The story of how one person’s evil act changed a country forever
By the age of 10, in 1977, his behavior had escalated to the point that he was suspended from school.
Meeting Miss Harvey
There was, however, one person Bryant came to rely on — someone he later described as his only friend. When he was 19, he met 54-year-old Helen Mary Elizabeth Harvey, an eccentric wealthy heiress with a share in a lottery fortune, while he was seeking new customers for his lawn-mowing business.
He helped with various tasks around her home, including feeding the fourteen dogs living in the mansion and the forty cats kept in her garage. According to reports, he behaved towards Miss Harvey like an affectionate, obedient and helpful child.
In 1991, after Bryant was no longer allowed to keep animals at the mansion, he and Helen Mary Elizabeth Harvey moved to a 29-hectare (72-acre) farm called in a small town of Copping, on Tasmania in Australia.
Neighbors soon noticed Bryant’s unsettling behavior: he always carried an air gun and was often seen firing at tourists who stopped to buy apples at a highway stall. Late at night, he would roam nearby properties, shooting at dogs that barked at him. Locals later said they avoided Bryant “at all costs,” despite his attempts to befriend them.
Police briefly investigated Bryant’s role in the accident, noting his history of lunging for the steering wheel and the fact that Harvey had already been involved in three previous accidents.
