The Phantom finally arrested for a murder committed in 1993. Richard Werstine, 56 years old, was apprehended in late April for the murder of his roommate, a singer in a rock band, after over 30 years on the run, as reported by American media and local authorities cited by NBC.
His escape came to a pathetic end in a dog park in Panama City, Panama. Since 1993, Werstine had been accused of killing Rodney Barner, his best friend, roommate, and rock singer in a local rock band from Detroit. Before disappearing, Richard Werstine used numerous aliases to evade justice. He had multiple fake identification documents when arrested and could only be positively identified through his fingerprints.
Abattu dans son sommeil In the 1990s, Rodney Barner, 23 years old, known by his stage name Rawn Beauty in the rock band Cold as Life. On September 15, 1993, he was shot in the head while asleep. Described as a “legendary vocalist”, his antics inspired many songs of his band, according to Revolver magazine.
Shortly after the murder, Richard Werstine was arrested but released on bail. However, he never showed up for his court hearing. Local authorities issued a warrant for his arrest about a year after the murder in June 1994.
Surnamed “The Phantom”, he was described as “very cunning and skillful during his time on the run”, according to local police. “He is a liar. He believed in what he was saying and had built an entirely new life,” said James Allen, deputy assistant chief of the United States Marshals Service. Evading capture regularly, Werstine had eluded investigators between his various residences and numerous aliases over the years. Evidence shows that he had been arrested multiple times during his fugitive years, notably in Michigan and Arizona. However, the link to the Detroit murder was never established, despite a shootout with Flagstaff police in Arizona in 1999, where he was injured in the arm.
Au Panama depuis 20 ans It wasn’t until 2026 that the investigation managed to track him down in Panama, where he had been living illegally since 2005. “He had ties in Panama and simply lived a new life. He thought he would never be caught,” stated James Allen proudly. “Fingerprints don’t lie,” Allen justified the length of the investigation by noting that tracking fugitives was much more challenging 30 years ago, before the internet and accessible fingerprint databases. “When we took up the case again in 2022, I practically had to start from scratch,” he confirmed.
