Fugitive accused in 1993 Detroit killing caught in Panama after 30 years

Panamanian authorities arrested a fugitive wanted in a 1993 Detroit killing at a local dog park in Panama City, Panama, ending a 30-year run that investigators say was sustained by fake names, false documents and shifting locations. Richard Werstine, also known as Joseph Alan Stavros and Richard Brennan, was identified through fingerprint analysis after officers found fraudulent identification on him, authorities said.

Werstine was wanted in the Sept. 15, 1993, killing of his roommate, Rodney Barger, 23, known locally as Rawn Beauty, the lead singer of the Detroit hardcore band Cold as Life. Detroit police arrested Werstine days after the killing, but he failed to appear for trial. A warrant for his arrest was issued in June 1994, and the case went cold for decades before federal marshals picked it up again.

The U.S. Marshals Service’s Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team adopted the warrant in May 2022 and began tracing a trail that investigators say included multiple arrests over the years under different aliases, with his true identity never known to authorities. By focusing leads in Panama City over the past year, investigators pieced together a case that depended less on old paper files than on biometric records, interagency coordination and renewed detective work across borders.

Werstine was arrested on April 29, 2026, and later confessed to his identity and flight, telling investigators he entered Panama illegally in 2005 and never obtained legal status. U.S. Marshals, working with the Office of International Operations, Panamanian authorities, the Diplomatic Security Service and Homeland Security Investigations, then brought him back to the United States, where he will be turned over to Wayne County authorities.

U.S. Marshal Owen Cypher said the case shows there is “no place you can hide” from the Marshals Service. Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Jimmy Allen said the arrest was meant to bring closure and reflected the agency’s commitment to pursue violent fugitives. Barger's sister said she never gave up hope that the man accused of killing her brother would be brought to justice.

The case underscores how cold-case policing has changed since the early 1990s. What once depended on local warrants and scattered records now can be reopened with fingerprints, alias checks and international cooperation, giving investigators a way to catch up with suspects who believed time had erased them.