Father Of Lillelid Murderer Dies In Apparent Suicide

Friday, May 1, 1998

(Marrowbone, Kentucky) -- Authorities say a man whose son was convicted in the murders of three Tennesseans left no note before apparently hanging himself.
Arlan Bryant was found hanging from a tree near his house Wednesday night, and the case is being investigated as a suicide. Friends and family say he had been despondent since his 15-year-old son Jason pleaded guilty in the case. Jason Bryant and five other Kentuckians are serving life sentences for the April 1997 murders.
Vidar and Delfina Lillelid and their two children were returning to Powell from a Jehovah's Witnesses conference in Johnson City. They met up with the six Kentuckians at an interstate rest stop. Only then-2-year-old Peter survived.

(Copyright 1998 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)