TN - Karen Swift, 44, murdered, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 *husband charged in 2022* #4

[DeDee]

It puts animal blood in the garage. A witness for the state said that blood was found in the garage but was not human blood. This will possibly explain how the blood got there so the jury doesn't think it may be Karen's blood.

JMO

Yes, it does. However, the State's position is that Karen may have been strangled or had an enclosed head injury, even with being stomped on the head post-mortem, so there's no blood related to a possible CS at their home. Nobody knows how she died except her killer. Karen's suture lines in her skull were cracked open and the teeny tiny hyoid bone was missing.

I want to know how she was transported to the cross at the cemetery and when.

moo

 

[DeDee]

Day Six After Lunch June 4, 2024
Cliff notes, the short version and moo

The Defense calls Dustin Swift the 31yo son of David and Karen.

DuS was 18yo when his mother went missing. He was enrolled in the Vet Program in college in 2011 a few months before Karen disappeared. His friend drove him to his parents' home on Sunday. DuS did not smell bleach or see anything out of the ordinary.

DuS describes the scene of hearing the door knock and seeing the police there to search their home with AR15s. Lasted several hours while S fam stayed at neighbors. He knew his father's leg was injured and had surgery months earlier. His father was on crutches when he went home after Karen disappeared.

He knew Karen had more than one phone. Karen called him at night to tell him she was filing for a divorce. He describes 3 incidents involving dogs. One, Jack, was poisoned but lived and still lives with DuS! Mia was a small dog and Karen accidentally hit the dog when she was going to check the mail near the mailbox. Doggie died immediately. Karen and children prayed over their small dog. A third dog got shot. One of the neighbors shot him.

He helped his mother clean the pool. Explains product Shock and bleach for their cleaning above ground pool. [Does this explain the odd odor some witnesses testified to smelling?]

Other brother was in college at the time in Arkansas. Brother rarely went home for weekends.

DuS would often drive around with his dog looking for mother. He observed something odd at the cemetery. On back way at Harness between the white cross and Hwy78. Male was in the ditch with a metal detector. DuS pulled next to him. Man said he lost his watch but man was wearing a watch. DuS told man his mom was missing. This the 2nd time we've heard about a man at the cemetery with a metal detector.

A vigil was held for Karen before she was found. DuS did not go back to school then but later returned to finish college. He's a federally licensed aviation mechanic. [His mother would be pleased.]

Cross by the State
Discusses David's injury and his use of crutches.
His father had already told him that his mother had a 2nd phone before she went missing.
The small dog and prayer session took place in the garage.
Garage door was left slightly open for the dogs.

DuS says the metal detector guy was 200 yards from the cross.
He agreed he was 60% sure the metal detector guy wore a watch.
His family was treated by mocking after Karen disappeared is the reason he didn't tell anyone abut the metal detector guy until 7 months later.
DuS found out who the metal detector guy was after Karen was found.

DuS asked father if older people could be involved with mom's death. David pulled out a video of a guy name DS who had been shown in a news clip.

DuS watched the girls for his parents. State pushes how many times did David ask him to watch children so he could go find Karen at night. Doesn't recall. DuS did not watch the sisters at night but then DuS recalls watching girls when David went to Walmart at night to spy on Karen.

Dustin sits beside Ashley in the courtroom.

 

[DeDee]

Day Six Afternoon June 4, 2024
Cliff notes, the short version and moo

Defense calls David Williams, an IT expert for phone records -- mobile location, communication networks and computer design expert. Explains expertise/experience. Smart phones are computers. Witness has written 4 books.

Witness watched the State's testimony about this topic. Examined and analyzed pertinent discovery data in this case. Gets technical w/ elaborate description of his complex job and abilities -- nodes and network. Every node needs to know where to go... ea node has an IP address [Internet Protocol] routing the data to its end destination.

Witness on the Network Extender in the S home
DW disputes the extender is an enhancer sitting in the house that reaches out to amplify wifi service by broadcasting in giant volume. [Now, I'm confused.]

NE is a piece of computer equipment that allows phone to connect to wifi. It's complicated.

"Network Enhancer" can refer to two different things. It can refer to a method to denoise weighted biological networks, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio of undirected weighted networks leading to better performance of downstream networks analytics1. It can also refer to a Wi-Fi signal booster, also called a range or Wi-Fi extender, which is a compact, plug-in device that is simple and hassle-free to implement. Wi-Fi extenders work by using built-in Wi-Fi radios and antennas to pair wirelessly with your router, no ethernet cable required2.

5549 ph # is Karen's
Only one tab in his graph shows network extender activity. Her ph disconnected at 5:09am; not the time the state has:

2:46am - 3:32am continual laptop usage
Then, Karen's body is moved, or at least, her phone is disconnected from the enhancer network at 4:38am.

October 30 - the wee hours after Karen picked up her daughter:
* Victim's phone was home at 2:08am and connects to the network extender.
* Victim's phone stops using the extender at 4:38am. Indicates device may have left the residence.
* Victim's phone has a 15 second wifi connection at 5:04am, then a final data session with a tower at 5:09am. Indicates when device was destroyed, perhaps.
This data indicates the phone did not travel far on Oct 30 from the places of interest: the Swift resident, Walmart, Dyersburg Mall and the Bledsoe Cemetery or it would have touched more towers.

 

[alexwood]

O.K. I've seen enough. My only question: Do they have the DP in TN?
[Answering my own question: No.]

 

[DeDee]

Continued -- IT expert for the Defense -- David Williams
MOO

Matter of factly, the IT expert tells the jury he knows stuff regarding the graph that would take days to explain for the Jury to understand.

His interpretation of the data contrasts with the state's expert witness. He wants the jury to note the gray box for the IP addresses are all 5 the same and all belong to Karen's phone, #5549.

Expert explains why he feels Karen's phone made network contact at 5:04am -- DW says it's an over the air call being made with start time at 5:04:54am from the network extender when it drifted off and ends at 5:05:09am, according to call detail record. Last contact for KS's phone with wifi is 5:09am and saw no evidence with DS's phone leaving the house.

Bluetooth was not a thing, att. A special connector cord would be required to access ability to download pictures onto laptop.

For reference the State claims:

2:46am - 3:32am continual laptop usage
Her phone is disconnected from the enhancer network at 4:38am.

October 30 - the wee hours after Karen picked up her daughter:
* Victim's phone was home at 2:08am and connects to the network extender.
* Victim's phone stops using the extender at 4:38am. Indicates device may have left the residence.
* Victim's phone has a 15 second wifi connection at 5:04am, then a final data session with a tower at 5:09am. Indicates when device was destroyed, perhaps.
This data indicates the phone did not travel far on Oct 30 from the places of interest: the Swift resident, Walmart, Dyersburg Mall and the Bledsoe Cemetery or it would have touched more towers.

Cross by the State:
Expert doesn't indicate sectors on his graph.
IT expert gives complicated explanation about the 5:04 and her phone falling off the extender because she went outside or had trouble maintaining a connection.

His opinion is that the ph left the extender at 5:09am.
It is the exact same time Karen's phone stopped taking data - searching for wifi connection.

State: Victim's phone has a 15 second wifi connection at 5:04am, then a final data session with a tower at 5:09am.

IT Witness, DW, finally agrees the phone could have been turned off at 5:09 or it could have been destroyed at 5:09am.

David Swift tells the Judge that he's not going to testify in Karen's murder trial.

The Judge will read the formal charges to the Jury after a break this afternoon.
Judge determines closing arguments will begin tomorrow.

 

[nodamselindistress]

O.K. I've seen enough. My only question: Do they have the DP in TN?

Welcome back, you have been missed!!!

 

[samsmom]

Jury started deliberating 9:53am local time today.

 

[007mom]

if you’ve been watching the trial, do you think David Swift will be found guilty? Personally, I don’t. There was nothing new or shocking presented to convince me he’s responsible for Karen’s death. I still believe that her death is linked to her lifestyle at that time, but that’s merely my opinion. I’m just curious as to what others are thinking.

I will add that some things I’d heard through the years that made me wonder if David was responsible were cleared up through testimony. I no longer think he did this.

Hearing Dustin testify about seeing the man with the metal detector near the cemetery made me wonder all over again why that lead wasn’t pursued further. I know that man had a fit and threatened an independent PI when she brought forth that info several years ago. His link to this case was always very curious to me. When he had a meltdown and started threatening to sue people who mentioned his name or the names of his family members, red flags went up all over the place for me. Furthermore, I’ve never heard or read whether or not he was investigated by Dyer County. He always spoke publicly as though he was very friendly with local LE and a big financial contributor. I know he attended David’s trial.

Hearing Ashley Swift say that her mother was gone all the time, that she cried and begged her to stay home with them in the evenings because she missed her mom so much, that broke my heart for the children. That, along with the various comments made by several of Karen’s longtime close friends, convinced me that David isn’t the killer.

 

[Joe Friday]

I don't think the state has enough evidence to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. There is nothing to connect David or the Swift home to Karen's death.

The fact that there is no hard evidence is a big problem for the state and most of what the state wants the jury to believe is easily explainable.

JMO

 

[007mom]

I don't think the state has enough evidence to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. There is nothing to connect David or the Swift home to Karen's death.

The fact that there is no hard evidence is a big problem for the state and most of what the state wants the jury to believe is easily explainable.

JMO

Agree 100%

 

[DeDee]

About 1.5 hours ago... the jury sent a message to the Judge

The Jury wants the Judge to come explain the instructions to them, specifically circumstances vs physical evidence.
The jury also wants to know what their responsibility is in making a decision.

The Judge reads the law in regards to circumstantial and direct evidence. This information was included in their jury packet taken into deliberations with them.

MOO

 

[Nehemiah]

I have followed this case for years. I think the trial is a result of political promises made on the campaign trails. When the daughter testified, she stated that her mom placed her in another bed with her younger sister in those early morning hours. The DA tried to get her to back down from that statement, suggesting that she may not remember correctly, how could she possibly know, etc. The daughter, now a young adult in her 20s, stayed her course in spite of the DA and said that she knew her mom's smell, and the way she held her, plus she was kind of in a foggy state of sleep but awake enough to know her mom's feel (my paraphrasing). In closing arguments, the State emphatically said that David Swift moved the daughter to the bed with the sister. That alone would cause reasonable doubt for me as a juror; I think that the State needs that to be true so that David could have killed his wife. Just some thoughts I've had after watching it all unfold in court...

 

[cocomod]

I am sad after all this time that the state brought the case to trial without more evidence to prove guilt. I have followed this case and I do think David likely killed her, I just wish they had the evidence to bring justice for Karen! But I don’t believe in a guilty verdict without the evidence to back it up.

 

[Betty P]

I am sad after all this time that the state brought the case to trial without more evidence to prove guilt. I have followed this case and I do think David likely killed her, I just wish they had the evidence to bring justice for Karen! But I don’t believe in a guilty verdict without the evidence to back it up.

I agree. It seemed like they should have been able to get more evidence at the time. The staged auto with the rigged flat tire was and still is a red flag. No stranger is going to attempt to kidnap her and tear up the tire right near her own home where neighbors or her husband could see them. The cell phone evidence is also compelling. Why would a mystery killer come all the way to her home to kill here there on the road in front? No.

 

[samsmom]

Law&Crime Trials is covering this. Not sure if this an approved YT channel
The jury has brought a note to the judge.
THEY ARE HUNG

 

[CHEL]

 

[samsmom]

The judge read them more instructions and told them to try again.

 

[Silverstorm]

This questioning of Bill Bona reavealed a lot that he did not want to answer in any shape or form. He repeatedly said he had no memory of introducing Karen to these various men, (swinging lifestyle) yet it was there in LE documents so I guess I did say that, he admitted.
Also had no idea Karen was up in bed with his wife with no clothes on when David walked in and found them that way.

PI heather cohen had a report that pointed to (Dyersburg businessman) DS daughter. Her husband supposedly was a client of Karen’s . Karen had a fight with his daughter twice the night of the Halloween party at the Farms country club. Two days later a break in at the Farms where the only thing missing was the video cameras which surely would have shown those two fights.

Karen’s son saw DS with a metal detector near where Karen’s body was found, and stopped to talk to him. He reported this sighting 7 months later .

Although this is all enough to enrage David, there is very little connecting evidence to him doing this crime.

I felt horrible for Ashley crying when she was testifying. She remained firm that it was her mother who moved her. She did a great job. I haven’t seen if Keely testified. The older boy turned out to be a beautiful young man.

 

[samsmom]

Judge is really trying to get a verdict. He is giving jury more information on a question asked yesterday.

 

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson

BREAKING: The jury in the #DavidSwift trial has sent a note: JUDGE WILL HAVE A HUNG JURY.

The judge will read them an Allen charge (not sure if it's exactly the Allen charge in TN) or some form of that and send them back to deliberate. This charge encourages jurors to go back and continue to deliberate, keeping open minds, etc... This is standard in a lot of states at first indication of a hung jury.


This news of hung jury comes as no surprise after we learned this morning that a juror researched "reasonable doubt" last night.


Jury has resumed deliberations after indicating they were hung and the judge reading the instruction that they are to go back, keep an open mind, try to come to a verdict, etc... This is often referred to as a Dynamite Charge or Allen Charge.