In a first-person article for "Las Vegas Weekly", journalist and Barrier friend Joshua Longobardy included a conversation he’d had with Barrier before Barrier's death: had already been on high alert. His concerns for his safety had exacerbated with the knowledge that Rick Rizzolo, the former owner of the Crazy Horse Too gentlemen’s club, who federal authorities allege has ties with organized crime families, and against whom Barrier helped solidify a federal case that resulted in a one-year prison sentence, had been released to the free world the day before.