← Going West: True Crime
Going West: True Crime
Karen Swift // 549
00:49:50
In October of 2011, a 44-year-old mother of four vanished after returning home from a Halloween party in Tennessee. Her abandoned vehicle was discovered near her house with a flat tire, but Karen herself was nowhere to be found. But only weeks later, her body was recovered near a cemetery, hidden beneath invasive vines, confirming the darkest fears of her family and community… This is the murder of Karen Swift.
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- [00:01]
Daphne
You know what? A girl's best friend is not diamonds. Her lawyers.
- [00:05]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
From executive producer Ryan Murphy comes a fiery new legal drama.
- [00:09]
State Farm Representative (advertisement)
It's our own boutique women representing women.
- [00:12]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
You can't afford to miss.
- [00:14]
Daphne
Make it ring. Showtime, ladies. Stand up straight and breeze into that room like a storm no one saw coming.
- [00:24]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
Hulu original series All's Fair premieres November 4th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. For bundle subscribers, terms apply.
- [00:30]
Experian Representative (advertisement)
Experian is your big financial friend helping you explore credit card offers with confidence. Some cards are labeled no ding decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. See experian.com for details. Applying for cards labeled no ding decline won't hurt your credit scores if you aren't initially approved.
- [00:46]
State Farm Representative (advertisement)
Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like getting a granola bar with a candle in it. When you wanted a three layer birthday cake, you wouldn't settle for just any dessert on your birthday. So don't settle for just any insurance. When it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [01:24]
Teeth
What is going on? True crime fans, I'm your host, Teeth.
- [01:27]
Daphne
And I'm your host, Daphne.
- [01:28]
Teeth
And you're listening to Going West.
- [01:31]
Daphne
Hello everybody. Happy almost Halloween. We have a Halloween case for you guys today, actually. All thanks to Sydney for recommending this one. So appreciate that, Sydney. We also just came out with a new bonus episode that all is also takes place on Halloween night. That is the case of Lillian Armstrong. That's a very spooky, spooky case that happened in England in the 60s. So if you want to listen to that, also the episode that we're coming out with this week, it's listener tales and like near miss terrifying stories that I know you guys have heard us talk about before. We love those kinds of episodes. That one is also coming out as a bonus episode this week on Apple or Patreon. Check the show notes for more information. Go subscribe. We have over 130 episodes over there.
- [02:18]
Teeth
Yeah, we've got a ton of episodes for you guys to binge over there. So go subscribe. And also I want to talk about today's story because this one takes kind of an, kind of a strange turn. There's a bit of a twist here.
- [02:30]
Daphne
Yeah, one that you're not going to be expecting.
- [02:33]
Teeth
Well, without further ado, my friends, this is episode 549 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [03:22]
Daphne
In October of 2011, a 44 year old mother vanished after returning home from a Halloween party in Tennessee. The next day, her abandoned vehicle was discovered near her house with a flat tire along a rural country road. But she herself was nowhere to be found. But only weeks later, her body was recovered near a cemetery, hidden beneath invasive vines, confirming the darkest fears of her family and community. This is the murder of Karen Swift. Karen Johnson was born on January 25, 1967 to parents Carol and Gary in Galesburg, Illinois. She grew up alongside a sister named Lisa and a brother named Jeffrey and is remembered by her family as bubbly and outgoing. In high school, Karen came to be known for her athleticism and just how active she kept in general. Like she competed in and won multiple track events and continued to run long after graduating. On September 23, 1989, at the age of 22, she married David Swift and the pair started their family in Pocahontas, Arkansas, raising two sons named Preston and Dustin. And Pocahontas, Arkansas might sound familiar to you guys, because it did to me. I was like, what case have we covered?
- [05:16]
Teeth
Yeah, there was a case.
- [05:17]
Daphne
Yeah, I know, we talked about it. That was the Butcher Baker of Alaska, because Pocahontas, Arkansas is where Robert Hansen grew up, which is a wild case that we covered last December. Remember, his family owned a bakery there. But he murdered those 17 plus women in Alaska a few years before Karen and her family moved to this town. So there were certainly no crossing paths between Karen and Robert Hansen, but still.
- [05:45]
Teeth
Just a little fun fact for you guys.
- [05:47]
Daphne
Yeah, definitely. But as the years passed, unfortunately, Karen and her husband's marriage began to sour and he started cheating on her. According to one source, he even wound up having a child outside of their marriage. So, of course, Karen and David navigated a quick divorce and shared custody of their sons. But the split only lasted about seven months before they were ready to give their relationship another try. So even after divorcing, they got back together and then remarried in 2000 and subsequently had their two daughters, Ashley and Keeley, which is pretty wild. But their second wave of newlywed bliss didn't last either. And this time, Karen found herself in the middle of an affair. She came clean about it though, and David actually forgave her. He was, he was very much ready to move forward. He wanted to make this work. And this is when they left Arkansas together because they kind of wanted a fresh start. They wanted a change of scenery really to try to make this work. But of course, they had to do this with their kids, not their oldest. Their oldest son, Preston, was already in college. But the three younger kids, along with Karen and David, moved about two hours east of Pocahontas to the rural city of Dyersburg, Tennessee, which hosts around 16,000 people. And also, I want to mention, despite everything that was going on between Karen and David, Karen is described as a nurturing mother whose life revolved around her kids. Her daughter Ashley remembers her sense of adventure and that she was present at every practice, every game, and every competition, no matter how tight her schedule was or what she was going through in her relationship.
- [07:33]
Teeth
So it does kind of feel like she was putting on a brave face for her kids. But her friends actually knew the truth, and they later claimed that Karen was unhappy in her marriage and just wasn't adjusting to life in Tennessee as well as she initially thought she would. But soon she was able to make a new circle of friends, and she started going out more, which she seemed to really enjoy. You know, she was making the most of life there. However, back at home, her family noticed how much she was going out, almost like it was an escape from her troubled marriage. Her daughter Ashley, who was a preteen around the time that this story takes place, later said that in the months before her disappearance, Karen just wasn't really acting like herself, and even added, quote, I remember nights of me begging and crying her not to leave. I didn't want her to go out and just wanted her to stay home with us. And David also noticed this new behavior and would check on her frequently, asking where she'd go. And this became increasingly agitating for Karen, who, you know, found his behavior to be really controlling. Now, Karen was growing especially close with a couple named Kathy and Bill Bona, who were known for their pretty wild parties that they threw that often included naked dips in their hot tub. So a little bit of a swinger couple here. And David was openly disdainful of Karen's friendship with them and how often she would attend these parties. And he made sure that Karen knew how he felt. He once even headed over to their house and demanded that she leave, which is a confrontation that was witnessed by multiple other party attendees. But David argued that he simply feared for her safety and that he just really didn't want her drinking and driving. Now, according to David, Karen was having a midlife crisis. He described her as lost during this period of her life, but maintained that he still loved and cared about her and wanted to make their marriage work.
- [09:28]
Daphne
But for Karen, I mean, the damage was done. So when. When you're saying, Heath, that he's asking her where she's going and you know, wanting to keep tabs on her and not wanting to be at these parties. I think it totally makes sense for you to want to know where your spouse is and make sure that they're safe and all that. But that's not what she getting from his behavior. It was more of like, well, where are you going? Because I need to make sure I'm okay with that. And she's like, we're not together anymore, we're getting separated, I'm divorcing you. Like, she's ready to move on. And he's not accepting that. And he's, he's not accepting the space that she's trying to take from him.
- [10:06]
Teeth
Well, the dumb thing here is that David was the person who initially stepped out on her. Yeah. With another person. So it's like now, you know, she wants to do the same and it's not okay.
- [10:18]
Daphne
Yeah, exactly. And we see that a lot as well. That kind of, it's a, it's a double standard. So at this point, again, David is kind of this suffocating presence in her life. She's finally feeling confident and independent and she wants to explore that. They, I think especially knowing that they had already gotten a divorce. He had cheated on her previously, she cheated on him. She's like, we just, this just isn't happening. So it feels like she had really convinced herself that it was over before it officially was. She didn't want to make it work, she wanted to move on. And that's when she decided she was ready for that second divorce. But with David as the breadwinner, Karen wasn't able to pay for this divorce herself. So guess who fronted her the money? Her friends, Kathy and Bill. And they also gifted her with a burner phone in order to keep in contact with her divorce lawyer. According to David, he hadn't known about this spare cell phone, but weirdly, the number had been programmed into his work phone. So it seems like he knew that she had another phone. To some extent. Though Karen remained in the family home with David, they were still living together with their school aged kids. She admitted to her divorce lawyer that she was frightened for David to be served with the divorce papers, fearing a volatile reaction from him since she had to be under the same roof as him. But despite this, Karen went ahead and filed for divorce on October 10, 2011. She then started staying in a guest room downstairs to maintain her distance from David as that process was getting underway. But still, David Was hoping to work it out knowing that they had done so once before. He's kind of really hanging on to that thing that happened 10 years earlier. He even hid the divorce petition, stuffing it under the spare tire in his car. Well, just 20 days after she filed, 44 year old Karen disappeared on the morning of Saturday, October 29, 2011, which was, I don't know who remembers this, but this was the same day as that infamous brutal like Halloween nor' Easter, it was called Snowtober. I don't know if anybody remembers that, but that heavily affected the Northeast and some parts of Tennessee. So as we're getting into winter, winter, winter weather, weather, winter weather early this year and David apparently asked Karen out to dinner hoping that they could talk and reconcile. But she already had plans to celebrate Halloween with friends that night and declined, which was a rejection that David did not take too kindly.
- [13:07]
Teeth
And by the way, when Daphne says that she was celebrating Halloween, she was going to a Halloween party. Obviously this was October 29th, so it.
- [13:15]
Daphne
Wasn'T Halloween night but the Saturday right before because I guess then Halloween was on a Monday that year. So most people were celebrating on Saturday.
- [13:23]
Teeth
Yeah, on the weekend. Exactly.
- [13:24]
Daphne
And that's what she was doing. As we're going to get into, she went to a party and I think this is all feels so much worse for David. She has these new friends, particularly this couple that he really hates and she is really close with them, she's making these other friends, she's going out, she's drinking, she's having fun, he wants to make it work. So in his mind he's like, oh, you're going to a Halloween party instead of going to dinner with me and who knows who you're going to meet up with? Is there a man there? Like he's probably has all these things running through his head and again the divorce is trying to move along and he's not accepting that. So he's probably feeling very low at this point. And even according to Assistant District Attorney Tim Box, that impending divorce was eating away at David and Karen's unwillingness to even meet with him for a quick meal, to just talk things over, was proving to him that it was officially.
- [14:23]
Teeth
Ending well that night again, which was Saturday, October 29, 2011. While Karen went to the party, David stayed home with their youngest daughter, five year old Keeley. While Ashley, who was nine years old at this time, headed out for a slumber party. Karen headed to the Farms Golf Club, which is a local Dyersburg country club with Kathy and Bill Bona Bound for the club's famous Halloween party that they.
- [14:50]
Daphne
Always have which was probably pretty fun. I mean a country club Halloween party is probably pretty fun.
- [14:55]
Teeth
Yeah, I bet it is. Well, Karen donned a tight all black costume and a cat mask because she was Catwoman. Arriving shortly after 8pm and leaving around midnight. She was seen dancing and socializing at the party and seemed to be in really good spirits, having a spooky good time. And after the trio departed, remember Karen, Kathy and Bill? They went through the McDonald's drive thru to get some late night food and then they headed back to the bonus house to eat and to keep the party going. But while she was there, 44 year old Karen got a call from her daughter Ashley because she wanted to be picked up from the sleepover because she just really wasn't feeling well. So Karen headed over to her daughter's friend's house to pick Ashley up and then they went home. Arriving around 2am, they entered through the side door per David's instruction that the garage door was closed and locked. Karen went to bed downstairs as she had been doing. And that night Ashley actually laid down in bed with her mom. But according to Ashley, later that night Karen moved her upstairs to her own room while she slept. Now by David's account, he and Karen briefly chatted in the stairwell of the home after she and Ashley arrived home. And that was the last time that he apparently ever saw his wife. Because later that morning between 10 and 10:30am on Sunday, October 30, 2011, David was awoken by his two daughters who told them that their mom was not home. So shocked, David tried calling her but he didn't get an answer. He called their oldest son Preston, who was living in Arkansas at the time, to see if he could get in touch with his mother somehow and also contacted multiple friends of hers. But no one had heard from her and Karen's phone was continuing to decline all of her incoming calls.
- [16:52]
Daphne
So as we know, she didn't talk to David anyway. She probably wouldn't have answered his phone call. So that's probably why he's saying he son will you try or friends. But now she's not answering anybody.
- [17:03]
Teeth
Yeah, so obviously that's a little bit alarming. Her friend Kathy had also called her multiple times in hopes of checking in, but was getting Karen's voicemail every single time. By 2:37pm Kathy called the Dyer County Sheriff's Department to report Karen missing, but was instructed to have Karen's husband call to make this report.
- [17:26]
Daphne
Well, as the hours Passed with no word from Karen. Her friends and family were becoming increasingly concerned. So David actually did file a missing persons report. And that same day, Karen's car, a white Nissan Murano, was found seemingly abandoned on the side of Millsfield highway, only about a half mile or 0.8 km away from the Swift's home. And it was pulled alongside the road near the intersection of Harness Road. And we are going to post a picture of that kind of intersection. So you guys can see this is very rural. Well, I think when I say intersection, I think of like a main highway and street lights and all that stuff. This is like a. A country road kind of.
- [18:10]
Teeth
Yeah.
- [18:11]
Daphne
There's a beautiful classic red barn in the background. There's a white gate, fenced property. So it's very rural country road. Think of that. It's honestly a pretty disturbing place for her car to be found abandoned because there's really nowhere for her to go. And it's not like there was obvious signs of foul play where her car was. But I will say Karen's front right tire was completely flat and a screw was found wedged deep into the rubber. I have had a couple screws in my tires over the years. Usually depending on where the screw is, it takes some time for your tire to actually flatten from it. But in this, because of how lodged it was, it actually looked like it had been screwed into the rubber intentionally rather than driven over. So that's kinda weird. And inside the car was Karen's Halloween costume and purse. I imagine she changed out of her Halloween costume at Kathy and Bill's house, you know, because she was Catwoman, she was going to pick her daughter up. Maybe she was ready to put normal clothes back on and then head to pick up her daughter and then go home. But her purse being in there, it's like, was she gonna head out again? Did she leave it in there when she got home with her daughter?
- [19:28]
Teeth
I can't imagine that she would have left her purse in her car. Like I know.
- [19:32]
Daphne
I don't do that either.
- [19:33]
Teeth
You know, most people really don't do that. Maybe she was intoxicated. I don't know.
- [19:39]
Daphne
Maybe she went to a party.
- [19:40]
Teeth
It's possible. Yeah. Or it's possible that whoever took her life placed that purse in the car.
- [19:48]
Daphne
Yeah, maybe somebody is trying to paint the scene that she was trying to leave or go back out. And that's why there is a little discourse here. And it makes it a little confusing of what the truth really is.
- [19:58]
Teeth
And it would be really interesting for this perpetrator because it does kind of line up. Oh, I'm taking my purse. I'm heading out. Oops, my tire's flat. Now I gotta flag someone down for a ride. That's a perfect. Like, you know, oh, maybe somebody picked her up and they're the one who did this.
- [20:15]
Daphne
Yeah. And maybe she couldn't get her purse because somebody who pulled over just yanked her into the car and whatever. Yeah, like, it can. It absolutely can make you think 100 different things. So her car was impounded for a more extensive search, and Karen and David's home was searched as well, because at this point, it is feeling very possible that she was met with foul play. This was obvious to police that it wasn't an elective disappearance. Law enforcement march sent dogs around her property as well as the surrounding area where her car was found. But still there was no sign of Karen or any of her belongings, Anything pointing to Karen, and really no evidence at all as to what could have happened. When David was brought in for questioning, he admitted that his wife was navigating what he believed was a drinking problem. But he did actually note that he didn't believe that she would ever leave town without alerting their children, and that he also didn't believe her disappearance to be elective. But otherwise, he had very little information to offer to the investigation and maintained that he had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance. Interestingly, though, detectives noted that he had limped in on crutches into this interview, complaining of a knee injury that he had sustained a few days before Karen went missing.
- [21:42]
Teeth
Well, the only other person that detectives were particularly interested in looking into was a man named John Hogshooter, who was the Swift's neighbor across the street. Because John had earned himself a pretty bleak reputation in the neighborhood due to the egregious treatment of a problem he was having on his property. I want to give a little animal abuse warning here. Obviously, no gruesome details, though, as usual. But basically, John was fed up with neighborhood dogs stopping to traipse through and pee on his grass. So instead of speaking with the dog's owners like a normal person would do, he sprinkled poison in his front yard. So two area dogs fell ill, including one belonging to the Swifts.
- [22:27]
Daphne
That's like Psycho Neighbor Move Deluxe.
- [22:31]
Teeth
Yeah, that guy is a complete piece of shit. Well, thankfully, Karen and David's dog recovered after being treated at the vet. But tragically, this other dog passed away. And according to one of Karen's friends, she actually confronted him in the aftermath of this, and they had a heated argument about it, understandably so. However, John denied knowing Karen at all, Aside from seeing her in her yard across the street, you know, once in a while when he was asked if they had ever spoken, John claimed that the only time he could distinctly remember seeing her was when she was mowing her lawn in a bikini. And he told the interrogating officer kinda smugly that this instance stuck out to him, saying with a smirk, quote, we're men. You know, it's just like, I get.
- [23:18]
Daphne
Why that would stick out to you. Obviously, if you, you find her attractive and she's wearing a bikini and you look out, maybe that's not how people usually mow the lawn. But like, why do you have to be so weird about it?
- [23:29]
Teeth
I mean, this guy is just weird in general. I mean, obviously trying to poison dogs in his front yard, like psychopath. Well, anyway, on November 5, 2011, after the poisonings came to light, John was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty. And I'm sure investigators wanted justice for the dogs, but this was also kind of a way to like, look into him further for Karen's disappearance because his car was impounded and his home was searched. And this search effort revealed two cell phones belonging to Karen, which had been smashed and discarded in the brush alongside the road near John's property and less than 600ft from the Swift's home. However, John was able to offer up an alibi and witnesses who could account for his whereabouts on the entire night that Karen disappeared. So while he may have been an animal abuser and piece of shit and an all around questionable member of the community, he was off the hook for involvement in Karen's disappearance.
- [24:31]
Daphne
What an interesting character in this case. While nearly two months passed with no word from or sign of Karen at all. And then a devastating discovery came on December 10, 2011, near a local cemetery. Situated beneath a large metal cross which is known as the Harness Road Memorial Cross, it sits atop a bluff overlooking Bledsoe Cemetery. Human remains were discovered entrenched in a thicket of vines. So that chilly day in late fall, Construction worker Mark Rickman had been surveying the tombstones with the cemetery's trustee, Pastor John Robinson, when the pair noticed what looked like a bone sticking out from some kudzu vines on the edge of the property. Now, you probably know what kudzu vines looked like if you don't, if you want to Google it, but I'll also put some pictures on our socials. They can actually grow up to a foot in one day. They're super, super lush, green, leafy vines, and they're known for being thick and very difficult to traverse. And these vines had completely encompassed the remains, which is really eerie to think about. But because of the chilly weather, these vines had retreated, revealing the secret that they were keeping, which is just so eerie to think about for some reason. For me, I don't know why. I think especially because it's at a cemetery, like, it's almost like the. The earth is releasing her, you know?
- [26:02]
Teeth
Yeah. And on top of that, I mean, the perpetrator didn't have very good knowledge about these vines when he put the remains there because, yeah, the fact that it was chilly and those vines were retreating, I mean, had it not been during that time of year, those vines might have completely encompassed the remains to the point where they could have decomposed over many, many months, and we may not have ever found those remains.
- [26:28]
Daphne
Well, of course, these two guys are coming upon these bones, and they call the police. They're brought to the medical examiner's office in Memphis, Tennessee, for identification. Memphis is around 80 miles away, by the way, and Karen's dental records confirmed that she was a match for the identity of the body found just 2 miles or 3.2 kilometers from her home. The sheriff of Dyer County, Jeff Box, announced to the public, due to her body being placed and concealed in the area that it was recovered from and apparent injuries to her body, it has been ruled a homicide. We are currently awaiting results of an autopsy from the medical examiner's office in Memphis to determine the cause of death. While ultimately, Karen's cause of death was found to be blunt force trauma, as there had been severe damage to her skull, and because of the shape and width of the skull fracture she had sustained, detectives believed that her head had been resting against something solid and then stomped on by her attacker as if maybe she had been resting her head on a concrete step or a curb and then somebody smashed down on top of her. I mean, this fatal blow was so forceful that according to the medical examiner, it, quote, caved her skull in. However, because of the amount of decomposition, Karen's remains revealed very little about what had happened to her on that night. And sadly, her case's progress stalled. I mean, months gave way to years, and it wasn't until 2022 that an arrest was finally made. You know what a girl's best friend is? Not diamonds. Her lawyers.
- [28:37]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
From executive producer Ryan Murphy comes a fiery new legal drama.
- [28:41]
State Farm Representative (advertisement)
It's our own boutique, women representing women.
- [28:44]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
You can't afford to miss.
- [28:46]
Daphne
Make it rich showtime ladies. Stand up straight and breeze into that room like a storm no one saw coming.
- [28:56]
Ryan Murphy (executive producer, voiceover)
Hulu Original Series All's Fair premieres November 4th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers Terms apply.
- [29:02]
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- [29:33]
Teeth
Do you guys need something to warm your bodies after these chilling stories? Well, this episode is brought to you by El Mayor Tequila, A clean premium tequila that proves less really is more.
- [29:45]
Daphne
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- [29:59]
Teeth
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- [30:30]
Daphne
The Cafe Reposado is our favorite. Heath and I had some by the fire last night while we watched a movie. It is so unique and delicious. Like El Mayor's tequila seriously has extraordinary quality and craftsmanship and actually it's often half the price of similar brands. But El Mayor's award winning tequila is clean, smooth and always worth the pour.
- [30:52]
Teeth
Discover more@el mayor.com and find El Mayor Tequila at a retailer near you. Please enjoy responsibly.
- [31:03]
State Farm Representative (advertisement)
Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like getting a granola bar with a candle in it. When you wanted a three layer birthday cake, you wouldn't settle for just any dessert on your birthday. So don't settle for just any insurance. When it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [31:27]
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- [31:58]
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- [32:43]
Teeth
Despite their heartbreak, David and his children managed to move forward with their lives and In January of 2014, David met an Alabama woman named Kelly Essman on Christian Mingle and the pair began dating long distance. They dated for just over two years before tying the knot in May of 2016, so nearly five years after Karen's murder. And then David, Ashley and Keeley moved to Alabama to be with her. Now for a while, things were peaceful and it felt like the family had been given a fresh start, his wife Kelly recalled. I look at how easily I talked to David and believed everything that he told me. Kelly admitted that David shared the story of his wife's murder with her, but that she couldn't fathom that the gentle, chivalrous single father that she had fallen in love with had had anything to do with it. But while she may have believed in his innocence, Kelly was finding out the hard way that David was far from a perfect partner. According to Kelly, he was possessive over her and she claimed that he would watch her location and track her movements every time she left the house. Kelly and David tried to make things work and even went to couples counseling, but ultimately decided that their problems and David's trust issues just ran a little too deep, that they couldn't make it work and they filed for divorce. But Kelly soon began to suspect that David had placed a tracker on her car without her consent and later discovered that she was actually right about that. David would check on her compulsively and began harassing her after the divorce filing and she was so disturbed by this that she filed for and was granted a restraining order. Now police began monitoring David's behavior and found that he was still following her around, leading police to believe that he had placed a second tracking device on her car. And though they couldn't find this device to remove it, they were able to locate footage from her Simplisafe security camera that pictured David trying to break into her backyard to spy on her. In the aftermath, Kelly was just dumbfounded at how charming he was and how easy he made it. To fall for him despite his flaws, she wondered, why didn't I see it? How do I trust that I can see through anything else? I pulled up the feed and there he was in my backyard in the middle of the night. He had to drive 40 minutes one way to get to my house.
- [35:13]
Daphne
So creepy.
- [35:14]
Teeth
Very, very creepy. Well, David was later charged with felony stalking as a result of this.
- [35:20]
Daphne
And officially, Kelly and David separated in June of 2022 and officially divorced in March of 2023. Meanwhile, Ashley, who, remember, is Karen and David's daughter, remained close with her father, who she maintains was as supportive and protective as ever. He helped her find her first job, helped care for her first car, and helped her decide on a path for higher education after high school. She spoke actually very proudly of her father's kindness and his integrity, Remembering that he stepped in to help a struggling mom around the holidays. Ashley remembered, quote, she was putting stuff back as she was checking out, and my dad ended up covering all of it so that her kids could have a good Christmas. Things like that really stand out to me. And that's also totally fair for her to have, like, a different experience than her mom would or than Kelly would, because people showed like, my parents are divorced, and they obviously didn't see eye to eye enough for that divorce to happen. But a lot of those things I don't see because I'm the kid. So it's like, I think it is fair that what she's saying is true to her a hundred percent. But that doesn't mean this other person doesn't also exist in David. But obviously, this is a very conflicting situation for Ashley because she does want to know who murdered her mom. That haunted her. And she was really becoming resigned to the fact that she may never know why her mother, Karen, was met with such a gruesome fate, saying, quote, I got to an age where I realized that I would never know what happened. So, yeah, she's not of the belief that her dad would do this. So, of course, it was a huge shock to Ashley and her siblings when their own father, David Swift, was arrested for their mother's murder. Ashley was completely stunned at this development. She continued to maintain that her father, David, was a kind and gentle person who always did what was best for her and her siblings. And this Also really left her scrambling to find care for her younger sister, Keely, who was still living at home. Like, overall, this was just a nightmare situation that he had been arrested because especially she didn't believe he did it. Now Keely doesn't have a guardian, and obviously this arrest took a while. It had been a slog to secure a warrant consisting of grueling man hours and 12 years as a cold case. But David was finally taken into custody in August of 2022. Actually, in the wake of the pandemic, A closer look was taken at the county's cold cases. Sheriff Jeff box explained. We have literally spent thousands of hours on this case, and a lot of that time was spent dispelling false information and rumors. Our investigators never gave up and just kept going through the evidence. A forensic search of David's devices revealed a plethora of searches on dating websites in the immediate aftermath of Karen's disappearance. Over a month, actually before she was found deceased. Which I feel like isn't too weird since they were in the process of a divorce, though the very early stages. But, you know, also since David had tried to talk her out of moving forward with the divorce on the very morning that she disappeared, It's a little shocking, I guess, that even before, during, and after she went missing, he's on dating sites. But it's also like maybe he's forcing himself to move on. You know, I don't really know how to look at that.
- [39:02]
Teeth
Yeah, I mean, she was already kind of doing her own thing as well, so I feel like that would be fair. But I don't know if that's the first thing you might do after your wife disappears. I mean, even if you are getting a divorce, I don't know if you're spending all your time looking for a partner online.
- [39:21]
Daphne
Yeah. So that is definitely being highlighted a little bit as potentially weird behavior. But you guys decide how you feel about that. Well, when the grand jury indicted David for the murder of his late wife, Sheriff Jeff box announced, quote, today is a good day for law enforcement, and I'm very pleased the grand jury returned an indictment against David Swift. I want to sincerely thank our investigators for their diligence in this case. The one thing that held true since the early stages of the investigation into Karen's death was that David was always a suspect because all the evidence pointed to him. We were able to rule anyone and everyone else out involving this tragic murder. And the grand jury made the right decision today by indicting him on a premeditated first degree murder. Charge. So David was extradited to Tennessee from Alabama to await his trial. And while he was in custody In July of 2023, he was hit with that stalking felony charge after his predatory behavior during his split with his second wife, Kelly, you know, showing up in her backyard in the middle of the night. But aside from his stalking charges, David had no criminal history and no history of being abusive, violent, or aggressive with Kelly or anybody else. He said in an interview, I never raised a hand on nobody, now or ever, and I certainly wouldn't do it to my wife or the mother of my children. It's just not my character. Both David and his defense attorney maintained his innocence, but his bond was revoked due to the stalking charges stacked against him.
- [41:11]
Teeth
David's murder trial began in May of 2024. His defense attorney, Daniel Tayer, alleged that David had been suffering from a knee ailment at the time of his wife's murder and that he had been walking with the assistance of crutches at the time. Now, this proved, Daniel claimed, that he would not have been able to overpower and murder Karen and then transport her body, let alone navigate wading through the kudzu vines in order to bury her. However, though there are eyewitnesses who can attest to him sporting crutches in the days following his wife's murder, he was also seen moving just fine without them. The Swift's neighbor, John Hogshooter, actually testified about this in court, saying it was right at dark, he was talking to him. You could see him using his crutches while he was talking. After he got done talking and they went in the house, he just walked like he didn't need crutches anymore. I thought that was strange. John also remembered seeing David toting a large bucket around the property shortly after, again without the assistance of crutches.
- [42:18]
Daphne
So it's almost giving. Was he faking an injury? Was he faking an injury to help his future alibi because he was planning on murdering his wife? Did he not really use the crutches before and only used him after because he got maybe, perhaps hurt in the attack?
- [42:34]
Teeth
I mean, either way, it looks kind of suspicious when, you know, this can be used like, as kind of a defense in your trial that, oh, well, he had crutches. But then if you're seen not using them at certain times, it's like, well, were you really hurt? You know? But I will say that his physical therapist, however, testified on David's behalf that it would have been nearly impossible for David to have carried out the Murder and burial in this condition. Like, she's basically. Or she. Or he is basically saying, hey, I, you know, I checked him out. He did physical therapy with me. I don't think he could have done this. And the prosecutors allege that after Ashley went to bed, it was actually David who moved her to her bedroom, even though Ashley testified that she swore that she could tell that it had been her mom, despite the fact that she had been sleeping. The prosecution alleged that David then lured her into the garage, lured Karen into the garage, where he overpowered her, resulting in her death from blunt force trauma to the head. He's then believed to have dumped both her body and her car and gone home to wait for the realizations of others to filter in.
- [43:47]
Daphne
And this is where we should bring up that tire situation again, the screw in the tire. Because actually, a tire expert testified in trial, and they thoroughly believe, based on their research, based on the testing, that they did, that the way the screw was in her tire could not have gotten in there just from driving over it. They genuinely believed that somebody would have had to have screw the tire or, sorry, screw the screw into the tire, which would then make us think, did David screw the screw into her tire to stage the fact that she got a flat tire and then flagged somebody for help.
- [44:27]
Teeth
I mean, yeah, that's pretty damning when there's that kind of. When somebody can actually test for that and show that that screw was in there intentionally, you know, and it wasn't just some sort of accident.
- [44:39]
Daphne
It definitely makes you wonder.
- [44:41]
Teeth
Well, despite an extensive search of the property, with particular attention paid to the garage, investigators could not find a sign of blood spatter or any other evidence that would indicate that he took her life right there that night. But the prosecution maintained that that didn't mean that the murder did not take place.
- [45:00]
Daphne
And sure, I agree with them. But then I do really wonder, where was the crime scene? Especially if her skull had been caved in. We can imagine the scene that would have caused. We can imagine the blood spatter and the pool of blood that would have come from such a head wound. Where did that happen? Because they don't know.
- [45:22]
Teeth
Yeah. And when in. Or, sorry, when forensic investigators go into a crime scene or what they believe could have been a crime scene. I mean, they are very, very good at testing things. I mean, they can find the most minuscule, tiny amount of blood sometimes where you're just like, how the hell did they find that?
- [45:41]
Daphne
And this is 2011, and they didn't find even a tiny speck Anywhere in that house. So what. What happened and where did it happen? Well, additionally, Karen's autopsy proved that she had taken a sleeping pill prior to her death, which may have made her an easier target and allowed her to put up less of a fight. But more curious was the fact that someone had used Karen's burner phone to check the device's voicemail afterwards. And this call. I say afterwards because this call was placed at 9:55am so hours after Karen was believed to have gone missing. And guess what? It was connected to the Swift's home wifi at the time, despite David's defense claiming that the location data of the phone was unreliable.
- [46:33]
Teeth
I mean, that feels like it's pretty damning because it's not like if her burner phone had pinged somewhere, you know, on that rural road where her car was found, that would make sense. But the fact that she was already gone by that time and somebody's checking the voicemail. Well, who else is going to be checking the fucking voicemail that's connected to the Swift's WI fi.
- [46:54]
Daphne
Yeah, I think especially this happening so many hours later is suspicious because we know at the very least that Karen wasn't checking it herself. And then of course, we know that David says that he didn't even know she had a burner phone. So it's like it is important to know where, what the location data said, because if it said it was in the house and that the voicemail was checked that morning at about 10am and David's the only one that could have done that, then he's lying and he's already creating this web.
- [47:24]
Teeth
Yeah, and it's not like, you know, it's not like Ashley's gonna be checking the voicemail on her mom's burner phone. There's only one person that could do that. And even though David said he didn't know that Karen had a burner phone, it was saved in his work phone.
- [47:37]
Daphne
Yeah, so we know at the very least he was lying about that anyway. So what else is he lying about? Well, although the defense posed the theory that Karen could have gone back out after Ashley went to bed, like we had mentioned earlier, maybe she wanted to go back out. That's why her purse was in her car. Her phones were inactive after she returned home. And again, that sleeping pill indicated that she was planning on being in for the night. And I. I know some of you might be thinking. What I'm thinking is that maybe she was given a sleeping pill and that she didn't electively Take one. But there were some pretty interesting text messages that Karen had sent to Kathy Bona in the months before her murder, including one from June 28, 2011, that read, quote, david is acting very strange, kind of scaring me. He says he took two Ambien. So it's interesting. We have some proof that David would take sleeping pills, and now Karen is found with a sleeping pill in her system. I am very suspicious of that pill and whether or not she took it herself.
- [48:42]
Teeth
Yeah, absolutely. I. I am as well.
- [48:45]
Daphne
Well, Karen also added during those texts or during those text exchanges that she was going to make sure that he was asleep before she was, and then repeated that she was scared of him and told Kathy that she planned on taking the girls into a room with her and locking the door. She added to Kathy that she had never been afraid of him before, but that this time she felt like something was different. Now, unfortunately for the prosecution, all of this evidence, though very compelling, was circumstantial. And ultimately, it didn't hold up in court. And the jury remained unconvinced, I think mostly because we really do not have a crime scene here. So for the charge of both first degree premeditated and second degree murder, too much reasonable doubt plagued the minds of the jurors. And on June 6, 2024, David Swift was found not guilty.
- [49:46]
Teeth
But when it came to the charge of voluntary manslaughter, they were hopelessly deadlocked. So a mistrial was declared, and the charge was eventually dismissed. David was extradited back to Alabama to await his fate for his stalking charges. Off scot free for murder. Now, as you guys can imagine, Ashley is still mourning the loss of her mom, as well as navigating the difficult aftermath of seeing her dad serve jail time for apparently being the cause of it. She explained, it's something that at first is very difficult, and it's still difficult, but I feel like over time, you cope with things over and over and over. Everywhere I go, every school I went to, every workplace I've worked, it comes up she's still working to put the whole ordeal behind her, saying, I want justice for my mom and I want my dad home, but I want to live a normal life.
- [50:45]
Daphne
So if potentially David was not Karen's murderer, who was? While many have speculated that because of the recent divorce filing, Karen could have been dating somebody that her friends and family weren't even aware of yet, and he was the culprit, perhaps after leaving to meet up with him on the night of her murder. Because nobody came up in interviews with any of her friends. You know, Kathy and Bill didn't say, oh, we set her up with our buddy Jim. And then they're talking to Jim like nobody else came up. So of course there is the possibility that she randomly met somebody out one day or even at the Halloween party. You know, like, it's very possible that somebody had followed her home from that party, maybe lured her outside after they eventually got to her house. But it's tough. I mean, with no evidence, you can make up literally any scenario, which is why it's kind of easy to think that David would be behind it because he has the most motive than literally anybody else.
- [51:47]
Teeth
Yeah. And I hope that, you know, in the years to come that they're able to gather some more evidence because really that is kind of the key to this, to solving this thing. I mean, in my mind, like you're saying David has all the motive, the screw in the tire, the checking the voicemail thing. All of those things in my mind kind of pinpoint to David. But also, you know, there just really is not enough here to convict him.
- [52:14]
Daphne
Yeah, we would love to know what you guys think. So please let us know because ultimately the facts remain incredibly murky, the theories are slim and the suspects are non existent. So if you have any information about the murder of Karen Swift, please call Dyer County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [52:52]
Teeth
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Would really love to know your guys's theories and what you think about this case. So please, please head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're also on Facebook. We have a discussion group there where we talk about the cases that we cover. So please leave us a comment, let us know if you think David is guilty or not.
- [53:13]
Daphne
And don't forget, this Friday on Halloween, we will be releasing an episode. It's going to be a regular true crime case. Don't worry. But it's going to be a little bit extra special. So we're very excited for that. Tune in. And also remember, we have a couple really great bonus episodes for this month on patreon.com going west podcast and also on Apple podcasts. We came out the other day with the murder of Lillian Armstrong. That is a spooky Halloween night murder in England from the 1960s. And then this week we are releasing a very special Halloween listener tales episode. You guys don't want to miss it.
- [53:51]
Teeth
Yeah. Those are your guys's stories that we tell on this show about the spooky encounters that you guys have had and the near misses. Really?
- [53:58]
Daphne
Yeah. And those are always super, super fun. We get a ton of requests for those, so don't miss this year's episode.
- [54:05]
Teeth
All right, guys, so for everybody out.
- [54:07]
Daphne
There in the world, don't be a stranger. Sam Foreign.
- [54:53]
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