TN TN - Karen Swift, 44, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 - #2

[SNOWINMEMPHIS]

It seems to me, with a background in funeral work, just from what they are saying about "apparent injuries" that Karen was probably bludgeoned.
I hate to think so, but that makes sense for a "partially" decomposed body.
The weather got warm and cool and rainy on and off while she was missing.
That's the way it is in west Tn.
For instance it's 69 degrees in Memphis today.
I looked at the map of where she lived and where she was found.
I know most of those roads from childhood.
Not her neighborhood since it's fairly new and I'm not that young
If someone wanted to make her body disappear, the Mississippi River would have been a nearby better alternative.
JMO

 

[LindaG]

One thing I'm a little curious about would need to be answered by a doctor. On DS's FB page, he posted a picture of his leg injury on May 2nd, and described the injury as "torn Patella tendon." He was using crutches again when Karen went missing, and allegedly said it was a result of his injury from back in May. I'm just curious what a doctor would say about an injury like this not healing, and revealing itself again.

This was reported earlier in which a Dr. said that walking on uneven terrain could reinjure the patella and slow or reverse the healing process. moo

This was posted on another site, earlier in the investigation:

"Mr. Swift was observed in his driveway after he returned from an interview with DCSO in the first days of the investigation on crutches. Mr. Swift underwent emergency surgery for a torn patella tendon in April of 2011 but by all accounts has long since recovered from the injury sustained at his daughter’s soccer field." moo

 

[otto]

bbm

Maybe I'm reading too much into these statements by LE, but - that leads me to believe that she was murdered in a violent way... ... in a way that LE thinks there should be evidence somewhere (rather than strangulation, etc).

I suppose the ways that she could have been murdered are gun, knife and suffocation. We know that she as injuries, as we've read that. Gun would be one simple straight forward injury. Knife would be messy with an obvious crime scene somewhere (so far, it seems police are uncertain about where she was murdered). Suffocation would probably be bruises and soft tissue injuries from struggling. My guess is that she is not so badly decomposed that manner of death is a mystery. If it is not knife or gun, then she was probably strangled or suffocated and I suspect she put up a mighty fight ... which can be very violent, ragingly violent at times.

I hope the husband was examined/photographed for any possible injuries immediately after her disappearance.

 

[belimom]

I was just catching up on this thread. Wow. Sooo reminiscent of Nancy Cooper's case:

- middle of a divorce
- still living with spouse
- small children
- making extra money on side (Nancy: painting rooms; Karen: cleaning homes)
- attended a party without the STBX spouse
- disappeared in the wee hours after returning from the party
- neither one reported missing until much later than one would expect
- both husbands urged to call LE by friends (or, I think friends contacted LE first in both cases? Can't recall exactly...)
- both found outside in "brush" not too far from home, on convenient spots not too far from a road

 

[otto]

I was just catching up on this thread. Wow. Sooo reminiscent of Nancy Cooper's case:

- middle of a divorce
- still living with spouse
- small children
- making extra money on side (Nancy: painting rooms; Karen: cleaning homes)
- attended a party without the STBX spouse
- disappeared in the wee hours after returning from the party
- neither one reported missing until much later than one would expect
- both husbands urged to call LE by friends (or, I think friends contacted LE first in both cases? Can't recall exactly...)
- both found outside in "brush" not too far from home, on convenient spots not too far from a road

I was thinking about the similarities as well ... even wondering if Karen was telling friends about her life in the same way that Nancy talked about hers. I also wondered why the husband, if he did it, didn't simply claim that Karen took an early morning jog ... that seems to be the only big difference. Nancy supposedly went jogging, Karen supposedly went out for a drive for no reason between 2 and 5 AM while she had a sick child at home.

 

[SNOWINMEMPHIS]

Having been thru divorce, sure you have times of extreme anger.
People change and want new things, and don't always hate each other.
They were living in the same house and caring for the children together.
There is the report that the husband recently received a bonus check from work and it angered Karen that he didn't share it with her.
That could be because she had filed for divorce just 20 days before she went missing.
From all accounts, she was a middle age woman (so am I) and she was working out and jogging a lot and looking forward to a future without her husband.
Ok, been there, done that.
And my ex and I are very good friends.
There were angry hateful words and things we both regret.
And the lawyers told both of us to "stay in the house" if we could, because once you leave you lose some rights.
Even tho we settled out differences, I made him move out.
I honestly respect a couple who can manage to stay in the same house when going thru a divorce.
To me it shows genuine respect and love for each other.
I guess I just see the whole situation in a different light.
It's easy, so easy, to point the finger at her husband.
It seems so right in every way.
Almost too easy.....
And it's always so difficult to understand why a man would kill the mother of his children, although it happens everyday.
I just have to put it out there that I know many couples who divorce and remain friends. I even know couples who divorce and socialize with their exes.
Like on "Old Christine".
I think we have been exposed thru education and life experience that anger and rage isn't the best way to conduct ourselves.
I prefer to think that once you love someone truly that you always do.
Minus psychosis, we don't kill those we love.
As a nation we lived thru the Lacy and Scott Peterson case. Her mother saying "there was always divorce".
I think we live and we learn how better to deal with things.
Just my 2 cents worth of it all.
I don't mind being wrong. But I hope I am not.
JMO

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

A drywall screw in a tire will often seal itself, that is until the head wears down or off, then it'll leak faster. That screw could have been in there a day or a week, we don't know the condition of it. I also can tell you from 25 years in the mechanical field and time served in a tire shop doing front end alignments, and many years doing home repairs on the side, where there is one screw, there are usually more than one. Same goes for roofing nails.

 

[otto]

A drywall screw in a tire will often seal itself, that is until the head wears down or off, then it'll leak faster. That screw could have been in there a day or a week, we don't know the condition of it. I also can tell you from 25 years in the mechanical field and time served in a tire shop doing front end alignments, and many years doing home repairs on the side, where there is one screw, there are usually more than one. Same goes for roofing nails.

Quite true, there are always more. I had the roof redone last summer and the guys went around the yard and driveway with a magnet after the job was done to collect leftover nails or screws. They missed about 5 of them that surfaced in the few days after the job was done, but there aren't any anymore.

 

[cocomod]

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-dyer-sheriff-swift,0,5848889.story



How do y'all take that thorn in the side comment? I am taking it that it means he has asked no questions, is not asking for answers, is not demanding justice - nothing, nada.

I found the following from that article interesting:

They're waiting on DNA samples from evidence found in Swift's car, the family's home, and from her body.

I hope that this means that they will have

So far the sheriff says Swift's husband, David, has cooperated in the case.

"That includes DNA samples, he's come in and was interviewed," said Box. "He allowed us to interview one of the children. So far he's submitted to every request for search of anything on that property."

This sounds quite a bit better than most of the suspected STBX situations that I read about on here. Usually the LE have to pull teeth, or the STBX completely shuts out LE. The part that still stands out to me is that he hired a criminal attorney so quickly. I still have hope in my bones that he is not involved; therefore, these precious children will only lose one parent in this nightmare.

 

[cluciano63]

Having been thru divorce, sure you have times of extreme anger.
People change and want new things, and don't always hate each other.
They were living in the same house and caring for the children together.
There is the report that the husband recently received a bonus check from work and it angered Karen that he didn't share it with her.
That could be because she had filed for divorce just 20 days before she went missing.
From all accounts, she was a middle age woman (so am I) and she was working out and jogging a lot and looking forward to a future without her husband.
Ok, been there, done that.
And my ex and I are very good friends.
There were angry hateful words and things we both regret.
And the lawyers told both of us to "stay in the house" if we could, because once you leave you lose some rights.
Even tho we settled out differences, I made him move out.
I honestly respect a couple who can manage to stay in the same house when going thru a divorce.
To me it shows genuine respect and love for each other.
I guess I just see the whole situation in a different light.
It's easy, so easy, to point the finger at her husband.
It seems so right in every way.
Almost too easy.....
And it's always so difficult to understand why a man would kill the mother of his children, although it happens everyday.
I just have to put it out there that I know many couples who divorce and remain friends. I even know couples who divorce and socialize with their exes.
Like on "Old Christine".
I think we have been exposed thru education and life experience that anger and rage isn't the best way to conduct ourselves.
I prefer to think that once you love someone truly that you always do.Minus psychosis, we don't kill those we love.
As a nation we lived thru the Lacy and Scott Peterson case. Her mother saying "there was always divorce".
I think we live and we learn how better to deal with things.
Just my 2 cents worth of it all.
I don't mind being wrong. But I hope I am not.
JMO

Yikes, I must be a freak...I have a few exes in my past I would not throw water on if they were on fire...

 

[otto]

I just read the link regarding the Habitat house. It doesn't sound like this house was just built, but that it was a foreclosure that was really messy. I doubt a screw would have come from that location.

http://www.stategazette.com/story/1792485.html

 

[SNOWINMEMPHIS]

I took it that he was cooperating and doing everything they asked him to do.

Yikes, I must be a freak...I have a few exes in my past I would not throw water on if they were on fire...

:crazy:No you're not a freak! LOL!
I know my share of those stories too.
We did it with counseling and it was still difficult.
I guess it was too soon in the divorce for this couple to have gone that route.
I am left wondering if he was completely blindsided by the divorce being filed.
When that's the case, it's usually worse.
When two people grow apart there are usually signs.
IOW it's not such a shock.
JMO

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Exactly, I agree.

Maybe HE didn't know the tire was flat. Perhaps he had intended to stage a different (more solid) coverup but her car was not driveable and he was forced to come up with a new scenario at the last minute.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

The article days the tire had a sheet rock screw in it and a puncture in it, which reads to me that the puncture was separate from the sheet rock screw (which of course would puncture the tire as it embedded in it...so why point out the puncture, which is a given unless it is separate?) Also, didn't the car have a fancy electronic system that would warn the driver of a flat tire? Mine has one, and I have had quite a few slow leaks over the years that were caught well before the tire became flat thanks to the indicator light on my dash. I don't understand how if this vehicle had such a system why someone would (presumably) ignore the low tire pressure light for so long that the tire came off the rim...especially in the wee hours of the morning.

I have driven a company car for a decade and usually go thru 1-2 cars per year. More than 1 of these cars has had indicator light issues with the tire system after getting new tires. I remember when they were trying to fix the issue on my Impala that the mechanic said Nissans were the worst. I once drove on a flat until I heard the unmistakable sound of a flat bc the tire indicator light had been on for months and no one could fix it.

 

[RoseRed]

Do we know where the Habitat House is located? I hpoe the LE have at least checked it out just in case she might have gone early that morning.

 

[~n/t~]

:crazy:No you're not a freak! LOL!
I know my share of those stories too.
We did it with counseling and it was still difficult.
I guess it was too soon in the divorce for this couple to have gone that route.
I am left wondering if he was completely blindsided by the divorce being filed.
When that's the case, it's usually worse.
When two people grow apart there are usually signs.
IOW it's not such a shock.
JMO

I don't know if he was blindsided or not but Karen went on holiday with the girls when he got the divorce papers. Not sure if she planned it that way or not. If she did, that says she was afraid of how he may have reacted. We also have to remember that their sons didn't want the parents to divorce so it must've been a really difficult decision for Karen if she was the one who initiated to proceedings and wanted out.

 

[otto]

After reading the text messages from Karen to friends, I get the impression that she was doing really well. Each time she got another job, she was really excited. She was seeing her life taking off, building confidence and succeeding on her own. I would like to know more about her husband, as it's possible that he viewed himself as the head of the family and he viewed Karen and the children as entirely dependent on him. Some men believe that their wife and children cannot survive without them. If Karen was excited about her successes and her husband was feeling like he wasn't needed ... that dynamic isn't good. Her life was moving forward, and he may have felt that he was being left behind, discarded. Those feelings could result in resentment ... anger, arguments, conflict and violence.

 

[hollyblue]

Her case is on NG right now.

 

[RubyRed]

This is just coming up on NG for those interested.

 

[panthera]

This is just coming up on NG for those interested.

Thank you. I have it on!