Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death - What happened the night Berry Bryant disappeared?

Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death revisits the kidnapping and gruesome murder case of Berry Bryant, an eighteen-year-old Northwest College freshman who went missing from a dorm party on October 5, 1996. The episode, titled The Dark Road, airs on Sunday, September 11, 2022, at 9 pm ET on ID. The synopsis states:

"In 1996, a Wyoming college student leaves a dorm party and gets a ride from the wrong classmate, vanishing into the night; police scramble to find her before sunrise."

On the night of the incident, Berry Bryant went to a school dance and even attended a dorm room party afterwards. However, reports state that after she left the afterparty that night, Bryant was brutally attacked by a vicious killer, a fellow senior named Levi Collen.

Authorities discovered Bryant's body 16 miles outside Powell, in a pool of her own blood. It was reported that she incurred multiple visible injuries, suggesting that she had engaged in a heated fight with the perpetrator, who slit her throat and even s*xually assaulted her.

---

Who was reponsible for Berry Bryant brutal murder in 1996?

When Berry Bryant failed to return from the party on the night of October 5, her roommate got worried and started raising concerns about her well-being. After a thorough inquiry, it was discovered that the 18-year-old freshman was nowhere in the locality.

A subsequent inquiry revealed that a teenager, Levi Collen, who reportedly attended the same dorm room party that night, was somehow connected to the murder. Collen knew Bryant from a previous meeting and wanted to pursue her despite her disinterest in him.

According to sources, Berry and Levi were last spotted exiting the gathering. Later, a bloodstained Levi, with multiple injuries, returned to the dorm and claimed that he got involved in a brawl with another man. However, Levi eventually admitted to his friends that he killed Berry after s*xually assaulting her. His friends subsequently tied him up until cops arrived.

Levi offered diverse and varied accounts of the events that transpired on the night of the murder. He asserted that he had consensual s*x with Berry Bryant in his car, soon after which she allegedly struck him with a beer bottle. Levi said he then stabbed her in self defense.

The cops, who did not believe his words, demanded that he show them where the victim's body was. Levi later admitted to the murder after he led authorities to Berry's body.

---

Levi Collen ultimately admitted to Berry Bryant's murder

Levi Collen confessed that he murdered Berry Bryant on the night of October 5, 1996. Levi claimed that he and Berry Bryant left the party together and traveled about 16 miles outside of Powell.

The killer allegedly attempted to have s*x with her, but she refused and kept fighting as Levi drew out his knife. Berry was then violently r*ped before her neck was slashed from ear to ear and her body was buried.

According to The Denver Post, Berry's mother Sharon Bryant said,

"Berry fought hard for the right to say ‘no,’ and it’s my obligation to continue to tell women they can say ‘no’ and to tell men they need to respect that."

Following the month after the brutal murder, Levi was found guilty of first-degree murder, r*pe, and kidnapping.

---

Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death airs on Sunday, September 11, 2022, at 9 pm ET on ID.