Kentucky Teens Tell of Slaughter of Young Family in Tennessee
ImNot911
The article below details some of the testimony in a sentencing hearing being
held in TN this week. There is an archive of articles on the murders with
photographs of the murderers at < http://www.knoxnews.com/special/roadside/>.
Different killer, different tale
Leader says she regrets failing to save children
By Gina Stafford, News-Sentinel staff writer
Natasha Wallen Cornett listens to court testimony Wednesday.
GREENEVILLE -- Natasha Wallen Cornett failed to keep a family from dying
in what should have been only a carjacking, and on Wednesday she said
that's what she most regrets.
Cornett was testifying before Greene County Criminal Court Judge James
E. Beckner about her role in the April 6, 1997, shootings of a Powell
couple and their two children.
Cornett, 19, has been described as the leader of the six Kentuckians who
last month pleaded guilty to murdering Vidar Lillelid, 34, his wife,
Delfina, 28, and their daughter, Tabitha, 6, and attempting to kill the
couple's son, Peter, 3.
But in day two of the group's sentencing hearing, Cornett tearfully
painted herself as the Lillelids' failed savior.
And in opposition to co-defendant Jason Blake Bryant's contention
Tuesday that he shot no one, Cornett said he was the only shooter and
ignored her pleas to spare the family.
Cornett said she and Bryant, 15; Joseph Lance Risner, 21; Edward Dean
Mullins, 20; Crystal Sturgill, 18; and Karen R. Howell, 18, were en
route from Eastern Kentucky to New Orleans in Risner's Chevrolet
Citation when they stopped at a Greene County rest area. They'd already
discussed stealing another vehicle for the trip because Risner said his
wouldn't go far.
With her own relatives sobbing and the victims' relatives staring
grimly, Cornett told of being inside the rest room with Howell. Cornett
said she told Howell about seeing a "pretty little girl" there. Howell
remarked about the "pretty little boy" she'd seen.
"We were talking about how it would be cool to take kids on the road
and, like, raise them," Cornett said.
Outside, they saw the Lillelids' van and, according to Cornett, joked
about stealing it.
"But Jason (Bryant) must have overheard us and said, 'I'll do it.' "
Cornett said she lit a cigarette just before Vidar Lillelid approached
and began discussing religion. When he asked Cornett about her knowledge
of Jehovah's Witnesses, she told him she didn't follow their beliefs.
Risner joined them and told Vidar he'd like to learn more.
Cornett said she went to the Citation and moments later, Risner came to
her and said Vidar Lillelid was turning down his offer to meet at a
restaurant because the family couldn't afford it. Cornett said she had
"kind of had a bad feeling" when Risner walked the family to a picnic
table.
She and Howell approached the table and realized "Joe and Vidar were
talking about God and whatever."
Cornett said she began talking to Delfina Lillelid and Tabitha, who she
said soon gave her "a Hershey's kiss."
Ostensibly to put on another shirt, Risner, accompanied by Bryant,
walked to the Citation and back. Cornett said Risner returned, drew a
9mm pistol from under his shirt and told Vidar, "I'm sorry to have to do
this but we need your van. We're going to walk to the van, and you're
going to take us for a little ride."
Cornett and Howell sat on the floor behind the van's front seats. Bryant
sat in a "captain's chair" next to them. She said Bryant had a
.25-caliber pistol drawn on Delfina Lillelid and Tabitha, who sat in the
back next to Peter in his safety seat.
When the mother tried singing to calm her crying daughter, Bryant
ordered Delfina Lillelid "to shut up," Cornett said.
Up front, with Risner brandishing a 9mm pistol, Vidar Lillelid continued
"talking about God" as he drove.
His wife tried telling the captors her family wouldn't recognize them
again "because kids all look alike nowadays."
Her husband agreed, but according to Cornett, Risner countered, "You
better remember your religion because Christians are not supposed to
lie."
When Delfina Lillelid's nervous chatter prompted Bryant to again demand
she "shut up," her husband asked her "to calm down," Cornett said.
Sobbing, Cornett said she promised the woman "nobody would hurt her."
On nearby Payne Hollow Lane, Risner ordered everyone out of the van
after Mullins and Sturgill arrived in his car.
Vidar Lillelid put his hand over Tabitha's mouth as she began crying
while the family stood together on the roadside.
Cornett said Bryant asked Risner what to do with the Lillelids.
"And Joe said, "I don't know, man. What do you think?' " Cornett said.
"Then Jason said, "I think we should kill them.' "
Cornett said Risner returned "the little gun" to the van.
When Bryant ignored her pleas to spare the family, Cornett said she
approached the father and asked him to give her the children "so they
won't be hurt."
She said Vidar Lillelid refused, saying, "If we die then the kids will
be hurt anyway."
Cornett said she and Howell stood near the van, and Sturgill covered her
eyes as Bryant fired his first shot at Delfina Lillelid, striking her
side. Cornett said she "kind of heard" other shots but didn't see any
more because "I wasn't all there."
The shooting stopped, Bryant approached the van, muttered an obscenity
about the family still being alive, took a second gun and resumed
shooting, Cornett said.
Bryant had wrecked the blue car, and Risner was driving the van as the
six left in it. Risner "jerked the steering wheel to the right" just
before Cornett said she felt the van hit something. Looking out the back
window, she realized they had run over the couple.
She said Bryant also looked and laughed, especially at the sight of
Tabitha lying with her legs and arms out near her father.
Cornett denied District Attorney Berkeley Bell's suggestion that the
killing was an occult or Satanic ritual. She denied being the daughter
of Satan -- a remark that had been attributed to her in media interviews
she said she gave at the suggestion of her former attorney, Eric Conn.
Cornett alleged he advised her to emphasize occult and Satanic practices
in the interviews.
Cornett did reveal she cut herself to release her pain and also had cut
other members of the group. Cornett said she and Howell drank each
other's blood in a symbolic gesture to make them "blood sisters." She
also testified she drank Mullin's and Risner's blood in a ritual.
She admitted making a statement that she'd "like to go out like Mickey
and Mallory" in the movie "Natural Born Killers" although she said she
"probably was drunk" at the time.
When Bryant's attorney, Robert Jessee, asked her how the movie ended,
she said the young fictional killers "got free and went on the road and
had kids and stuff."
Cornett's mother, Madonna Wallen, testified earlier in the day and
described her daughter's dismal home life of physical and sexual abuse,
suicide attempts and mental illness.
Wallen also testified that the man Cornett has believed to be her father
is not. Cornett was born while her mother was married to Ed Wallen, but
they divorced a short time later. Cornett was the product of an
extramarital affair her mother had with the former assistant police
chief of the Pikeville. Ky., Police Department, Wallen testified.
Cornett was 3 years old when her mother filed a paternity suit to
determine that Roger Burgess fathered her. Wallen told Cornett the truth
when she was 5.
Wallen indicated she tolerated her daughter's use of alcohol with
friends in her home because "at least she was at home and not out
running around."
Wallen also revealed she once had Cornett arrested on domestic violence
charges after a fight they had because her daughter brandished her
knife.
Following her testimony, Wallen fainted outside the courthouse and fell
face down. She was revived and returned to the courtroom after a lunch
break.
Howell's testimony is expected to open the ongoing hearing today.
Copyright © 1998, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved.