In 1986, following the Olof Palme assassination, Ausonius, then named John Stannerman, was one of the police's initial suspects. However, Stannerman could not be linked to the murder as he was incarcerated at the time, serving a sentence for multiple counts of assault. In prison he became an acquaintance of Miro Barešić, a member of Croatian National Resistance, a Croatian émigré anti-communist organization created by members of the fascist Ustaše movement. Barešić was imprisoned for the 1971 murder of Vladimir Rolović, the Yugoslav ambassador to Sweden.