A man convicted of kidnapping, robbing and murdering a General Motors executive and his wife when he was a teenager was recently paroled after serving 34 years in prison.
Joseph Passeno, now 52, was 17 years old when he and Bruce Michaels, his then-16-year-old accomplice, fatally shot Glenn and Wanda Tarr of Rochester Hills in 1989.
Initially sentenced to life behind bars for first-degree homicide and multiple other crimes, Passeno was resentenced in 2022 due to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life in prison for juveniles is unconstitutional, requiring the cases to again go before a judge who can decide if a lesser penalty is in order.
Oakland County Judge Martha Anderson gave Passeno a new sentence of 40 to 60 years for the homicide, with credit for approximately 26 and a half years; a sentence of 25 to 75 years for kidnapping remained. Anderson did the same for Michaels, who remains locked up.
This past August, Passeno was set free.
The Tarr murders devastated a family, rocked Oakland County and beyond, and made headlines across the nation. The bodies of GM marketing executive Glenn Tarr, 53, and his wife, Wanda Tarr, 58, were found in a Pontiac park in October 1989, by a woman who was walking her dog. The Tarrs had been shot to death.
An investigation determined Wanda was murdered first. While driving three miles from her Rochester Hills home, Michaels stopped her, armed with a gun. Passeno wasn’t far behind. The two took her to Hawthorne Park in Pontiac, robbed her of $15 and shot her. Michaels and Passeno then went to the Tarrs’ home, told Glenn they had kidnapped his wife and took him to an ATM where he withdrew $500 for ransom. They then went to the park and killed him, near where Wanda’s body lay. He was shot six times.
Investigators discovered that guns, liquor, jewelry and part of a coin collection were missing from the couple’s home, as were their two cars. A gold cross necklace that Wanda always wore was taken, too.
The teens became suspects soon afterward. Investigators said they told friends what they had done. The two were convicted at the conclusion of a jury trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.
‘Brutal executions’
At Passeno’s resentencing hearing two and a half years ago, Anderson said the murders were undoubtedly “cold…brutal executions.” She also said her “gut” told her that Passeno and Michaels deserved to remain in prison, but she had to “sentence by the law.” According to the law, only those who are irreparably corrupt and can’t be rehabilitated are to remain in prison for life. Just as she determined for Michaels at his resentencing hearing months earlier, Passeno qualified for a lesser sentence than being locked up until his death.
She also cited Passeno’s prison file which reportedly stated he was known as a hard worker, kept to himself, complied with treatment for mental health issues and stayed out of any major trouble during his incarceration — with just seven incidents of misconduct in more than three decades.
Passeno, Anderson said, was “adrift” and without guidance when he got caught up with Michaels.
Also at the resentencing hearing, Wanda Tarr’s son and Glenn Tarr’s stepson, William Luscombe, told the court he felt “a sense of peace and closure” when his parents’ murderers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also expressed concern that Passeno would kill again after being released from prison, calling him “morally corrupt” and “a cold-blooded psychopath” with no remorse who murdered for pleasure and fun.
When Passeno spoke at the resentencing hearing, he expressed deep remorse and said his crimes stemmed from “my own selfish greed during a time in my life when I was grossly irresponsible, lost and had no goals.”
“I made a bad decision that day that can never be fixed,” he said at the time. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for the devastation I have caused.”
MDOC records show Passeno is assigned to the MDOC parole office in Pontiac. Michaels is incarcerated at the Muskegon Correctional Facility.