Similar Names, but Punk Rocker is OK

San Bernardino musician Johnny Cheapo, who is alive and well (www.johnnycheapo.com)

Got a note today from a San Bernardino punk rock musician by the name of Johnny Cheapo. He had read our blog and saw the news of the shooting death of a 23-year-old Highland man, Johnny Wayne Cheepo, in San Bernardino over the weekend.

The slain man, Mr. Cheepo (note the different spelling), was shot while in his car on North Waterman Avenue Saturday night, near Base Line.

Since Mr. Cheapo, the musician, was "locked away in the studio" all weekend as the other Mr. Cheepo was killed, many of the musician's friends and family members feared the worst, he tells us in this e-mail message.

Incidentally I was locked away in a studio all weekend long recording the final tracks to my upcoming CD. While the tragic events involving Mr. Cheepo unfolded, I was isolated from the rest of the world, and without knowledge that people were wondering if I was alright.

If you can find space in your newspaper/blog to communicate this to the rest of the world it may save a bit of heart ache and provide much needed relief to those I was unable to communicate with.

Johnny Wayne Cheepo

It turns out Johnny Cheapo the musician is fairly well known in the area, as one of my colleagues today said she initially thought the same thing upon reading of the other Mr. Cheepo's death. The musician has a web site with more info on him here.

Meanwhile, detectives continue to ask for help in finding the killer of Johnny Wayne Cheepo,

San Bernardino Lt. Scott Paterson told us Tuesay that the probe was "at a standstill" due to lack of witness cooperation.

Anyone with information may call detectives at 909-384-5656.