Barger not connected to Hell's Angels, authorities say
William James Barger, aka Billy Barger, the man arrested in rural Vernon County on Monday, Jan. 11, in connection with the Jan. 8 kidnapping of Jeffrey Muller and November 2009 home invasion in Vernon County in which is not the son of Sonny Barger, the founder of the California based Hell's Angels motorcycle club and has no connection to the club, according to Fritz Clapp, an attorney representing Ralph "Sonny" Barger.
According to the Daily Record in Morris County, N.J., Clapp said Barger, who has never heard of William James Barger, has no children but is still approached at least once a year by someone claiming to be his progeny.
Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman said, "I've always believed he was a phony." Peckman also said he was aware of all the rumors about the Hell's Angels and was glad to have this new information to put those rumors to rest. The information in the Daily Record was confirmed yesterday by a connection of Peckman's in Arizona with a close association to Sonny Barger.
Peckman also said that Barger's U.S. Marine Corps records and birth certificate verify that he was born in Cass County, Mo., to another man named Barger. Peckman had his suspicions that the whole story was bogus and said "I've been waiting to get it confirmed." Now that it is confirmed Peckman said, "It's all been a big fabrication, a big lie in his scheme of scamming stealing and everything else."
William Barger's fabricated claims were part of the information given law enforcement officers by Lonnie Eugene Swarnes, Rich Hill, who, along with Douglas Stangeland, Nevada, and Andrew Wadel, Rich Hill, faces charges in connection with Muller's Jan. 8 kidnapping, when the three allegedly took the man by force from his New Jersey pet food business and drove 1,200 miles before the three were arrested in Miller County, Mo.
On Monday, law enforcement officers served a a search warrant at 17125 S. 1413 Road, Nevada, Stangeland's home, where Barger was arrested and numerous firearms, among other things, were found.
The investigation continues to turn up new information. The weapons confiscated during the Monday raid on the Stangeland residence and another home in Nevada are being checked for fingerprints and the handguns may be tested ballistically. According to Peckman there has been no link made so far with the death of Belinda Beisly, but that possibility is being investigated.
Yet another twist in the case came on Friday, when the Bates County Sheriff's Office told the Associated Press via press release that Barger also is accused of trying to find people to kill a western Missouri sheriff.
Earlier this week Vernon County Sheriff's Office personnel drove to Miller County to interview the kidnapping suspects in custody there. Lonnie Eugene Swarnes has already been extradited back to New Jersey. An attorney for the 44-year-old Rich Hill man entered a not guilty plea on his client's behalf during a hearing Friday in Sussex County, N.J. Bail was set at $750,000.
Deputy public defender David Nufrio said he plans to conduct an investigation and can't comment further. But Peckman said that information revealed during the interviews with Douglas Stangeland and Andrew Wadel lead him think that "more arrests may be coming."
Barger remains in the Vernon County jail with no bond, and currently faces 11 charges, most of which stem from the November home invasion. He has not been appointed an attorney at this time.