4 11-21-88 09:21 aes w.va. ROYAL OAK, Mich. (UPI) _ The family of a former Royal Oak man s

     4  11-21-88 09:21 aes
 
w.va.
   ROYAL OAK, Mich. (UPI) _ The family of a former Royal Oak man slain
in May 1986 is encouraged that a West Virginia court has ordered a Hare
Krishna devotee to stand trial in his death.
   The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that Thomas Drescher
can be extradited to California to stand trial in the death of Stephen
L. Bryant, a 33-year-old writer and Krishna follower.
   Bryant was shot to death in his van in Los Angeles. His relatives
have been frustrated by repeated delays in the case, said his father,
Jack Bryant, 68, of Royal Oak.
   "They've been delaying and delaying," Bryant told the Detroit
News Sunday. "We're just very pleased that he (the suspect) is finally
going to California so we can find out for sure whether he's guilty or
not."
   Drescher, of Ravenna, Ohio, already is serving a life sentence for
the 1983 murder of another Krishna member.
   At the time of his death, Stephen Bryant was traveling the country
on a one-man crusade against a West Virginia Krishna community known as
New Vrindaban, accusing temple leaders of drug trafficking, prostitution
and child abuse.