GWAR Live in Sydney 2014 / Photo: Ashley Mar

Remaining GWAR Members Accused Of Stealing Dave Brockie’s Remains

April 7, 2015

The father of the late GWAR singer and founding member Dave Brockie, also known as Oderus Urungus, is suing the band’s remaining members, alleging that they stole Brockie’s artwork, bass guitars and even his cremated remains.

Reports NBC News, the lawsuit was filed on Thursday in state circuit court in Richmond, Virginia by Dave Brockie’s father William Brockie, who is the administrator of the GWAR singer’s estate.

He is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages for an alleged breach of contract involving the unauthorised use of Dave Brockie’s image – including on merchandise at the GWAR-B-Q memorial service last year – as well as the return of Brockie’s cremated remains.

The lawsuit names the remaining GWAR members as the defendants, with drummer Brad Roberts (Jizmak Da Gusha) singled out as the leader of a conspiracy to “capitalise on the death of Dave Brockie”. The band’s management company, Slave Pit Inc, is also implicated in the suit.

Dave Brockie died on March 23rd 2014, from acute heroin toxicity. He founded and was the frontman for GWAR for over thirty years, playing the character Oderus Urungus.

William Brockie alleges that in the months following his son’s death, the surviving GWAR members stole guitars, artwork, a gold record, tour collectables and other personal items from Brockie’s home. The suit also alleges that the band failed to pay Brockie’s estate what it was owed for their 2014 Far East tour in Asia and Australia.

Furthermore, the suit also claims that Brad Roberts took possession of Dave Brockie’s cremated remains. William Brockie says that when he appealed to retrieve his son’s ashes last May, he had to wait across the street from Slave Pit Inc. and was then given “a small fraction of his son’s ashes which were delivered in a used plastic bag with Discover credit card logo on it.”

GWAR have not yet commented on the lawsuit.

Photos: Gwar, Amon Amarth, Satyricon @ Factory Theatre, Sydney 26.02/14 / Photos by Ashley Mar.