Chakradara Chuck St. Denis murdered by Tirtha

from the "Charleston Newspapers The Charleston Gazette"

Drescher (Thirta das) testified he carried out the assassination at the wish of his spiritual leader, Swami Bhaktipada (Keith Ham).

"You have to understand that in my mind, it wasn't murder. It was dispatching an undesirable element from the community," Drescher said.

Drescher testified that Bhaktipada was disgusted with St. Denis (Chakradara das ) because he was a womanizer and drug pusher. St. Denis also was seeking the return of some of the $ 80,000 he had given Bhaktipada, he said.

Daruka das - Dan Reid

But it was not until St. Denis was accused of raping a woman that Drescher heard the first talk of killing anyone, he testified. Drescher said he went directly to Bhaktipada and broached the subject.

"He became pensive and turned and said 'You can only offend the spiritual master so many times,'" Drescher said.

Drescher (Thirta das) said he and another man (Daruka das - Dan Reid) killed Chuck St. Denis (Chakradara das ), then buried the body beneath a stream bed near New Vrindaban. Drescher later poured acid on the grave site.

Chakradara das - Chuck St. Denis

From the book "Monkey on a Stick"

"Shoot him!" Drescher screamed at Reid, "Shoot him!"

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

Drescher rapid-fired his .22.

Reid let his gun drop to his side.

St. Denis was hit twelve times. He crumpled and went down. But then, almost immediately, as Reid and Drescher watched in amazement, he struggled back onto his feet and half staggered, half ran back down the path toward the Blazer. He stumbled like a drunk who has been decked in a bar fight.

Drescher dropped his gun and ran after him. He lowered his shoulder and dove into St. Denis, hitting him behind the knees. The big man went down. Drescher rolled him over and climbed onto his heaving chest.

"Get a knife!" he yelled at Raid. "Get a knife!"

Reid felt like he was going to vomit. For an instant he thought about running away, but he was afraid if he did, Drescher would come after him and kill him, too. He ran into the cabin and came out with a kitchen knife.

"Chant!" Drescher was screaming. "Start chanting!"

Drescher thought he was doing St. Denis one last favor. As Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, "Those who remember me at the time of death will come to me. Do not doubt this." By forcing St. Denis to chant, Drescher thought he was guaranteeing him a more spiritual life in his next incarnation.

But St. Denis would not die. Coughing blood and gasping for breath, he tried to throw Drescher off his chest. Drescher grabbed the knife and stabbed him. Again and again. Hard and deep. Finally, the blade hit a rib and snapped. St. Denis kept struggling.

Reid ran back to his cabin and grabbed a screwdriver. Drescher stabbed St. Denis with that. St. Denis fought on, screaming in agony. Reid found a hammer and Drescher hit him with that, punching a one-inch hole in his skull. St. Denis went limp and stopped fighting. Breathing deeply, Drescher climbed off him. He and Reid were looking down at the bloody body when St. Denis started emitting long, high-pitched screams like a German shepherd that has been hit by a truck.

Drescher and Reid dragged St. Denis down the logging road to the dammed-up stream. They dumped the body on the swampy ground and stumbled around trying to find the grave Drescher had dug.

It had disappeared.

Reid was mentally numb. Part of his mind denied it was all happening; the other part screamed, "Get it over with! Get it over with!" He ran up and down, back and forth across the stream bed. Suddenly, he fell in water up to his waist. He had found the hole. Water had seeped up from the ground, filling it. While Reid bailed it out with a shovel, Drescher unfolded a sheet of plastic.

"Get over here and help me get him in this," Drescher yelled.

Reid put down his shovel, walked over to the body, and picked up one end of the plastic. They were about to wrap St. Denis's head when he opened his eyes.

"Don't do that, you'll smother me," he said.

Reid screamed, a long, piercing scream of pure terror. He stopped, glanced at the body, and screamed again. Then he bolted into the woods.

Drescher watched him go. He had expected as much out of the little wimp. Killing didn't bother Drescher; he had found that out in Vietnam. He finished sheathing St. Denis in plastic and was dragging him to the hole when Reid reappeared.

"It's a good thing for you that you came back," Drescher said in an even, menacing voice. "Get over here and help me get him in."

Reid walked around to the other side of the body and helped Drescher drop St. Denis into the hole. St. Denis was still breathing when the first shovelfuls of dirt hit him.

Reid and Drescher filled the grave; Reid working fast, Drescher at a steady pace. When the hole was covered, they knocked down Drescher's dam.

"Ever do this when you were a kid?" Drescher asked.

Reid flinched.

"I used to build dams all the time," Drescher said.

Within fifteen minutes, the stream had covered St. Denis's grave, and the gurgling current had carried away all the loose soil. The killers walked back to the artist's studio. Drescher got into St. Denis's Blazer and drove to Bridgeport, a small town across the Ohio River from Wheeling. Reid followed in Drescher's pickup truck. Drescher parked the Blazer near the home of Big John, a friend of St. Denis's and a marijuana dealer. He wiped the car clean of fingerprints, returned to the pickup, and rode back to the Artist's Studio with Reid.

When they returned across the Ohio River, they threw the .22s they had used on St. Denis out the window and into the water below the bridge. »more here«


Daruka on his way to court for the murder trial. He was the co-murderer who helped to kill Chakradhari. He has a sarcastic smile on his face because he made a deal with the prosecution to shorten his sentence.	FBI forensics team dig up the human remains of Chakradhari's body at New Vrindavan.	Daruka Das showing the police the burrial site of Chakradhari's body. He agreed to reveal the location in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Police team locates Chakradhari's skull and body remains after being shown the location by Daruka.	Police team locates Chakradhari's skull and body remains after being shown the location by Daruka.	The remains of Chakradhari Das, who was brutally murdered by Tirtha Das.

Chakradhara screamed and screamed and screamed, till the police dug him out of his grave.