Anaheim : Fugitive in Colorado Murder Case in Jail

A fugitive wanted in the 1983 slaying of a Colorado man is in custody after his arrest earlier this week at an Anaheim bar, the Sheriff’s Department announced Friday.

Austin Dean Cox, 26, was arrested about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday without incident at the Silhouette Bar in Anaheim after deputies received a tip that Cox was at the bar, Lt. Dick Olson said in a press release. Cox is being held without bail in the Orange County Jail. The Sheriff’s Department made the announcement of Cox’s arrest Friday because the investigation was pending.

Following the arrest, deputies said they seized a large quantity of firearms at Cox’s motel room in Anaheim, including a 9-millimeter Uzi machine gun, a shotgun and several handguns. Additionally, deputies confiscated 1 1/2 pounds of cocaine worth about $80,000, Olson said.

At the time Cox was seized, deputies also arrested Jeannie Dianne Griggs, 31, of Westminster and Jan Alicia Martinez, 30, of Big Bear City. They are being held in Orange County Jail, charged with concealing evidence. Bail for the two women was set at $50,000 each.

Police in Sterling, Colo., a city in the northeastern part of the state, said Cox and Jeanette Christian were being sought in the June 22, 1983, beating death of Robert Fairchild. The victim’s body was discovered two weeks later in a shallow grave near the city, Sterling Police Lt. Lawrence Graham said. Christian was arrested Oct. 16 in Colorado and is in custody.

According to Graham, police were tipped off that Cox and Christian were allegedly trying to sell a motorcycle belonging to the dead man in the Orange County area.