pseudo-religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe [hell] after completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.”— His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), the Founder/Acharya of ISKCON. Photo taken during his fourth and final visit to New Vrindaban (June 1976).
"By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this way, they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative acharyas, the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession. . . To mislead the people in general, they themselves become so-called acharyas, but they do not even follow the principles of the acharyas.
Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gita that envious demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell (Bg. 16.19-20). Sri Isopanisad confirms that these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification." (Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 12, purport (emphases added)
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