Barger, Slates make court appearances in related cases

William J. Barger appeared in the Associate Circuit Court of Vernon County again on Thursday, Aug. 5. Barger is charged with the unclassified felony of being a fugitive from out of state.

Barger is being held without bond in the Vernon County jail while the state awaits a governor's warrant from the state of New Jersey ordering Barger's extradition. If extradited to New Jersey, Barger may face charges in the January 2010 kidnapping of pet food dealer Jeffrey Muller of Frankford, N. J.

Three Vernon County men are already in New Jersey and facing charges in that case. Douglas Stangeland, Andrew Wadel and Lonnie Swarnes are being held in the Sussex County, N.J., jail for the botched kidnapping attempt.

The trio was arrested at Lake Ozark, Mo., on Jan. 9, while transporting Muller from New Jersey to Missouri as part of an alleged scheme to recover a large sum of money supposedly lost in a land deal gone bad. Under interrogation, the three implicated Barger in the case; he was later arrested in Vernon County and has been jailed since. Roy Allen Slates, of Nevada, also was implicated in the kidnapping.

Swarnes waived his extradition from the Miller County jail in Tuscumbia, Mo., and was transported to New Jersey soon after his arrest. Stangeland and Wadel were transferred to Vernon County to face multiple charges related to a home invasion and shooting incident in rural Vernon County, which took place in November of 2009 and was eventually tied into the kidnapping case.

Stangeland and Wadel were extradited to New Jersey under a governor's warrant in late June. On Thursday, the court granted the state 60 days to obtain the governor's warrant ordering Barger's extradition. Barger's request for bond was taken under advisement by the court. Court documents did not show an attorney representing Barger.

Roy Allen Slates was also in court on Thursday. Slates is charged with a class D felony of concealing a felony and a class D felony of hindering prosecution of a felony. Both charges stem from the November home invasion and January kidnapping incidents.

Slates turned himself into the Vernon County Sheriff's Office in early February and was released on bond. Slates' attorney Joseph Passanise of Springfield, Mo., was not able to be in court on Thursday and Slates' preliminary hearing was reset for the afternoon of Aug. 26.