A Michigan man wanted for the 1993 murder of his rock musician roommate has been arrested in Panama after eluding authorities for more than three decades, the United States Marshals Service (USMS) confirmed.
Richard Werstine, 56, was captured at a dog park in Panama City on April 29, ending a fugitive run that began after the fatal shooting of Cold as Life frontman Rodney Barner, 23, inside their shared Detroit home on September 15, 1993. Barner, who performed under the stage name Rawn Beauty, was shot in the head while asleep. Revolver Magazine described him as a celebrated wild-man vocalist whose stage antics shaped much of the band’s music.
Werstine was arrested shortly after the killing but skipped town before standing trial. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in June 1994. He then lived for decades under multiple false identities, including Joseph Alan Stavros, and was arrested on arson and firearms charges across Michigan, Arizona, and other states without his true identity ever surfacing.
The USMS formally adopted the warrant in May 2022 and eventually tracked Werstine to Panama, where he had been living illegally since 2005 without legal status. He was found carrying fraudulent identification and identified through fingerprint scanning.
“Fingerprints don’t lie,” said USMS Assistant Chief Deputy James Allen.
Allen described Werstine as cunning and calculating, noting that he had built an entirely new life in Panama while fully convinced he would never be found. US Marshals officials travelled to Panama on May 9 to extradite him, and he will be booked into Wayne County jail in Michigan. No motive for the killing has been disclosed, and no additional charges have been announced.
