The ex-roommate of former Cold as Life frontman Rodney Barger was apprehended in Panama nearly 33 years after the punk rock singer‘s shooting in Detroit.
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) said Richard Werstine, 56, was taken into custody in a Panama City dog park on April 29.
He was handed over to U.S. authorities and expected to be extradited to Wayne County, Mich., according to Justice Department officials. Wayne County prosecutors told the Daily News on Wednesday they had no information to share about the suspect’s upcoming court dates.
The USMS reported Sunday that the suspect, who also goes by Joseph Alan Stavros, was in possession of a fake ID when he was nabbed. Werstine is said to have confessed to his true identity and admitted to being a fugitive.
Detroit police arrested him in connection with the killing of the 23-year-old Barger when the crime occurred. Werstine allegedly missed his trial date and went on the lam in 1994.
He allegedly admitted to entering Panama illegally in 2005 and remaining their undocumented. U.S. officials accused the suspect of having been arrested several times over the years, but said his true identity wasn’t previously known to law enforcement.
The USMS said Sunday that it “utilized state-of-the-art investigative resources and techniques” over the course of its long-running investigation into Barger’s murder. A fingerprint analysis pointed investigators to Werstine.
“The U.S. Marshals Service takes crimes of this nature extremely seriously given the violent nature of the alleged offense and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution,” U.S. Marshal Owen Cypher of Michigan said after Werstine was taken into custody.
The music publication Revolver reported in a 2023 article about Cold as Life that the hard rock band continued to perform after its frontman’s death. Their biggest success in the hardcore music scene reportedly came in 1998 with Barger’s replacement on vocals, band co-founder Jeff Gunnells, singing on their breakthrough album “Born to Land Hard.”
Gunnells and Barger — the latter who was nicknamed “Rawn Beuty” — founded the hard-living group in 1988 with drummer Roy Bates. Bates claimed in a 2012 trailer for a documentary on the band that Barger was shot in his head three times while he slept.
“If you’re out there, Rich Werstine, we’re going to find you,” Cold as Life manager Dougie Toms warned in that clip.
The reason for the killing is unclear.