Note: Reposted from SUN In his recent "Letter from Prison", Tirtha dasa is found to contradict himself regarding Kuladri’s involvement in the Sulocana murder. In his January 1, 2007 letter he stated: “Everyone knows who Radhanath Swami is. Thousands of devotees can vouch for his character. The same can be said of Umapati Swami and Kuladri. These devotees know only their service to Srila Prabhupada.” This suggests that Kuladri – who was second in command at New Vrindaban, the top man in New Vrindaban management, second only to Bhaktipada – was a sweet and gentle devotee who was only concerned with his service to Srila Prabhupada. In the passage above, Tirtha essentially states that Kuladri was not aware of nor interested in the plot to murder Sulocana.
Contrary to this statement, however, in correspondence written by Tirtha in September, 2003 he wrote: "At several high-level management meetings, I was invited to attend. It was jointly agreed that Sulochan posed a clear and present danger to Kirtanananda (others also). The top men concluded that it was preferable to deal with the fallout of Sulochan’s death than Kirtanananda’s. No one thought they could continue on without Kirtanananda. He was that important to them. It was as if their lives depended on him. To a man they agreed they couldn’t imagine going on-as a community or as devotees-if Kirtanananda was killed. The only solution presented was that Sulochan be eliminated. And if somehow he slipped through [and killed Kirtanananda] because no one had the cajones or faith in Krishna to do the needful-well you’ll have to live with being a coward for the rest of your life." So in 2003, Tirtha acknowledged in writing that the top management of New Vrindaban was involved. Now, in his January 1, 2007 letter, he claims that Kuladri was not involved. One of these two contradicting statements may be true, but one is most certainly a blatant lie.
Clearly, it was impossible that the New Vrindaban management was ignorant of the Sulocana murder plot. As was common knowledge, and as evidenced by Tirtha's own statement, recorded on a wire tap, the community was supposed to pay him getaway money. This wire tap documents Tirtha's telephone conversation with government informant Randall Gorby, in which he asked Tirtha why the New Vrindaban community was not honoring their promise to pay his expense and traveling money. This conversation was played at one or more trials:
Gorby: Do you have a place to go?
Tirtha: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Gorby: Well, I’d really get on ‘em. I can’t understand them not coming through with it.
Tirtha: It’s just ridiculous because they’ve got a hundred thousand coming in every week.
Gorby: What agreement did you make with. . .
Tirtha: Well, it’s just that eight figure.
Gorby: Yeah.
Tirtha: I mean it was just like they, a . . . liked it. They actually thought that was a bargain basement price and they were all happy with it.
Gorby: Yeah.
Tirtha: It was a bargain fuckin’ basement. I mean you couldn’t go any lower than that. . . .
But I don’t think he’s setting me up. I really don’t think Bhaktipada’s trying to set me up. That’s who Tapahpunja was with.
Gorby: Oh.
Tirtha: He was with him for ten straight hours.
Gorby: And Dharmatma gave him? Had the money?
Tirtha: No. He got it right out of his hand.
Gorby: Oh, from Bhaktipada?
Tirtha: That’s right. He counted it out personally.
Gorby: Well why the hell didn’t he give you the full amount, Tom?
Tirtha: I don’t know.
Tapapunja has already admitted that he had to drive from Ohio to New Vrindaban to beg the authorities, including Kuladri, to give Tirtha the money, but no one would cough it up. Finally Tapapunja had to approach Bhaktipada himself for the money, and explain why it was so important. This was clearly not something simply between Tirtha, Janmastami, and the Los Angeles devotees. There was a big conspiracy at New Vrindaban, and top level management was involved.
In an unpublished manuscript written 12-13 years ago by Tirtha, he was quite explicit about Kuladri’s role in the Sulocana murder. In that manuscript Tirtha stated: "Sulochan had been targeted for death by the community’s leaders. A few weeks later, Kuladri directed me to see Dharmatma to pick up additional expense money. Earlier, Kuladri had talked to me about taking another trip to California. He said he’d received a call that Sulochan was traveling between Berkeley and Los Angeles, rallying his forces again. Kuladri said that Bryant had called him a few days earlier to tell him that he would “get even,” if it was the last thing he ever did. According to Kuladri, that could only mean one thing. Sulocana was determined to kill Bhaktipada.
“We have to finish this thing,” Kuladri said. “As long as that guy is walking around, he’s a threat
to Bhaktipada. He won’t be thinking anyone’s after him out in California. At least no one from New Vrindaban. If something happens out there, there won’t be as much heat on us. In time the whole thing will blow over. If everything runs smoothly, they won’t be able to prove anything.” In his January 2007 letter from prison, Tirtha tells a very different story. He now suggests that Kuladri and Radhanatha were not involved. By Tirtha's own contradictions, we can see that his defense of Kuladri cannot be believed. And two eyewitnesses have admitted that they heard Radhanatha say to Tirtha or Janmastami: “the demon must be destroyed.” At the time, everyone would have known what that meant: the demon was Sulocana.
Another interesting question that has emerged is why Tirtha hasn't turned Janmastami in?
Janmastami himself admits that the only reason he wasn't tried and convicted was because doing so would have required the prosecutor to get to him through Radhanatha. The deal was arranged so that Radhanatha walked free, yet here we have Janmastami, openly admitting his involvement in the murders. So what is Tirtha's excuse for the fact that Janmastami is today a free man? And for that matter, what is Michael Stein's excuse for this state of affairs?
Interestingly, Tirtha, the GBC, Kuladri, and Ravindra Svarupa have all decided to focus the blame on the personality of Janmastami. Obviously this is more of a tactic than an actual reflection of the truth of the situation. On one hand, they say that Michael Stein and the whole legal system has served them so well in resolving all the problems at New Vrindaban. Yet we have multiple testimonies regarding the complicity of Radhanatha, Kuladri and Janmastami in the murder of Sulocana, yet all have walked away from the situation unscathed. So if Stein and the legal system did such a great job, and if Stein's personal opinion about the spiritual integrity of Radhanatha and Tirtha has any merit, why is it that Janmastami isn't in jail? He's admittedly guilty, and according to ISKCON, he's a far more despicable character than even Tirtha… yet he's not in jail.