28 years ago today, Sunday, April 6 1997, a man and wife and their two young children returning to their Knoxville area home from a religious convention in Johnson City, Tennessee would stop at an I-81 rest stop in Greene County. There, the Lillelid family would come in contact with six young Kentuckians. And from there, the terror began as the family was driven to Payne Hollow Lane off the Baileyton Exit. All four were shot, three died, only the youngest survived.
INITIAL PRESS RELEASE – APRIL 7
A manhunt ensued, and eventually the six suspects were captured near the Arizona/Mexico border. They would be returned to Greene County to face trial.
The trial ended however when all six pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and were sentenced to three consecutive life terms, without the possibility for parole.
Despite the numerous pleas which have followed since the convictions, none of the six have been able to convince judges over the years that they should be granted a new trial, their time should be reduced or at least have an opportunity for parole at some point.
Crystal Sturgill was 18 at the time and Karen Howell, one of two minors involved, was 17. Sturgill is now 46, and Howell 45.
Both are incarcerated at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Lauderdale County.
Joe Risner, the oldest of the group at 20 years of age, is now 48 and is held at the Northeast Correctional Complex in nearby Johnson County.
Edward Dean Mullins is at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Hickman County. Mullins was 19 when the murders occurred. He is now 47.
Natasha Cornett is imprisoned at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville, Tennessee. 18 at the time, she is now 46.
The Department of Corrections uses a custody classification system to assess inmates with regard to the risk they present to themselves, other inmates, staff and the community.
Five of the six inmates are classified minimum custody. The only one who is not is Natasha Cornett, who is listed medium custody. The reason for the higher status than the others is not mentioned on the Department of Corrections Felony Offender list. However, Cornett has been the only inmate to receive additional news coverage for their actions behind bars since sentencing.
It was in August of 2001, when Christa Gail Pike was charged with the attempted murder of fellow inmate Patricia Jones. Pike, Jones and Cornett were being held for a short time in the same area, following a fire at the prison. It was then that Pike attempted to strangle Jones with a shoe string and nearly succeeded before guards intervened. Pike was later found guilty of attempted murder. Although it was the position of the Tennessee Department of Corrections that Cornett assisted her friend in the attack, their investigators concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge her as well.
Pike you may remember was found guilty in the 1995 death of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Core member. Pike was convicted of the beating and torture death of Slemmer, which included taking a piece of her skull as a trophy. Pike remains on death row nearly thirty years later, the only woman of the 46 prisoners on Tennessee’s Death Row.
Jason Bryant was the youngest of the suspects, fourteen, when the Lillelid murders occurred. He is now 42 and is incarcerated at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville.
Although as part of their plea agreements, with all six suspects pleading guilty to three counts each of first degree murder, since their convictions, some of the others have blamed Bryant for the murders.
The Department of Corrections lists all six with three first degree murder convictions without the possibility of parole. But Bryant is the only one of the six who has other convictions on the D.O.C. list, one for attempted first degree murder, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of theft of property.
