CARSON CITY -- Former Coasters manager Patrick Cavanaugh, convicted of the 1980 murder of group member Nathanial "Buster" Wilson, died Monday in the infirmary at the Ely State Prison, the Department of Corrections said.
Cavanaugh, 60, was serving a life sentence in the slaying of Wilson, who sang bass for the Coasters, best known for its hits "Charlie Brown" and "Yakety Yak." He died about 8:30 a.m. of natural causes.
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The crime was one of the most notorious Las Vegas murders of the 1980s. At his trial, prosecutors said Cavanaugh, who was living in Las Vegas, invited Wilson to spend Easter weekend with him in California. While returning to Las Vegas, Cavanaugh shot Wilson outside Baker, Calif., about 90 miles west of Las Vegas, and placed him in the trunk of his car. But Wilson was still alive when Cavanaugh arrived back in Las Vegas.
Wilson managed to find the strength to pick up a tire iron, but Cavanaugh shot him two more times. Wilson's body was mutilated. His vocal cords also were removed and acid had been used to remove his fingerprints.
Parts of his body were found near Hoover Dam shortly after the murder. Then, two years later, other parts of his body were found in a canyon near Modesto, Calif.
Cavanaugh received the death sentence in 1984 after a trial in which his former wife, Diane, a former stripper, was the star witness against him. Wilson was killed because he allegedly had threatened to tell police that Cavanaugh had concocted a scheme to buy furniture with stolen checks.
The state Supreme Court overturned the death penalty in 1989. Cavanaugh continued to maintain his innocence and four times unsuccessfully tried to have the life imprisonment sentence dismissed.
A correctional officer assigned to the prison infirmary noticed Cavanaugh had stopped breathing Monday morning. He had suffered a prolonged illness.
Another Coasters singer, Cornell Gunter, was fatally shot in his car in North Las Vegas in 1990. A 19-year-old man was acquitted in the slaying.
