A third suspect has been arrested for the 1988 murder of Claudell Staten in south Caddo Parish, said Sheriff Steve Prator.

Yesterday, U.S. Marshal’s Task Force members in Nevada located Henry Robinson, 62, in the Las Vegas area and took him into custody on a warrant charging him as a principal to second-degree murder. Robinson is currently in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas charged as a fugitive from Caddo Parish. He is awaiting an extradition hearing.  

Two other suspects - Robinson’s brother Jake and their cousin Will “Roy” Rogers Robinson - were arrested in December. Roy Robinson and Staten were brothers-in-law, said Sheriff’s Detective Terry Richardson. Jake Robinson is also charged with the 2004 murder of Harold Bruce Cotton. Both Jake and Roy are being held in the Caddo Correctional Center on $1 million cash bond.

Staten’s body was discovered by a passing motorist on Ellerbe Road north of Robson Road on March 20, 1988. He had been shot several times. Sheriff’s detectives said the 44-year-old man was shot during a struggle inside his moving car. He was left outside on the ground after the vehicle crashed.

Years later while investigating Cotton’s cold case, Detective Richardson received information about the Staten murder and the possibility that the two cases were connected. Richardson began reviewing all available 1988 files and reports, and over the following years located and re-interviewed old witnesses from 1988 and identified and interviewed several new witnesses in the Caddo Parish area and across the country. These findings were brought to the Caddo District Attorney’s Office and through conferencing and continued investigation over three years, warrants for all three suspects were obtained. 

Caddo Sheriff’s detectives believe there is still information available concerning Staten’s murder. They are urging anyone who has information to come forward. Richardson can be contacted at 675-2170 or 681-0700.