Person Of Interest In Berwyn Murder Charged With Felony Assault

PAOLI, PA – A man who was a person of interest in the murder of Berwyn's Denise Barger was recently arrested and charged with assault, according to court records.

David Bookstaber, 42, of Berwyn, was arrested Dec. 5 and charged with felony aggravated assault, felony strangulation, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, simple assault, harassment, and recklessly endangering another person, court records show.

Bookstaber was released after posting $150,000 cash bail on Dec. 6.

He is slated for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 16, according to court documents.

Daily Local News reports Bookstber is accused of handcuffing his girlfriend and trying to smother her cries for help during a domestic dispute in his Paoli apartment on Dec. 4.

Bookstaber was eyed as a suspect in the 2016 murder of Barger at her Heatherstone Drive home.

Barger, 62, was beaten to death in her home on June 17, 2016.

Police in Tredyffrin Township said shortly after the killing that Barger was likely "targeted."

During an investigation into her death, investigators found a blood trail from Barger's home to Bookstaber's home next door to hers.

Police considered him as a person of interest in the case, but he was never made a suspect and never charged.

Investigators eventually spoke with Bookstaber and noticed his hand was injured. They also found a shoe with the same print as a bloody footprint found in Barger's home when executing a search warrant at his home.

During the search, what was believed to be blood was found in Bookstaber's home, as it field tested positive for blood. However, Chester County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone told Patch that the purported blood was not actually blood as determined by a laboratory analysis.

Bookstaber's attorney Joseph P. Green Jr. told Philly.com that his client "has no involvement" in the death and that "he hasn't committed any crime."

Noon said the investigation remains "active and ongoing."

Barger had called police on Bookstaber for allegedly shooting a gun on his property in 2015 and that in 2014 Bookstaber was arrested and charged with recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct for firing a gun on his property. However, the 2014 charges were withdrawn and expunged.

Bookstaber was recently denied a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and he subsequently appealed it. His appeal was dropped in early May this year.

The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in Barger's death.

Anyone with information on the death is urged to contact the Chester County District Attorney's office or the Tredyffrin Township Police Department.

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