A Mills River family is living through its worst nightmare all over again.
Tommy Bryson was kidnapped and killed by Phillip Stroupe in 2017. It was a heartbreaking crime, committed by a man with a lengthy criminal history who was out on bond.
A News 13 Investigation in the months that followed looked into the circumstances around Stroupe's arrests and release.Now, seven years later, similar questions are being raised about another heartbreaking crime, committed by another man who was out on bond.
It was July 2017 when the manhunt for Stroupe began after a breaking and entering in Mills River. The chase wound through multiple counties and even forced the closure of sections of Pisgah National Forest.
Tommy Bryson had heard about it all and even warned his son, Joe.
He said "Y'all be safe when you come home...don't let the outlaw get you."
But later that day, Stroupe kidnapped Tommy from his driveway. Tommy's cousin Ray Bryson says as soon as he heard the news that Tommy was missing, he knew Tommy was gone.
"I knew...I knew. You wish for the best but you know it’s not going to happen," said Ray.
Ray considered Tommy a brother and even had a term for him... his "brother friend."
"We spent almost every day together for 18 years," said Ray.
They were just six months apart and grew up together in Mills River.
"I mean, it's like he knew everything about me and I knew everything about him, and we, you know...it just couldn't be a stronger bond, you know?" he said.
It was Ray's own son who found Tommy's body in a cornfield four days after Stroupe kidnapped and killed him.
"There for a while you were kind of afraid. I remember talking to a lot of neighbors who would go out walking and carry guns, and they started arming themselves. That's a shame that our society has come to that," said Joe.
Joe Bryson is Tommy's son.
He says he's worked hard to get through the tragedy the best he can but admits it's been a incredibly difficult.
"It breaks my heart that all of my kids lost those memories. We try not to bring it up much because it brings back that raw emotion, but we are all believers, all followers of Christ, so we all know that Papa is in heaven," said Joe.
News 13 sat down with Tommy and Ray as they shared pictures of the many camping and hunting trips they took with Tommy over the years.
"For my college graduation present, my dad took me and my brother to Canada. We went on a caribou hunt," said Joe.
They laughed as recalled the memories, but it's clear how much the death has impacted the close-knit family.
"My father was kidnapped and murdered in his driveway...who ever anticipates that?" said Joe. "When innocent people die in that way, it's hard to even explain to people."
For Joe, his faith has played a big role in dealing with the loss over the last seven years.
"The way I got through this is I really try to count the blessings around me every day and realize that my dad is in heaven and he don't want to come back here. That's what helps me get through it every day," said Joe.
This August, Ray and Joe say they lived through the nightmare all over again watching Ryan Houston's case unfold.
"I was watching WLOS, you know, and I thought, man, this is weird. This is just like Tommy’s case, and I thought, well, how can this be happening again?" Ray said.
News 13 investigations show both Phillip Stroupe and Ryan Houston had criminal histories, which included an assault on a government official, posted bond and led authorities on a chase and manhunt, leaving innocent victims dead.
"The first time I saw the story about Ryan Houston, my heart starts racing...it does. And it takes me back to summer 2017. It's hard because it brings back a lot of raw emotion," said Joe.
Joe remembers the anger he felt realizing his father's killer had been arrested just days before, but was released on a bond of a total $69,000, paying just 10% in cash.
"First thought was exactly what happened to Dad. I mean, exactly, when I heard about the back story and the history, it's almost an exact-same scenario," said Joe.
He believes Stroupe and Houston should not have been eligible to have been released on bond.
"I think the fact you've got a person who's free who shouldn't be, people who have chosen a life of crime don't deserve to walk the streets," said Joe. "Until you walk in our shoes, or the families of victims, you don't know what that's like."
Now, both say they are speaking out in order to prompt change within our system.
For Joe, a person's criminal past should be a bigger part of the bond decision.
"I think a judge should have to go back and look at a man's background, look at his past, look at his record, and if you have a consistent track record of violent crimes, why would you even consider letting him out?" he said. "You see it time and time again, that gap between when they're bonded out and the trial, bad things happen. That's what happened with these poor families, and the same thing that happened to my dad."
He believes it will take a major push from an elected official to actually make a change.
"I honestly think at the end of the day, the only way this is going to get changed is if someone running for Congress or governor or something can make this change as part of their platform. I think that's the only way it will change," said Joe.
Our justice system is screwed up. Not just in this country, but in our state specifically, there's just a lot of things that have got to be fixed.
Joe says in both cases, there were signs that were missed.
"Someone who shouldn't be free is free and bad things happened," said Joe . "I just don't understand why people can't do their jobs, where is the red flags? These are people's lives that have been taken and families destroyed. Where are red flags from justice departments, from judges and magistrates to say these people are a nemesis to society why would we let them back in the public?"
Both believe something needs to change so that this doesn't happen again.
"Somewhere down the line, I hope somebody can take responsibility and say, hey, this is my fault. I should have done something about this and I didn't do it, so these people are dead. I hate to place blame on any one person or organization or whatever, but somebody has to take responsibility and say I can fix this...we can fix this...let’s do it," said Ray.
It's not working; it ain't working...let's get these violent criminals off the street for good.
As for Stroupe, he was sentenced to life without parole for the first-degree murder of Tommy Bryson.
He took a plea deal which limits his right to appeal.
STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSBryson family relives trauma with Ricky Houston case, pleads for justice system overhaul (wlos.com)
