Lillelid murders

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The Lillelid murders refers to a criminal case in Greeneville, Tennessee, United States in 1997. A Norwegian-Honduran-American family of Jehovah's Witnesses were carjacked and then shot; three of the four were killed. Six young people were convicted and sentenced for the crime.

Norwegian Vidar Lillelid (age 34), his American wife Delfina (28), their daughter Tabitha (6) and son Peter (2) were shot on a deserted road in Tennessee on 6 April 1997. Vidar and Delfina were found dead, while Tabitha died after being transported to the hospital. Peter, who was found lying in a ditch, was the only survivor. He had been shot once in the torso and once through the eye. As a result of the shooting, he was left blind in one eye and permanently disabled.

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Family history

Vidar Lillelid grew up in Bergen, Norway. He moved in 1985 to the US, where he married Delfina Zelaya in 1989. They met through their common involvement in Jehovah's Witnesses. She was born in New Jersey to parents from Honduras.

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Perpetrators

Six young people--Natasha Wallen Cornett, 18; Edward Dean Mullins, 19; Joseph Lance Risner, 20; Crystal R. Sturgill, 18; Jason Blake Bryant, 14; and Karen R. Howell, 17--were arrested two days after the killings. With the exception of Bryant, all had attended Betsy Layne High School. They were taken into custody in Arizona after trying to cross the Mexican border in the van which they had stolen from the Lillelid family. All of the perpetrators had difficult childhoods and lived on the edge of the law.

Karen Howell was born on September 25, 1979 in Delaware, Ohio. Her family moved to Kentucky when she was aged three.

Dean Mullins was born in 1978 in Harold, Kentucky.

Crystal Rena Sturgill was born on March 13, 1979 in Harold, Kentucky. She also attended Floyd County Technical School.

Joseph Risner was born on October 13, 1976 in Hazard, Kentucky. After dropping out of high school he attended Mayo Regional Technology Center.

Jason Blake Bryant was born July 18, 1982 in Hellier, Kentucky. He was in 8th grade at Millard High School and had an IQ of 85.

Pure evil': Looking back at the Lillelid murders 20 years later ...

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Details of the crime

Eyewitnesses observed the youths in conversation with the Lillelid family at a rest area picnic spot outside Baileyton, Tennessee. From there, they forced the family to drive them away from the rest area and to a more remote location on Payne Hollow Lane. After the family had been shot and left for dead, the six abandoned their original vehicle and left in the Lillelid's van.

Convicted murderers ask for forgiveness in 1997 Lillelid murders ...

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Trial

During the trial, Natasha Cornett said her first attorney coached her to say she was the "Daughter of Satan". District Attorney Berkeley Bell considered the Satanic angle a distraction and was relieved when Cornett's first attorney was replaced. References were made by witnesses and prosecutors at trial to rumors that the six were involved with occultism and Satanism, however no evidence was presented and this omission was cited in Mrs. Cornett's unsuccessful 2002 appeal of her conviction.

The trial was completed in March 1998. The six were convicted of felony murder as participants in felony kidnapping and carjacking that resulted in three murders (three life sentences) and an attempted murder (25 years). The six youths were sentenced to prison for life with no chance for parole. The judge applied the same aggravating circumstances for all. However, it was not exactly decided which of them had the main blame for the killings. Court testimony by the other defendants was that the youngest, Jason Bryant, had fired shots, but the judge opined another undetermined member of the group might also have done so.

Former D.A. and first responders look back on Lillelid murders 20 ...

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Aftermath of the victim family

Soon after Peter Lillelid's medical condition stabilized at the end of April 1997, a custody battle began between his maternal grandmother Lydia Selaya of Miami, Florida, US and his father's sister Randi Heier of Sweden. Citing Randi's pledge to raise Peter in the faith and teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses as the deciding factor, local Judge Fred McDonald awarded her custody of Peter on July 1, 1997.

Peter has since been raised in Sweden by his Aunt Randi Heier and her family.

As of 2007 at the age of about twelve years, he still had trouble walking because of the injuries.